Parking Brake Problems of Chevrolet Suburban - part 2

2002 chevy Suburban parking brake failed due to a design flaw that affects hundreds of thousands 1999 through 2003 gm vehicles. Most owners are probably unaware their vehicle has this defect, since the transmission prevents vehicle movement when in park. The parking brake on these gm vehicles is a drum brake on the rear wheels. The emergency brake drum, and disc brake rotor is combined into a single unit on these vehicles. Parking brake pads are mounted on a circular metal ring, which has about a 2 inch gap at the top. The ring expands when the parking brake is applied. Unlike typical drum brake pads, the circular ring is not well secured to prevent undesirable movement within the drum. Usually, drum brake pads are secured by heavy springs to keep them centered within the drum. On these gm vehicles, however, there is just a slide-in clip at the bottom of the circular metal ring to which the pads are attached. This allows the brake pads to move within the drum when the parking brake is not in use. On my vehicle, the circular ring was pulled down be gravity, resulting in it continually riding against the drum. This wore out the pads on the bottom of the circular ring to the point where metal was contacting metal. This caused extensive wear to the drum, removing over 1/16 inch of metal. In February 2003, gm released service bulletin number 92-05-26-002a, which calls for installation of a spring clip retainer to prevent parking brake failure on the following models: 2002-2003 Cadillac escalade 1999-2003 chevy silverado 1500 2000-2003 chevy Suburban, tahoe 1500 2002-2003 chevy avalanche 1999-2003 GMC sierra 1500 2000-2003 GMC yukon 1500 gm should have done a recall. This problem is widespread and the transmission may not be sufficient to hold when parked on a steep slope. A driver could place a running vehicle in neutral, set the parking brake, and take their foot off the brake pedal, resulting in harmful consequences. This defect could result in serious injury.

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Consumer was told that because of normal driving emergency brake wore out, even if the emergency brake was never being used. Consumer decided to call dealer because he felt that it was a safety factor, knowing that the emergency brake was not effective.

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Failed inspection. The emergency brake was not engaging. Dealership said the back of the rear rotors had rusted out, causing the emergency brake to rust also. Had to replace both rotors and both e-brakes. Only have 27,000 miles on the car. Had just been in for a check-up before coming off warranty. Rotors and e-brakes should not need to be replace with low milage. Have spoken to four other people that have had the same problem.

We had to have the parking brake shoes replaced on our 2002 Chevrolet Suburban even though we never used the parking brake. It had 33,981 miles on it at the time.

The parking brake was inoperable. The dealer would not fix because the brake was not under warranty. The brake shoes were replaced. The parking brake had never been used, yet the parking shoes were worn out. The lower left cowl cover was broken and was being held together by putty.

On 2/12/04, I took my 2001 chevy Suburban in to the dealer because the emergency/parking brake did not work. Being the first time I tried to use it and it did not work, I assumed it would be a warranty repair. The dealer said no, this is common and a normal wear and tear adjustment. I said I have never used it, how can it be! not being safe w/out a emergency parking brake, I had to pay! after their "adjustment" the brakes or something squealed. Upon returning to the dealer, I asked them to check their adjustment and mentioned where I had seen on the NHTSA site about parking brakes wearing all the time. They adjusted again to spec and when I got it back, brakes still did not hold the vehicle well - it would never have held on a hill! I took it back again to the chevy dealer on 7/13/04 and asked them to check it again, and they said it was to spec and it was not an emergency brake, just a parking brake. I told them it would never hold a vehicle this size and weight on a hill! on 10/25/04, the vehicle was making a grinding/scraping sound when moving, so I took it to a tire store and they determined that the parking brakes were totally worn out and needed to be replaced ($160). I think there is a engineering design defect with this system in these vehicles. First the brakes do not appear to hold the vehicle well and second the way they are designed they fail without ever using them! you don't know they don't work until it's too late! very dangerous!!! please look into this ASAP - I think brake failure is a very dangerous problem.

Defective parking brakes on 2002 Chevrolet Suburban. The engineers had not found a way to repair the problem properly. The parking brake would refuse to release at the wheels. This was an intermittent problem.

Bought 2001 Suburban new. Never used emergency brake, but brake has failed and worn into my rotor to a point that both rotors now need replacing. This seems to be a very common problem and have found a number of complaints throughout the internet. Also have a family member that works for gm as a mechanic and says they have a defective system. He does these jobs all the time.

Parking brake does not hold when depressed. Pedal goes completely to the floor. Removed rear rotor and pads were very thin with only 48000 miles, and the only time the brake is used is during inspection one time each year. There are numerous reports on this problem and it is puzzling that Chevrolet does not fix this problem.

This cannot be described as a singular event or failure. It occurs every time I park the vehicle. The emergency brake shoes on my 2002 Chevrolet Suburban wore out prematurely. Virginia state police safety inspection requires an operable emergency brake. The emergency brake will not hold the vehicle. I began noticing this problem about a year ago. I did some research on the internet and found that it is a problem shared by other 2002 Suburban owners, and some customers have had success with gm replacing under warranty. My local dealer acknowledges that the design is flawed allowing the brake shoe to constantly contact the hat rotor surface and wear prematurely. Because it is considered a wear item, however, gm will not replace the shoes and clips. A new clip exists that is supposed to alleviate the problem. I am using July as the incident date as that is when I ordered new brake shoes to correct the problem. I included this complaint on a customer service questionnaire after a recent visit to the dealership, but there was no repsonse by gm.

