2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Brakes
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
Brakes applied on their own while driving. Before being able to stop the rotors both front and rear were very hot and the smell of burning brake pads was evident. Let the truck shit after getting off the side of the road for a bit. Brakes seemed to release started driving and the brakes applied themselves again. We slowly stop and go drove home a few miles on the side of the road with the flashers on.
Brakes would not release after driving a little ways the brake system failure warning came on. I stopped and killed engine and restarted but it lunged and I lost all braking. I pulled over to side of road and again killed engine a couple minutes I restarted it released. Then drove normal. ????
After driving and doing errands I tried to pull truck into garage and noticed it was hard to move. It seemed like brakes were stuck on despite not applying brakes. I pulled out of driveway to drive around block. Lost all brakes while driving down county road at 50 mph. Check engine light on, brake failure warning on, warning light that speed limited to 43 mph, ABS light on. Eventually able to stop. Turned off engine for a few minutes. Restarted and brakes all worked again although check engine light still on. This could have been deadly on a steep road or on ice or in traffic. I see online that this is a common problem with Chevy trucks although no recall has been issued for this one. I am very concerned that this truck is not safe - for me or anyone else on the road with me. I have not taken it in. I live in the country, some distance from a dealership so nothing has been confirmed. Nothing like this has happened to this truck before and there was no other warning. It is available for inspection but is my only transportation.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the front wheels seized, and the contact was forced to pull over to the side of the road to restart the vehicle. This failure reoccurred a second time and while pulling over the front wheels seized, and the brake pad and rotors were visibly red. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Rear brake inner pads completely worn while outer pads look brand new at 35,000 miles. This appears to be due to the electronic parking brake not releasing quick enough but this condition almost disables the rear brakes and could cause an accident.
This morning it was 16 degrees F I drove about 6 city miles at about 35 mph. I was 1.5 miles from home when leaving a stop light the truck bogged down and was only going up to about 25 mph with the tach at 2000 rpm. It seemed at first that I was driving with the parking brake on but most V8's have enough power to override the parking brake. This acted as if I was pressing hard on the foot brake while driving and giving it a lot of gas. I probably would have had to floor it to go any faster. But was afraid of damaging something. Put on the flashers and drove about 15 mph with the tach at 1500-2000rpm. The dash displayed "Brake system failure 62 mph top speed", "Service ESC", "Parking brake failure" and "Service trailer brake system", The brake pedal was changing its height by itself. Pulled to side of road and pumped the brakes several times, shifted the transmission through park, neutral, reverse and drive and it seemed to operate normally. Pulled onto road and it was bogging down the same. Pulled to side of road again. Then started driving again with flashers on and the tranny shifted as normal, but the brake pedal went to the floor. Pumped the brake pedal and it still went to the floor. Drove slowly while checking the brake occasionally but still went to the floor during the 5 blocks to my driveway. The brake had no effect. My driveway slopes slightly upward so I stopped safely. All four wheel centers and brake rotors were too hot to touch after slowly driving the 1.5 miles this occurred over. About 15 minutes later I turned on the key and the dash displayed "Brake system failure 43 mph top speed", "Service ESC", and "Service trailer brake system". Fortunately there were no vehicles close in front of me when this started and many were behind me when driving with my flashers on due to quite a bit of traffic. This could have been a disaster had it occurred somewhere else. The local Chevrolet dealer that services it has not seen it yet.
Upon entering a roadway from a parking lot I noticed my vehicle struggling to gain speed. I lifted my foot from the gas pedal and the truck rapidly reduced speed, dropping from 25 mph to less than 5mph in a couple of seconds. I then reapplied the gas pedal to attemp to avoid the vehicle approaching from the rear. The truck struggled again to gain speed. I went about 150 yards toward an intersection. I applied the brake and pushed it to the floor as the truck barely slowed to a stop. Had there been any vehicle stopped in front of me I would have hit it and pushed it into the intersection. The dashboard lit up with warning lights and rotating messages such as, Brake system failure 62 mph top speed, Service trailer break.when the traffic light turned green I drove it across the intersection into a parking lot, going about 5 mph for 50 yards. Putting my foot back on the brake as hard as I could. It finally came to a stop about twenty feet farther than it should have. I had it towed to a Chevrolet dealership. They did a diagnostic test and checked all braking components. They found a service bulletin for recalibration of brake system control module. They preformed the calibration and cleared the codes. After reading the many reports of this happening on the NHTSA site and the absolute possibility of injuries and deaths, I find it hard to believe that with knowing this problem exists and it’s disastrous potential, that there has not been a recall after 5 years of complaints.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the brake pad sensor warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the vehicle was not yet diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.
