1998 Chevrolet C/K Pickups

I BEGAN TO HAVE TROUBLE WITH MY BRAKES IN SEPTEMBER OF 2004. AT VERY LOW SPEEDS (UNDER 5MPH) MY ANTI LOCK BRAKES WOULD START FIRING FOR NO APPARENT REASON. I TOOK THE VEHICLE INTO THE SHOP AND THEY CLEANED THE SPEED SENSORS ON THE ABS. A FEW WEEKS LATER, THE ABS STARTED TO DO THE SAME THING AGAIN. I TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK IN AND THEY DID SOME KIND OF TEST ON THE SPEED SENSORS. THEY REPORTED BACK TO ME THAT ONE OF THE SPEED SENSORS HAD GONE BAD. THEY REPLACED THE SPEED SENSOR AT THAT TIME, OCT 11, 2004. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS SINCE BUT HAVE SEEN A REPORT WITH CERTAIN VEHICLES BEING RECALLED FOR THIS PROBLEM. MY VEHICLE IS NOT ONE THAT HAS BEEN RECALLED BUT HAS THE SAME PROBLEM DESCRIBED IN THE RECALL I READ. HOW CAN YOU SAY WISCONSIN IS NOT PART OF THE SALT BELT?? THAT SEEMS RIDICULOUS. *NM

FRONT ROTOR ON CHEVROLET CHEYENNE 4 WHEEL DRIVE PICK-UP SEPARATED INTO TWO PARTS. THE INNER SECTION BEING THE PART WHERE THE LUGS ARE.THE OUTER SECTION BEING THE PORTION THE BRAKE PADS RIDE ON.INSPECTION OF THE ROTORS SHOWS AN INSUFFICENT THICKNESS IN THE METAL OF THE ROTOR.THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. A FRIEND OF MINE HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO HIM.I REPLACED THE ROTORS WITH NEW ONES, BUT I WAS FORTUNATE THAT I HEARD A NOISE AT A TOLL BOOTH AS I PULLED ONTO A HIGH SPEED HIGHWAY.I HAVE THE DEFECTIVE PART. *NM

IN LATE 2003, I HAD ANTILOCK BRAKE PROBLEMS WITH MY 1998 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 1500 PICKUP TRUCK. AT LOW SPEEDS, THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SENSOR WOULD DISPLAY, AND THE VEHICLE WOULD CONTINUE TO GLIDE THROUGH INTENDED STOPPING POINTS. UNTIL I GOT USED TO THE STOPPING DISTANCE, I WAS ROLLING PAST STOP SIGNS. I TOOK THE TRUCK IN TO A CHEVROLET DEALER, WHO AMONG OTHER THINGS, REPLACED THE SPEED CONTROL SENSOR. IT TOOK TWO TRIPS TO THE DEALER BEFORE THEY COULD FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. AT THAT TIME, THE TRUCK HAD ONLY 42,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE. I CALLED CHEVROLET TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE DEFECT, BUT GOT NO HELP FROM THE MANUFACTURER. THE LATEST RECALL NOTICE CONCERNING CHEVROLET'S ANTILOCK BREAKS APPEARS TO BE THE EXACT PROBLEM I EXPERIENCED ALMOST 2 YEARS AGO. MY CONCERN IS THAT THE NOTICE ONLY INCLUDES 1999-200? MODELS, AND ONLY THOSE IN COLD WEATHER STATES. I FEEL MY VEHICLE SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE RECALL BECAUSE THE PROBLEMS APPEAR TO BE IDENTICAL. I DON'T LIVE IN ONE OF THE COLD WEATHER STATES MENTIONED IN THE NOTICE, BUT I DO LIVE WITHIN A FEW MILES OF, USE THE TRUCK EVERY WEEKEND POSSIBLE TO TRAILER MY BOAT TO, AND TRAVEL OVER THE CHESAPEAKE BAY -- A SALTWATER BODY OF WATER. MARYLAND ALSO USES SALT ON THE ROADS, WHICH SHOULD INCLUDE IT WITH THE OTHER COLD-WEATHER STATES. THERE'S TOO MUCH OF A COINCIDENCE IN DEFECTS NOT TO HAVE MY TRUCK INCLUDED. I'D APPRECIATE IT IF YOU RECONSIDERED THE YEARS AND VEHICLE LOCATIONS TO INCLUDE 1998 MODELS IN MARYLAND, OR AT LEAST CONSIDER THOSE THAT ARE LOCATED NEAR SALTWATER. IF YOU DON'T INCLUDE MY VEHICLE, WILL I EVER FIND OUT IF IT WAS CONSIDERED, OR WHY MY CLAIM WAS DISMISSED? I DON'T HAVE THE OLD PARTS BECAUSE I THOUGHT MY PROBLEM WAS UNIQUE, SO DIDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO HANG ONTO ANYTHING AS PROOF. ALL I HAVE IS MY ORIGINAL COMPLAINT TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT, WHICH STILL HAS THE PROBLEM ON RECORD. *NM

