Parking brake does not work. Parking brake pads were replaced but still does not work.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that while attempting to park with the trailer attached to the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard and the emergency brake also failed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 135,000...updated 10/19/11 the consumer stated the problem was with the emergency brake only. The brake shoes for the emergency brake, drag and wear out completely, even if the emergency brake pedal is never used. Updated 10/21/11

- Hampton , VA, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that while the parking brake was engaged, the vehicle began to roll; the contact stated that the parking brake would not hold and could result in a crash. The brake was replaced once by the dealer but the failure continued. The contact referenced recall 05V161000 but the year, make and model was not included. The failure mileage was 90,171.

- Maryville, TN, USA

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"

- Mountain Home, ID, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. When the contact first purchased the vehicle, he noticed that the parking brake would not hold. The vehicle continued to roll when the brake was engaged. He took the vehicle to the dealer and they tightened an unspecified component. The vehicle passed inspection, but the failure worsened afterwards. The dealer could not determine the cause of the failure. The issue occurred every time he attempted to apply the parking brake. The manufacturer was not notified. The current mileage was approximately 75,000 and failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

- Long Valley, NJ, USA

2002 Suburban parking brake has failed for the second time at 77K mile. Now they have begun lock and have to be reset a couple times to get them to release. A loud squeal accompanies before it releases. Parking brake pedal is to the floor. Truck still has original disk brakes all around.

- Ashville, AL, USA

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.

- Lompoc, CA, USA

Emergency brake failure on my 2002 Chevrolet Suburban. The same thing happened on my son-in-law's 2002 chev. Suburban. Neither of us knew this until we took our vehicles in for a state inspection sticker & it failed inspection. Was told there was a service bulletin on this problem but GMC did not take any responsibility. We both, had the repair done at our expense.

- Burleson, TX, USA

I was unable to have my 2002 Suburban inspected. The parking brake band on the drivers side had to be replaced as well as the brake drum this December. My vehicle only has 92K miles. My father-in-law has the same year/make vehicle and he had to have his parking brake replaced, but on the passenger side. His vehicle only has 76K miles. Chevrolet has a service bulletin out that this model vehicle is prone to this problem, yet will not take responsibility for repairs or replacement.

- Ft Mcpherson, GA, USA

This in reference to a closed NHTSA action # DP05009. After a parking brake failure that occurred on this 2002 Chevy Suburban with 54,000 miles on it, in November, I looked into similar situations with other Suburban owners and of the 3 I found, 2 in South Carolina, and one in Indiana, all had similar parking brake problems. When I brought my vehicle to the dealer for repair, I was told there were no recalls or safety notices regarding this problem. After reviewing your NHTSA site, I see that this problem was addressed and closed but only applied to vehicle with manual transmissions, even though the problem was in automatic models too, which was apparently glossed over because of the percentage of roll away incidents. This problem is still out there, and Chevy denies it. Chevy needs to acknowledge this as a series wide problem and fix it on a recall basis. The insulting thing about this is the dealership acts like it is something new, and perhaps I was leaving the parking brake on all the time. It is not new, and I have never driven away with the parking brake on in my life. And we wonder why the american auto industry is failing to attract customers.

- Hendersonville, NC, USA

Emergency brake wasn't working when I purchased the vehicle. I didn't know it at the time. I was told that there was a problem with the emergency brakes and that there may be a recall to fix the problem. I purchased it on 10-15-2005. The mileage was 64095. Mileage now is 70129. I would always use the brake with my grandkids in the vehicle so it wouldn't move. Now I found out that I never had one for some reason. Need it fixed if all possible.

- Portageville, MO, USA

Failure of parking brake discovered by state inspection. Parking brake was in total failure and had to be replaced before vehicle could be passed. Parking brake was stuck in the open position causing brake rotors to excessively wear. Repair/replacement of parking brake was required along with new brake rotors. The parking brake was never engaged from time of purchase at new dealership to time of failure at inspection station.

- Katy, TX, USA

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.

- Spruce Pine, NC, USA

Failed Texas inspection due to parking brake not holding vehicle on 2002 Chevrolet Suburban; told by inspector 99% of Chevy's fail for this reason; widespread problem; I am scheduled to have fixed this weekend so I can pass inspection.

- Cypress, TX, USA

: the contact stated while on an incline, the parking brake did not hold. This parking brake has only been used twice since purchase. The dealership determined the parking brake lining was worn out and the parking brake shoes need to be replaced. The wear occurred because the brake shoes do not fully release after use.

- Cynthiana, KY, USA

Complaint regarding safety recall warning of corrosion defect in 2002 Suburban. This could cause front hub/bearing assembly and wheel speed sensor to fail. Recall campaign#05V379000. The consumer experienced exactly what the recall described. The consumer requested reimbursement. The consumer found that the rear brake backing plates would not hold. The rear brake backing plates were completely corroded along with the rear emergency brake and they needed replacement. Updated 02/13/06.

- Morristown, NJ, USA

Have a 2002 Chevy Suburban 1500 ls. Took vehicle in for inspection, but failed due to emergency or parking brake would not hold in drive. It does hold in reverse. I contacted my dealer and they know all about this problem, they say it can not be adjusted, but must replace brakes, maybe rotors, etc at a cost of ~$800. I searched web, there is not a recall, but lots of complaints. There is also a class action suit out of tx" what should I do"

- Zachary, LA, USA

2002 Chevrolet Suburban, full size, 1500 half ton, 4X4, lt the emergency/parking brake has failed for the second time. The emergency/parking brakes do not hold even on a slight incline. The first emergency/parking brake failure was noted on 8/29/2003 at 25,930 miles. The repair ticket noted that the parking brake shoes were improperly adjusted, and GM repaired the problem at no charge under warranty. The second emergency/parking brake failure was noted around 11/1/2005 at appx 40,050 miles. The second failure was the exact same problem as the first failure. This time the GM dealer said that the emergency/parking brake shoes were worn out and charged us $273.18 to repair the problem. The repairs for the second failure consisted of total replacement of the emergency/parking brake shoes. We have kept the replaced failed brake shoes. Note: In normal usage of this vehicle, the emergency/parking brakes are rarely engaged. The vehicle is normally parked in a level, heated garage, transmission set in park, emergency/parking brake never set/engaged. With the first failure at 25,930 miles and the second failure just appx 15,000 miles later, we suspect that there is possibly some design or component fault and a very pre-mature failure problem. Also given the available facts, it looks like the original warranty repair for the first failure was possibly substandard in that the emergency/parking brake shoes were merely re-adjusted, when they should have been replaced. In addition, in the owners manual there is no mention of the emergency/parking brakes ever needing adjustments.

- Billings, MT, USA

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.

- Tampa, FL, USA

2002 Chevy sububran 1500ls. The parking brake is ineffective and has been since purchased the vehicle. Bought this used, but about a week later after purchase. Did take to a dealer from where it was purchased. The dealer thought that the brake was examined, and that the parking brake was okay, and should hold a vehicle on a slope. Over the last few months have decided the parking brake was a problem. There was a slope in driveway, tested, and found that it did not work. Did not take back to dealer, but owner felt it was a design defect.

- Ypsilanti, MI, USA