Squealing brakes at low speed

Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
153
Location
KC MO
I recently installed new Raybestos pads on macined rotors on an 08 GMC and now I get a squeaking at low, parking lot speeds. I have taken them apart and checked contact points for corrosion again and relubed. Thought I had it fixed and next day It it’s still there. It’s not constant though, it comes and goes and seems at this point to occur after driving for some distance and rarely when they are completely cold from sitting. Before the install I had 0 problems. Any suggestions?
 
The only advise we can offer is pretty much what you have most likely already done. Without seeing/doing it ourselves, we can only shoot from the hip. Seems like there may be some rust build-up that you may have missed, causing the squeal to come & go with heat/cool? IDK! :unsure:

Did you also remove any rust in the caliper hold down bar where the anti-rattle hardware clip in...that the ears of the pads slide into?
You mentioned having the rotors machined!
Did you clean off the rust from the hub and the mating surface and from behind those rotors where they meet that hub?
IDK!

I don't machine rotors anymore. My BIL has a lathe in his garage and he can turn rotors for me. However it only bought me ~6 months and I'd have to slap on new rotors anyway. So, I just put on new rotors when doing pads. PLUS, we use lot of road salt during the winter in my area. IDK about KC winters.
 
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You shouldn't have to with consumer level pads, but did you perform any bedding of the pads/rotors? Sometimes that can help with minor squeaking issues.
 
Lightly grease the backing plates of the pads and/or the caliper piston face.
Grind a slight chamfer onto the leading edge of the pads' braking material.
 
I installed Reybestos Element 3 brakes on my daughter’s car and went through the same thing. After removing them and going through it again, nothing changed.
I yanked the garbage out and replaced them with Carquest Platinum pads and rotors and the issue was resolved. I can’t explain why the Reybestos brakes acted that way, but they did.
 
i cleaned the caliper bracket behind the new clips and the rotor / hub face on the initial install as usual. Finished the install, and bedded them in. At first I assumed any noise was just wearing into the machines surface of the rotors but after a couple weeks it was still there. Tried washing and cleaning thinking it might just be brake dust or debris somewhere but nothing. Pulled the pads off, relubed the caliper to pad contacts and also libed between shim and pad itself. At first this seemed to do it but the next day the squeak was back. I have tried chamfering the leading edge yet but perhaps that is next.

It had Carquest platinum pads on it, were ok but have had good luck with EHT on other vehicles so went with those for 1/3 the price.
 
Does it have slider pins? Did you clean the bore? I had funny noise once and it turned out to be gummed up bore. Made the caliper sit funny in some cases.
 
Not completely, They were feee and looked good so I just wiped the pin off and put some new lube on them.
 
I guess I’ll see how it goes for a little longer. They are working fine, smooth and seem to grab well just noisy at times.

I put the same EHT pads on a car all around that typically had weak annoying brakes and they were the smoothest quietest best stopping brakes it ever had, so kinda disappointed this time around but it’s a different type vehicle too.
 
I think I may have figured it out. I took it apart again after maybe 1000 miles now and found the pads had this slight burr folded over the edge all around them. Haven’t paid attention but I don’t remember having this in other pads before. I don’t know why it’s happening but I think this little edge is causing the noise under light braking. I scraped the edge off, relubed back of the shims and now it’s quiet as a mouse for the time being. It’s almost like the pad is too soft and melting around the edge versus breaking free or dusting away.

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My Hail Mary is this. Let the rotor free-spin while scoring up both sides with a belt sander. Flip it over on the axle and get the back side. Do it plenty.

Add CRC anti-squeal also. Make sure the slides and shims are greased.

If that fails, replace pads.
 
I recently installed new Raybestos pads on macined rotors on an 08 GMC and now I get a squeaking at low, parking lot speeds. I have taken them apart and checked contact points for corrosion again and relubed. Thought I had it fixed and next day It it’s still there. It’s not constant though, it comes and goes and seems at this point to occur after driving for some distance and rarely when they are completely cold from sitting. Before the install I had 0 problems. Any suggestions?
Some pads squeal when cold due to the brake pad material.
 
That’s what’s odd about these, originally they were quite cold then squealed when warm/hot. First few stops of the day were always quiet. Then I noticed that when they squealed stopping forward motion if you then back up and stop a few times they would then be quiet for a few stops in forward again. Thats why I took another look and noticed the edge of the pad, maybe that’s not the issue but so far today after driving 30-40 miles they are still quiet. Fingers crossed and I if it comes back I will first check the pads again. It’s almost like the pad is soft and instead of dusting off it’s slightly melting the edge and forming that burr all around. Next step will be new pads, but want to try and use this if it stays quiet.
 
Some pads just squeak on certain applications. I installed ebc red stuff on an 09 Altima and dead silent. The same pads installed exactly the same way on my 21 Altima and they will break windows while in reverse. I’m going to ditch these over the holiday break if time allows. The bite is phenomenal but seeing people shriek when I back out of a parking spot is embarrassing.
 
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