GM HAS HAD AND STILL HAS NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THEIR ABS. MY 1998 SILVERADO HAS AT LEAST 12 TIMES LOST BRAKING WHEN HITTING A SMALL BUMP IN THE ROAD USUALLY COMING TO A STOP. I HAVE ACTUALLY SLID PAST STOP SIGNS AND INTO BUSY INTERSECTIONS, LUCKILY NO DAMAGE YET. BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL THE POLICE WHEN THEY SEE ME SLIDE PAST A STOP SIGN? "OH, YOU SEE, THIS GM TRUCK HAS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKES". IS GM GOING TO PAY FOR THE TICKET OR WORSE, PROPERTY AND LIABILITY CLAIMS WHEN I ACTUALLY DO HIT A PERSON OR ANOTHER VEHICLE? I HAVE SEEN NEARLY 250 INDIVIDUAL COMPLAINTS ON THIS ISSUE ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE. SOME THAT LED TO CRASHES AND DAMAGE. MY QUESTION IS: WHEN WILL NHTSA FORCE GM TO RECOGNIZE AND RECALL THEIR ABS FAILURES???? GM WON'T RECOGNIZE THIS BECAUSE IT WILL COST MILLIONS TO RESOLVE THIS. IT'S ALWAYS EASIER FOR THEM TO IGNORE THE PROBLEM AND BLAME THE "STUPID" CONSUMER FOR NOT KNOWING HOW TO USE THEIR ABS BRAKES. THIS PROBLEM GOES BACK AS FAR AS 1995 YEAR MODELS AND CONTINUES ON CURRENT PRODUCTION MODELS. GM KNOWS THERE IS PROBLEMS WITH THEIR ABS SYSTEMS, BUT CONTINUES TO SLAP THEM IN THEIR NEW MODELS. PLEASE NHTSA - FORCE GM TO RECALL THEIR ABS BRAKES IN ALL THE AFFECT MODEL YEARS!!!!!!*JB

I HAVE JUST READ THE FOLLOWING ON CNN: DETROIT (REUTERS) - GENERAL MOTORS CORP. IS RECALLING 804,000 FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCKS AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES BECAUSE OF POTENTIAL BRAKE PROBLEMS, FEDERAL SAFETY REGULATORS SAID TUESDAY. THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION SAID UNWANTED APPLICATION OF THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM IN SOME VEHICLES CAN CAUSE INCREASED STOPPING DISTANCES DURING LOW-SPEED BRAKING AND MAY RESULT IN A CRASH. VEHICLES AFFECTED BY THE RECALL INCLUDE THE CHEVROLET AVALANCHE AND SILVERADO PICKUPS AND THE CHEVROLET SUBURBAN AND TAHOE SUVS. THE GMC SIERRA PICKUP AND YUKON AND YUKON XL SUVS ARE ALSO AFFECTED. ALL 804,000 VEHICLES TRUCKS ARE FROM THE 1999-2002 MODEL YEARS, NHTSA SAID. THIS EXACT PROBLEM EXISTS ON MY 1998 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 4X4 PICKUP. I HAVE LIVED WITH THE PROBLEM NOW FOR OVER TWO YEARS AS I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY MECHANICS THAT THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH MY ABS BRAKES THAT THEY CAN FIND. MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN JUST AS STATED ABOVE... MY ABS SYSTEM ENGAGES AT LOW SPEEDS... SUCH AS COMING TO A STOP FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT, STOP SIGN ETC. INITIALLY IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE AND I AM STILL VERY WORRIED THAT IT WILL FAIL AT HIGHER SPEEDS. HOW CAN I GET GM TO HONOR THE RECALL ON 1998 TRUCKS? THIS HAPPENS 95+% OF THE TIME WHEN SLOWING DOWN OR COMING TO A STOP. THANK YOU, JOE MONTAGUE, 845-435-1915 DAYS. *NM

I HAVE A 1998 CHEVY C1500 EXTENDED CAB P/U. IF YOU HOLD NORMAL PRESSURE ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AT A STOP SIGN OR LIGHT, THE PEDAL HOLDS JUST FINE. BUT IF YOU PUSH JUST A LITTLE HARDER, IT GOES DOWN. I HAVE TAKEN IT ALMOST TO THE FLOOR. THERE IS NO BRAKE FLUID LEAKING. IT NEVER GETS LOW. I HAVE PUT A NEW, NOT USED, MASTER CYLINDER FROM AUTOZONE ON IT. IT DOES THE SAME THING. I USED TO BE AN AUTO MECHANIC AT A.K. DURNIN CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH IN BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA. I NOW SELL AUTO PARTS AND I'M TELLING YOU, THIS IS NOT NORMAL. ALSO, IF I HIT THE BRAKES KIND OF HARD, AND THEN LET OFF JUST A LITTLE, IT MAKES A NOISE AND AN UNEVEN BREAKING PATTERN. IT'S THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES, BRAKING AND LETTING OFF, REPETITIVELY. ABOUT LIKE THE RHYTHM OF A JACK HAMMER. OH, I SPENT 3 1/2 YEARS AT THE DODGE DEALER AS A MECHANIC. I DID BRAKES EVERY WEEK. I WAS THE MECHANIC THAT THEY WOULD BRING A CAR TO, WHEN NO ONE ELSE COULD FIX IT RIGHT! *JB