Whenever it rains my brakes feel like there not catching very much. I have to mash the brakes at speeds above 50 mph just for the brakes to catch, but at speeds below 45 or so they seem to catch pretty good. When it's dry out they work great.
So do guys think it's my pads and rotors or maybe moister in the lines? But my thought on the moisture in the lines is if whenever the humdity went up wouldent the same thing happen? But it dosent, they still work great. Thanks.

 

Make sure you have good conditioned pads and rotors and that your hydraulic system is air and moisture free now that thats done.... There is one big trick ive learned: you need to apply light pressure every now and then to keep the rotors as dry as possible. I guerss when you hit the brakes it whipes the rotors somewhat clean. You need to do this especially when you go through puddles. You dont really need to stop just lightly push the pedal every so often. Also, do this way before any and all stop signs and lights.

You could also try slotted/drilled rotors but i dont know if its just for looks or are they really as effective as they say at not fading in the rain.

 

Not sure if the brakes in question are LT1 or LS1 brakes, but LT1 brakes are notoriously bad in the rain compared to LS1 brakes. I hated stopping inthe rain with my old LT1 brakes but now with my LS1 brakes and slotted and dimpled rotors, its great, same as when dry basically.

 

Get used to it, thats just the way they are, there is nothing wrong with your system. Mine has been like this since the day I bought it new, it now has 210000 miles. I know its like that and drive accordingly.
Ron

 

Slotted/drilled rotors are used to dissipate heat more efficiently, helping to prevent warped rotors, etc.

Knowing LT1 brakes, it's probably normal, just don't mash on the brakes and try to keep the rotors dry (don't play in the puddles )

 

I would suspect your tires more than the brakes. The reason is these cars will lock the brakes enough to engage ABS in the dry, which leads me to think they can do it in the rain.

If it is the brakes, then what pads do you have?

 

I'm not sure about this Chuck. If ABS kicked in, he would know it (pedal drops and vibrates, and you can hear the solenoids clicking). Correct me if I'm wrong however. I highly doubt he is braking THAT hard but if he is then he should definitely work on anticipating braking in the rain

 

Thats a heated debate.


Sounds like bake pads though, make sure they arent worn to much, and make sure you rotors arent scored, if they are it could mean its siezed and just dragging.

 

My LT1 brakes did the same thing. I beleive you're feeling the water vapor trapped between he pad and rotor that fianlly goes away after they heat up some. I know I could wash my car and they were terrible for the first one or two times I would step on the pedal. I now have C5 brakes with slotted rotors and don't feel that at all. I believe the slots help to dissipate the vapor by giving it an easy path to escape. Since water isn't compressable, it would prevent the pad from making full contact with the rotor.

 

did you use the bob bishop bracket for the brakes? I'd love C5 brakes too

 

Yes, Bob's brackets.

I actually used the GM slotted and cross drilled Z06 rotors. I now have "blinging" holes in my brakes!

Here are the calipers and rotors, all GM parts: