So, my brakes are really pissing me off right now. The brake pedal is very spongy and quite honestly I hate hitting the brakes to stop. If I upgraded to a 2 piston caliper, would the spungy feel eliminate? If not, what is the next best thing to do. Rear disc brakes might be in the works, but its like 70% front brakes and 30% rears, so I'm just curious as to what I can do to improve this problem. I am driving to florida for spring break in less than 3 weeks and will be doing a total of about 3000 miles round trip, so I want my brakes to be in tip top shape..Thanks

well you could just do a brake job on it [img]images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] you can look into upgrading the rotors too

When I replaced all my rubber hoses, flushed my brake system with a gallon of fluid, and installed rear disc brakes I gained a very firm pedal. No more classic GM "nerf ball under the brake pedal" feeling.

The only "sponginess" I've got now is my actual brake pedal flexing when I have my 33s on it and I'm really standing on the pedal.

I'm not sure if the rear discs had much to do with it but I'm certain replacing the old hoses and flushing any air and other contaminents out of the brakes helped. It never hurts to get rid of old fluid anyway since it is only good for about two years before it's saturated with water.

monica, i put new rotors and pads on the front this summer. Rears were fine.

So, if I flush the entire system, maybe things will become better. Hmm

yup, a system flush is the way to go. you can do it the long way and just bleed the crap out of them and keep putting good fluid in the resevoir until you have clean fluid coming out of the bleeder valves. i did this on my truck and it made a pretty substantial difference. which is nice when rolling on the 35's. it'll just cost about 10 bucks for some good fluid and some time.
good luck. where are you going to in florida? PCB?

I might have midas do it only because I don't really know anything about bleeding the system.. I read my haynes and are still confused. Was the brake pedal significantly firmer after doing this?
I am headed to Boca Grande, which is 40 miles south of sarasota, on the gulf of mexico.... My family has a "winter" home down there, so I wanted to go down there with some friends to relax rather than go to mexico.

Heh, don't go to midas. I got screwed when they did my brakes. Really, ive never dealt with the hydraulic part of the brake system, but i would learn and do it yourself. If you don't have time, take it too a good shop. Skip midas for everything but exhaust.

The next 20 days consists of projects and midterms... Not much time to do the brakes. I will look around and see where a good brake place is around here. I agree, I don't like midas as well. 1 month after I got my new wheels on the yukon, they used the wrong socket to take the lug nuts off the wheels, even though I gave them the right socket. The sockets grinded all 24 holes and they only gave me a free brake job, i needless to say was very [img]images/graemlins/AR15firing.gif[/img]

hers how you do the brake bleeding. I'dd empty the resevoir and clean it out first of all thenrefill with new fluid. start with the rear passenger tire. take the wheel off. be hind the drum on the backing plate you will see a little bleeder valve. i believe its 3/8" in size. anyways, you must break this free as its likely siezed i nthere. use a 6pt socket if you can so you dont damage it. vice grips work too if need be. that is the hard part of the whole process. noww have someone in the cab press the brake pedal. then release it. press it and release it. (this is building pressure in the system. on the tenth (doesnt matter exactly) time pressing have them hold the pedal down. this is where the guy at the rear wheel opens that bleeder valve. fluid will squirt out so watch your eyes. now close the bleeder valve and have the guy in the cab pump the pedal again.

basically all you're doing is putting pressure in the system. then opening the valve. more pressure...open valve again.

after nothing but clear fluid exits the rear pass bleeder. move to the drivers rear, then the pass front, and finally drivers front. the hardest part is making sure the fluid resevoir stays full and breaking the bleeders free can be hard too. its very easy process though. with a floor jack and a 4-way tire iron you're looking at about 30min to an hour if you really take your sweet ass time

I had my 97 in at a shop I trust to put rotars and pads on. When I picked it up, the guy said the mechanic noticed my brake pedal was spongy and took care of it by bleeding the brakes. The first time I hit the brakes I almost went through the windshield. Guess it made a noticeable difference for my truck.