While driving on the interstate, my entire display panel/information queue lit up and my information display issued crazy and bizarre warnings. When this happened (I was traveling around 60 mph) immediately pulled off on an exit only to find that my brakes were out/nonexistent and my emergency break button not responding. Luckily and by the grace of God, there were no other vehicles or pedestrians in my line of travel on this exit, the exit fortunately happened to be on an uphill incline/climb which aided in slowing my truck to slow down to a complete stop, and neither I or any other person or vehicles were harmed during this incident. Was told by the Jim Ellis Chevrolet of Atlanta Chevrolet Service Manager (who by the way was a great help and resource through all of this) informed that there was a software “glitch” that had caused all this to happen. I never was told of or was informed of any software “updates” nor had any Chevrolet Dealer Service Department updated this software “glitch” when my truck was given to them for all GM mileage-tiered full service recommendations.
Brake system lights on dash came on as well as the check engine light. Park light was flashing on the dash. Safety is at risk as parking brake does not work. Took vehicle to dealer and they ran diagnostics. Codes: c0610 05, c0616 5a as per document id: 5709204. They said I need a new Brake System Control Module. Brake System Control Modules are on backorder. Brake System Control Modules have been recalled on Silverados in the past. I'm worried that this is unsafe
rear brake failure on my 2020 silverado..at 25000 miles.. had my truck in to dealer last may (hamilton chevrolet warren mich) for a oil change and rotate tires, also noticed grooves in rear discs..had them check out rear brakes at that time20000 miles,came back ok.had truck in last friday1-26-24 ,oil change tire rotation now at 25000 rear brakes shot ..rear brakes shouldnt be an maint item till 60-80k ..i looked for answers on line seems to be common problem. im 67 owned a lot of vehicles not one required rear brakes this soon . bought this truck new original owner..
Brake calipers on 3 of 4 wheels are trying to lock up. Only 54000 miles on the truck this should not be an issue. Could KILL someone
Trailer brake controls not working. Safety at risk due to electric trailer brakes not working. Other lights and functions work when trailer plugged in.
Was riding down the road and my front left caliber locked up had break fluid running down from the upper reservoir the truck only has 46,000 miles. the truck was immobile had to have it towed and had to get a new caliber and took the shop almost a week to get air out the system breaks are still not 100 percent also rear breaks are having a problem fully releasing as well. Leaves me worried the rear breaks will seize up as well cost me 1000 dollars for the repairs
About a month ago I noticed some intense shaking in my 2020 Silverado 1500 RST when braking. The shaking is not only felt in the seat and steering wheel, but is also observable in the dash and in the gear shifter. Due to the obvious concern, I made an appointment with the dealer who, after inspection, stated that all 4 rotors were warped due to overheating. I mostly use the truck on the highway, tow a river raft (easily carried by 2 people) on a small trailer 2 times a year (about 70 miles roundtrip), have never used the bed with excess weight, do not ride my brakes when driving, and I live in Alaska where the temperature is cool (high temps rarely exceeding mid 60's). The brake status report on my dash presently shows my original brake pad life to be 83% on the front and 89% on the rear which was inline with the dealer report that the brake pads were still quite thick. These prove that the brakes have not been overused or abused. According to Kaufman and Associates website, "General Motors is recalling over 350,000 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GM Sierra pick-up trucks due to a fault in the brake system....The issue involved a lack of heat-treatment for the bolts used to attach both the front and rear calipers.....The issue comes down to long-term performance and safety....Untreated bolts run the risk of breaking under loads, and this can result in braking issues, wheel rotation problems, and internal damage to other parts of the truck. These trucks also suffered from brake system control module and premature brake wear issues, and countless owners have reported brake system issues as varied as check engine lights to outright brake failure." According to the local dealer, my VIN isn't included in the recall and they cannot fix it until it is included (or I dish out $2k). It seems obvious that the issue in my truck is the same that led to the recall of the other 350,000 trucks and I simply need my VIN added so that it can be fixed before catastrophic brake failure.