Emergency brake does not work. Has been bad since 36k miles and dealer refuses to touch because vehicle is out of warranty. Fix is buying new cables with new emergency brake pedal; why new pedal? they obviously know that they have a problem and they don't want to take responsibility for it. Why should I have to pay for their poor engineering?.

Parking brake fails to hold.

Consumer took vehicle to have a state inspection done and found that the parking brake was not holding the vehicle. It was taken to the Chevrolet dealer, and they found that the parking brake shoes were worn out, and both brake rotors needed to be replaced.

Multiple locations will not inspect vehicle due to faulty emergency brake design. Dealership will not cover and manufacturer will not warranty. $600 dealership repair or $400 at local repair facility.

The parking brake on my 2002 Chevrolet Suburban seems to have a design flaw. When the brake is set the vehicle will still roll forward in gear. The service advisor I spoke to at team Chevrolet in alpharetta, GA said that he sees the same problem every day. The way he explained it is that the parking brake shoes can rub slightly when the vehicle is underway, and this eventually wears off all the friction material from the shoe and the brake will no longer work. My vehicle has had this problem since it was new, and the dealer said brake parts are not covered under warranty.

Parking brake on 2001 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 does not hold. This is a known problem on Chevrolet silverado pickups which have the same type parking brake. I am having to pay to have the brake repaired in order to pass state inspection. The design and functionality of the parking brake is apparently a known problem.

I took my 2001 Suburban for the annual inspection. The shop called to say it did not pass due to the parking brake not holding. There is never a need to use the parking brake in houston, therefore I have never used it. There are 4 people in my office that have had the exact problem and had to pay to repair this problem because it is considered normal wear. I called Chevrolet zone to report this, but of course they claim to know nothing about any problems with the emergency brake. The shop removed the tires and found that the brake pads were ripped to shreads and the rotor was so badly etched that it had to be replaced. Total cost to repair the problem on a vehicle with 37,000 miles was 350. 00 per side. Please investigate this problem so hopefully Chevrolet will have to announce the clear defect in the new Suburban/tahoe design. The mechanic told me he sees this problem on a regular basis.

I am the orignal owner of a 2000 chevy Suburban. I have religously taken the truck in for service every 3,000 miles to mac haik Chevrolet in houston where I bought the vehicle. I brought the truck in for an inspection and was told there was an inherant problem with the emergency brakes on all 2000 Suburbans and that it would be $200 to get the truck to pass inspection. I cannot remember ever using the emergency brake so it cannot be from over use. I then read that those whom do have the problem fixed say it lasts for only a 1,000 miles or so. If it is a design failure own up to it and fix it once and for all before someone gets hurt. If not when you sell the vehicle tell the prospective buyer the emergency brakes do not work and we have not figured out how to fix them.

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Parking brake failure - 2001 Chevrolet Suburban during state inspection (texas) apparent cause of parking brake failure is due to misalignment of parking brake shoe. Chevrolet has redesigned their the retaining clip which holds the parking brake shoe in place. The redesigned clip does not allow the parking brake shoe to float or move inside the rotor of the rear parking brake assembly. In this case there was abnormal wear to the inside of the parking brake rotor on the driver's side as well as abnormal wear on the parking brake shoe. There was no noticeable wear on the passenger's side rear brake rotor of parking brake shoe. Chevrolet has issued a technical bulletin to its dealers which addresses the parking brake shoe coming into contact with the rotor when the parking brake is not engaged or set. The fix is the redesigned clip which replaces the old clip. In our case, we do not use the parking brake on a regular basis (if at all) and the problem was found during a normal routine state inspection (texas) - as it failed to pass the test due to the parking brake not holding.

Purchased 2000 Suburban used in 2002 with 37k miles. I have replaced the rear brakes and emergency brakes 2 times and is needing replaced again at 80k miles. Dealer is unwilling to concede problem with design or components and just says it is the nature of some vehicles and they have some customers that have to replace there brakes and emergency brakes every 15k. This is unacceptable and dangerous. I am frustrated at spending $700 every few thousand miles, and am looking at switching back to japanese brands!!!.

I purchased a 2000 Suburban in February 2004 nad the parking brake was not working then. I have adjusted the cable to the maximum extent possible and still no help. From the research I have down this appears to be a tremendously common problem, with no fix from gm other to repair the parking brake at the owners expense every 5k to 20k miles.

