I have a random brake problem with my truck. Occasionally, when I step on the brake, it is like I'm standing on a brick. The brakes don't work at this time and if I keep on pressing, eventually, it seems to break free and the pedal will go down and my ABS is activated. Because it threw a code for the ABS, my mechanic recommended that the entire ABS sensors, bearings, etc. be replaced which I had him do about 2 weeks ago (which cost me $400) and it is STILL doing this. I took it back to the garage again and have left it for the past two days and have heard nothing. Needless to say, this is terrifying when it happens and I'm not driving it again until somebody fixes it! Anyone have this problem or any idea what the problem is? It's difficult to get a mechanic to fix it when it only happens once in a while and never when they drive it! It's such a random occurrence that my husband thought I was exaggerating but it finally happened while he was driving it this weekend and now he believes me. Can anyone give any advice???

 

these trucks are notorious about vacuum leaks. you could have a leak in the line to the booster causing this problem. get your guy to check all vacuum hoses very carefully

by the way welcome aboard!!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome! I have mentioned the vacuum hoses several times but my mechanic does not feel that is the problem. Yesterday, he replaced the hub/bearings/abs sensors on the other side (for another $400) but it was still doing the same thing this morning. All along, he thought that maybe the bearings were bad in the first hub/bearings/abs assembly they installed a couple weeks ago, so they took out the first one and put in another new one. We picked it up today and it hasn't acted up yet, but I am not optimistic. It only seems to happen after the truck has been sitting for 12 hours or more. SO, I traded trucks with my husband and he can drive it for a while and see if it acts up again. Thank you again for your help!

 

i still feel like it is a booster or related problem

 

No problems yet with it, so we'll see what happens. If it malfunctions again, I will be more insistent on the vacuum hoses or the booster. Thanks for all your help!

 

IMHO the ABS parts will only come into play when the ABS system is activated.

The problem you describe is before the ABS system activates, you aren't getting any initial braking.

Hubs/bearings/wheelspeed sensors (ABS wheel sensors) shouldn't affect things like you mention.

x2 on the vacuum/booster suggestion.

 

best of luck. brakes are nothin to play around about