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Braking issue, some help needed

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Old May 19, 2011 | 11:07 PM
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Default Braking issue, some help needed

Alright, I've got an 2000 Z28 that I did the C5 caliper swap on, back in late 2008/early 2009. I'm running Hawk HPS pads, a set of slotted rotors and, SS brake lines with them. About a month ago, the brakes kinda felt like they weren't able to stop the car the way they normally did. It usually stops on a dime, but now its not the case. They don't fill spongy and the pedal isn't dropping to the floor. For the most part they fill normal, but the car's not wanting to stop at the distance it normally does. You know when you're trying to stop and you know you're not going to make it and you get that "oh $hit" feeling. Then you press the brakes harder and you can fell the weight shift when you get more bite, you get little nose dive and then the rear comes back down as you make suddenly come to a complete stop. Yeah that dosen't happed you put more into it and she keeps gliding. Then you put even more force on the pedal and she kinda glides to a stop.

I went to change the pads but I've got like 70% left, so I went to bleed the brakes. There was some air in the front brakes that was bled out, but the results are still the same. Could find no leaks, so I'm wondering where to look next before I have to take her in and spend who knows how much on a fix.

Thanks in advance.
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Old May 19, 2011 | 11:51 PM
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Maybe your tolerance is up from having done hard braking so many times.
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Old May 20, 2011 | 12:02 AM
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Don't think thats it. I don't do a lot of "hard" breaking. I've actually never got these brakes hot. The hundreds of thousands of miles I've put on my past camaros with stock brakes, pads, rotors, lines etc never felt like this.
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Old May 20, 2011 | 07:42 AM
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First thing would be to check the slider pins and make sure they slide easy. You could have some seized up or just need to lubricate them. If they are seized, then the caliper only presses one pad on to the rotor, cutting your braking force in half.
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Old May 20, 2011 | 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by wssix99
First thing would be to check the slider pins and make sure they slide easy. You could have some seized up or just need to lubricate them. If they are seized, then the caliper only presses one pad on to the rotor, cutting your braking force in half.
Exactly what he said. I would break down the front brakes and check the front piston for proper function (have a buddy pump the pedal and make sure the piston slides out easily) and remove, clean and lubricate the guide pins. The floating calipers on your f-body split the force from one large inner piston to the outboard side but sliding on those pins. If they seize up you won't get the full clamping force out of the caliper.

Let us know what you dig up.
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