Brakes are Noisy

[outdoorphotog]

I noticed my fronts are pretty noisey when warm, sounds like an old cab driving around.

Kind of embarassing

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[MasiJC]

**Update

I think it's weather related.
Temps in NJ were in the upper 60s and the brake noise hasn't happened in a few days.

Pretty strange but I'm not complaining

Almost 1 year later the noisy brakes are back.
I only have ~14k on the truck. Will give it a few days and see if it "fixes itself" like it did last year...

 

[TexasTrash]

I’ve had squeaking brakes since day 1, they just keep saying it’s normal and when they “inspect” the brakes, they found nothing. 31k miles in and I’m sure at 36k miles, they will find the problem and want to fix it since it will cost me.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Squeaky brakes especially when new are typically the result of improperly installed anti-rattle clips or harmonic vibrations between the caliper pistons and pads. It's an old school easy fix if you have some basic tools. Sadly something most dealerships don't do anymore since it's not in the repair manuals they get from the factory.

Go to the local auto parts store and get some anti-seize compound and disk brake adhesive compound. For the compound, either the spray or Red toothpaste like stuff from CRC will work. Jack the truck up, pull off the front tires and unbolt the caliper so you can remove the pads. Liberally apply the anti-seize to the flat surfaces where the two tabs on the brake pads rest on the caliper bracket. You want a nice good coating, but not too much. Next clean the backs of the brake pads especially where the caliper pistons made contact, this will be the ring visible on the back on the brake pad. BrakeClean and a paper towel work wonders. Depending on the type of disk brake quiet product you bought, either spray or apply the liquid compound in the area where the pad and caliper piston meet. If using the spray you may need to apply a couple coats and wait a few minutes before reassembly. Once the compound is very sticky reinstall the pads and anti-rattle clips. Position the caliper back into place and apply anti-seize to the caliper pins and tighten everything back down. Repeat this on the other side and put everything back together. Be sure to pump the brake pedal a few times as the caliper pistons can often get compressed when removing the calipers. Take the truck for a test drive and see how it goes.

Other things that can cause brake squeak are the pads themselves having larger than average metal shavings in them, glazed pads/rotors, or improperly positioned wear tabs. You cannot really do anything about the metal shavings in the pads, if seen in a visual inspection of the wear surface of the pads. Try a different brand of pad if it bothers you that much.

Glazed pads/rotors is caused by repeated occurrences of heavy braking and can lead to brake squeal, but its not as common. Glazed brakes usually creates that deep groaning sound when letting the vehicle slowly inch forward at say a traffic light. It can also impact brake performance if it is severe enough. The brake rotors will have a very reflective surface and have a blueish hue to them. You can de-glaze the rotors and pads with emery cloth. Just get a cordless drill, a sanding disk attachment and some peal-stick emery paper. Pull the calipers and pads off, start the drill up and apply moderate pressure to the rotor surface while turning the rotor. You may or may not need a second set of hands for this. What you want is to lightly sand the surface to a dull circular pattern across the rotor surface on both sides of each rotor. Then lightly run the sanding disk over the brake pad wear surface. After that reinstall everything and go perform a brake bedding procedure.

Hope this helps.

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