I recently tokk my 2001 chev Suburban to the dealership for misc repairs. One of which was that the emergency/parking brake no longer held the vehicle at all. Either in forward or reverse. One day I went to use it and it didn't work at all. How long had it been this way? I rarely, if ever, use the parking brake so I assumed it was broken and would be covered under warranty since the vehicle is only 2. 5 years old and only has 18,900 mi. The diagnosis was that the parking brake needed "adjustment" and this was a normal wear condition and would cost me $65. I felt I had no choice to not have my brakes work, so I complied. It was suggested by the service advisor to use it more often and that would keep it in adjustment? I feel there is something wrong with this brake or vehicle design, especially after reading others complaints on this website. I had my previous vehicle for 11 years and 90k miles and never had an issue with a parking brake. This is not something that you can afford to go to use and find out it doesn't work! based on the number of complaints I urge you to look into this dangerous situation - not to mention costly to the consumer for no reason at all.

2001 Chevrolet Suburban - parking brake has failed. We did not realize failure until pointed out to us by mechanic; thought it normal that the brake goes to the floor.

I asked huffines Chevrolet [plano, TX] to check my 2001 Chevrolet Suburban as the parking brake was not holding. The pedal would depress all the way to the floor and the vehicle would roll. Their service department found that the emergency parking brake had caused premature wear on the brake pads and rotors. The dealer indicated that this was the result of the body style change in 2000. The new design of the emergency brake placed it in contact with the rotors which causes premature wear. This is not a repair that is covered under the 36 month/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Despite that, the dealer replaced the pads and rotors at no charge. I am still not clear as to why, but the dealer told me that I would have incurred the expense of the repair if the vehicle has over 30,000 miles. I'm led to believe that this is an item, that due to the number of reported occurrences, that gm is repairing under warranty up to 30,000 miles. I consider myself fortunate in that I brought my vehicle to them at 29,700 miles. As a side note, I will point out that when this vehicle was purchased new from huffines Chevrolet, the parking pedal would depress all the way to the floor. My wife and I both found that to be odd. We always use the parking brake and we never had one operate in that fashion. But the dealer said that was normal and that brake was holding the vehicle. The existence of a potential emergency brake mechanism defect is a very serious and dangerous case for all owners of the 2000-2004 Chevrolet Suburban. Many households own and operate these vehicles and such a defect puts our wives and children at risk. I recommend, with extreme prejudice, that NHTSA conduct an investigation into this issue.

Purchased new'2002 Chevrolet Suburban parking brake failed @20k miles adjusted under warranty-advised at service that this vehicle had inherent problem and adjustment would not last. Lasted maybe 8k miles-will not hold vehicle on incline-potentially very dangerous if vehicle unexpectedly came out of park-now no further adjustment can be made-certainly a defect in my opinion-since the initial warranty service adjustment two additional auto technicians have told me subject brake cannot be further adjusted and is a problem with this model vehicle-what can I do-what may you do to resolve this safety related problem?-thank you.

I took my 2001 Suburban to have a state inspection done and found that the parking brake was not holding. I then took the vehicle to the Chevrolet dealer and they found that the parking brake shoes were worn all the way down and both rotors needed replacement because they were rusted inside and the parking bake shoes would not hold. I only have 37000 miles on the vehicle. The dealer was only willing to split the cost of the rotors and the installation of the rotors even though the parking bake wore out after only 37000 miles or even less. The dealer reported that the parking brake should last longer than 37000 miles. I am the only person who drives this vehicle and the parking brake was never left on while driving. There is a defect on the engineering of the parking brake system that it wears out this fast with only being used when the vehicle is parked.

Parking brake failed.

Complaint regarding manufacturing defect- parking brake. (nar).

I am the original owner of a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban purchased from mac haik Chevrolet in houston. I have complained about the inability of the parking brake to hold the vehicle in my driveway, and have had the rear pads/shoes replaced and the brakes adjusted more than once. Each repair seems to last a few thousand miles so I gave up returning to the dealer for repair. However, I have been informed that the vehicle will not pass a safety inspection required in texas and do not feel that I should have to pay to have this repaired now that I have learned that there is a TSB that addresses this concern (02-05-26-002a-(01/28/2003). I am requesting that this issue be researched more thoroughly. If more drivers actually used their parking brakes on a regular basis this would be more commonly reported.

I am the original owner of a 2000 chevy Suburban. I keep it well maintained with proper service. On Nov 1, 2003 I engaged my parking brake on an incline, I left the car for approx. 90 seconds and my passengers stayed in the car. When the passenger driver turned off the engine to follow me, the car swiftly rolled down the hill, jumped the curb and hit utility boxes and a house. The passengers experienced minor back pains. The accident could have been much worse if people were outside and in the path of the car. Upon research, I have found many complaintsabout the emergency brake system on the Suburban's. What is the emgerency brake for, it not to hold the car.

Parking brake didn't work when vehicle was new. Adjusted during warranty but only moderately better. The parking brake won't hold vehicle on level ground with transmission in drive with brakes were applied. It's a serious design issue. The dealer wants $200+ to adjust again but this won't solve the problem.

The emergency brake is not hold properly while the vehicle was parked. The dealer stated that nothing could be done vehicle was out of warranty.

Emergency brake failed, and vehicle didn't pass the local inspection in texas. Dealer stated , "we were aware of the problem but we didnt know how to fix it. ".

Emergency brake failure.

Consumer stated that vehicle would not release the parking brake when driving. Dealer notified.