Brake Disc Caliper problems of the 2001 Chevrolet 1500

Simply driving west on north Ave at 25 - 30. Had to apply brakes getting close to intersection. Brake pedal went to the floor, had no brakes at all. Tried using foot operated emergency brake but it did not work either. Put it into 4 wd low to slow as best I could. Drove off the road onto grass to avoid car ahead of me. Drove very slowly in 4wd low to f&f tire at 410 n. Moorland blvd the closest car service shop about 2 miles from where brakes went out. Service tech checked and reported the brake lines are extremely rusted and one let go. Later he reported all lines were extremely rusted and need to be replaced. This truck has slightly more than 50,000. It is always kept in a garage when not in use and rarely used as per 50,000 + in 13 years. Had rust problem with brakes when vehicle had less than 30,000. Still have the original rear calipers replaced at that time showing outer pad on driver side never moved to contact rotor, but inner pad rivet was goughing the rotor. Brake pedal went close to floor during first month of purchase. Called dealer and was told "that's how anti-lock brakes are". Truck was taken in (dealer) for routine checking & to intall fog lights. Check-off sheet never mentioned anything about brakes. Have replace 4 electric window motors on passenger side so far. Last time operated the window less than a dozen times before window failed to open again. Dealer always claims rust is because truck is not driven enough. Website complaints about rusty rotors and brakes proves otherwise, over 400,000 hits when I checked after my brakes/rotors rusted away. This vehicle is a lemon and I would never buy another gm product.

Rear disc brake pads premature wear due to failure of brake piston to retract. Both rear disc brakes piston failed to retract normally. Installation of new pads caused extreme heating of rotor. Replaced both rear disc brake floating calipers with rebuilt units that had grease under outer piston seal to prevent rust to fix problem!.

I bought a new chevy silverado 1500 4x4 in July of 2001. I don't drive it that much, and when I do, it is mostly freeway miles. About 5 times/year I'll tow a light boat to puget sound, and after coming back always hose off the boat, trailer, and salt water exposed area of the truck. In 2004 at 6770 miles, the rear rotors, calipers and pads were ruined (under warranty--cause determined to be debris caught up in mechanism). Good Chevrolet fixed perfectly. Now in March 2008 at only 18,700 miles (12k miles on new brakes), the rear brakes need to be completely rebuilt. Good is saying the cause is salt water. And of course the warranty is long over----looking at $2000 to fix. I say hogwash! brakes should not fall apart after 12,000 gentle miles. I don't four wheel drive except on rare occasion to get over the mountain pass---and that's on snow. I am easy with this truck. I don't speed around and slam on the brakes ever. Never. I am pretty sure this is a common problem. Just googled up a similar case of a 2002 silverado in colorado with 28,000 miles and complete brake failure due to rust. I'll repair brakes elsewhere. I'll wait and see if some class action lawsuit comes of this. It's too bad. The truck is pretty nice, but having brakes fall apart for no good reason is bs and too expensive, not to mention as well as a big safety concern.