1996 Chevrolet C/K Series problems

Filed May 24, 2007 · Brakes · 110,000 miles · MA · crash · 2 injuries

96 silverado 4x4 rear brake line rusted through, repaired. 6 months later front crossover brake line rusted through, repaired. Put new brakes/rotors on front, new shoes on rear w/new wheel cylinders and new rear brake hose, old hose burst. Bled system, but pedal still spongy. Brakes not working. Takes forever to stop this truck, dangerous. I am a professional driver, and this truck is the worst. The other bad ones were chevy luminas, which were similar with spongy pedal and extended stop distances. The truck has a delay between pedal push and braking starting. Excessive pedal pressure required, doesn't do much good. I towed a trailer with it once, and was scared to death. Engine has lots of power, brakes are useless. Antilock system is dangerous, causes the truck to swerve. Gm knows this system is "unsafe at any speed" just like the old corvairs were. Ralph nader where are you when we need you? No one else in the government has done anything. They don't care or are on the take. Otherwise this blatant defect would have been recalled! Also my sister owns a yukon, 1996, and her antilock system activated all the time on dry road, and almost caused several accidents. She took it to a dealer and they replaced the brake booster and did the brakes. It didn't stop the antilock problem, so I disconnected the fuse to the antilock system and it stopped the faulty activation, but the brakes are still spongy, and the truck is dangerous to drive. Another friend was injured and the 1996 suburban was totalled, and the car she hit was totalled and the driver injured, when she stepped on the brakes and they didn't work. She said the pedal was spongy for awhile, and the truck was hard to stop. She was being careful because of this but someone stopped short in front of her and she said she should have been able to stop but the brakes did not work. How many more people have to be hurt or killed before the ntsb makes a recall for this? What good are they if they do nothing?

Filed Feb 12, 2004 · Engine · 136,090 miles · FL

I have had this vehicle for two years now and love the power and smooth ride I get from it. The truck is a 1996 chevy k2500 with a 6.5l diesel engine. I have put over $3,600 in this vehicle in the last 18 mos. The engine shuts down and you cannot stop or steer the vehicle then. The mechanics say that this happens in a lot of vehicles withmost owners end up selling it. If this is such a common problem then why doesn't chevrolet do something about it.this could be a potentially dangerous situation since this truck is so hard to handle when it stalls.