First I I’d notice my pedal kick every once in a while then pulling into driveway all warnings kicked on and truck was hard to stop almost hitting garage. I got engine light, traction control light, and brake light ,service ecs,brake system failure 43mph max speed , service brake assist
Brake system failure. While driving vehicle, brake system and traction control stopped working. Vehicle was then limited to 62 MPH. Almost no braking available and pedal needed to be pushed very hardly to the floor.
ABS light came on during breaking to avoid an accident and did not break the vehicle at all. Now there is a alert on the Driver Information Center(DIC) stating a break system failure.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while stopped in her driveway, the vehicle started rolling forward. The brake pedal was depressed aggressively several times however, the brakes failed to respond. After several attempts, the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the mechanic stated that the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, there was no response. The failure mileage was 14,562.
My 2020 Trail Boss recently had a break fail on the front right. The brakes are metal to metal and the brake sensor is reading 54% brake life left. GM says that there is only one brake sensor on the front of the truck and its on the right hand side. When I spoke to Chevy customer service I was told they have received several calls regarding this matter. Chevy service department is saying there is nothing wrong with any of the equipment, but I find it hard to believe that brakes wear this way normally. If they did I would think Chevy would have 2 brake sensors for each wheel.
Esc light comes on brake systems failure max speed 62 mph and tralier brake systems. Abs light , engine light, traction light all come on
While driving home in my neighbor I was approaching vehicle ahead of me which was stopped. I applied the break pedal which went loosely all the way to ground and unresponsive. Due to my inability to stop on time I rear ended the vehicle. No warning that there was an issue with my breaks what so ever. The only thing that I did have going on was my trucks front panel (gauges & stereo screen) weren't functioning. I went to turn on my pick up and it behaved as if battery was dead. I let it sit for a few minutes and attempted to start it once again and it started right up. The issue was the stereo screen stayed black and only the fuel gauge and speedometer were functioning. In the end I ended up being at fault in the accident and reported it to my insurance.
While towing at a GCWR of over 29,000 pounds, my truck displayed the “check trailer wiring“ message on the DIC. I’m glad that my vehicle alerted me to a situation with the trailer wiring, however, when this message is displayed it completely shuts off the brake output to the trailer brakes. It was incredibly nerve-racking and quite dangerous when traveling 70 mph down the freeway and then suddenly hitting traffic and realizing I had zero trailer brakes to assist me in stopping to avoid an accident. Once I was able to return home, I pulled the breakaway pin on the trailer and all brakes worked perfectly fine. I then pulled all the hubs on the trailer axles and found one brake magnet had wore down to the coil. Obviously this is an issue and needs to be replaced, but the fact that my truck cut break output to all the brakes completely is very dangerous and unacceptable. This is a serious safety issue since there is nothing that can be done while on the road to fix this. If I had been traveling in the mountains as I will be next week, this could easily have caused a much more serious situation. This situation has been discussed among other owners of the same vehicle who experienced the same situation. There is a message that comes up on the DIC, but at that point it’s too late since the trailer brakes are already turned off by the vehicle. It seems to me that unless there is a serious short or the truck senses and extremely high amperage overload that it should continue work and send brake power to a trailer even if there is one single component that fails. That is the way that brake controllers have worked since they were invented, and now this new “Integrated Trailer Brake Controller” is much less safe.
MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF SERVICE ESC, SERVICE PARKING BRAKE AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON. THE BRAKES ARE THEN AFFECTED AND ARE TOUGH TO PRESS CAUSING THE BRAKING TO BE SLOWED DOWN AND THE ABS KICKED ON WHILE IN MOTION.
DROVE TO WORK NO ISSUES NO LIGHTS AFTER WORK I START THE TRUCK CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON SERVICE EBRAKE LIGHT IS ON AND THE EBRAKE LIGHT IS FLASHING TRUCK WILL NOT MOVE EBRAKE IS STUCK ON AND I DID NOT SET THE BRAKE WHEN I PARKED
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Quick Summary
The 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 has 38 Brakes complaints on file. 2 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.