Maybe this is normal???

Only 55,000 miles on this truck.

I was checking the wear on my front brake pads today and noticed that it is so hard to spin my front tires!! It's not even a 4x4!

Is there some place to grease the front wheel bearings?

I've greased the ball joints on the front axle - for steering.

Thanks for any help.

 

If your wheel bearings were dry enough to make it hard to spin, I would think you would hear a lot of popping. I would guess it's more likely your break pads are rubbing on your rotors. They don't back off very much but they shouldn't be binding up your wheel. Let us know what you find.
Good luck.

 

Thanks, I think you're right.
I haven't been driving it much since I was laid off.
The truck just sits outside in the rain, cold and snow.

But it starts and runs great.

Maybe I should change the break pads?

 

Unless you really ride your brakes hard you should be good for 100,000 miles before needing new pads

jvp

 

Like jvp said, the pads shouldn't be worn out yet. I wouldn't change them until they are worn out. Drive the truck, get it warmed up, use the brakes and make some turns. Then check how free the wheel is. It'll probably turn much easier. If it is still binding, I'd look further. Good luck.

 

I went thru my first set of GM pads in 25K miles on my 2008 Sierra K1500. I do also tow a @7500 pound travel trailer often. I replaced with GM's top of the line available pad for the truck.

 

You can buy brake pads at a parts store and they r the same as the dealer only better price. The only thing GM is the box. Its the same for Acdelco parts.

 

You are not getting the brake life that you should even towing the trailer.

When you replaced the pads at 25K were you getting a vibration like the ABS was being activated and it felt like brake fade?

If so a lot of people think that they need new pads or that they have warped their rotors.

Most likely when this takes place it is caused by brake pad transfer to the rotors that does not let the pad set down on the rotor and causes these problems.

It can be corrected by having your rotors turned and reusing the same pad.
Mine were doing this at about the same milage the pads were not worn but the brake action was not what it should be to stop the truck, & trailer. I also pull a 27' travel trailer that weighs 6650 lbs. I now have 91+K miles on the truck with the same pads and over half of those miles are pulling the trailer.

I just recently put on new tires and asked for an estimate of pad and they said they look about 40% so it looks like I will end up well over 100K before changeing they out.

I do not know how you have your electronic brake controller set but your truck and trailer should feel as if they are stopping as one unit. It should not feel like the trailer is pushing the truck, or the other way around, which will cause abnormal wear and heating of the trailer brakes which can also lead to bearing failure on the trailer.

You can grease the bearings by pulling the rotor removing the cap, pull the carter pin out of the nut and remove, and there are the wheel bearings. Clean inspect for damage if none repack with grease and reinstall. Do not over tighten the nut and do not leave it loose to get it to spin easy. Tighten the nut and then back it off about a 1/4 turn.

Hope this helped
jvp

 

I think originally, that I had the settings on the brake controller too high, causing the trailer to tug on the truck. I have since lowered the settings and feels much smoother of a stop now. The pads were changed since they were about 10-15% left, while the rotors were turned and reused.

In addition to the trailer, for awhile, I was running a set of GMC Denali 22" chrome rims, without changing axle ratios, or had any programming completed. I had been told that it takes a lot more power both to spin the wheels, and ultimately stop them. The truck originally came with 17" rims and has 3.73 gears. I noticed immediately how much "slower" the truck seemed at take off, and add the trailer- I didn't like what I felt. I removed and sold the rims after about 3 months.