Squeaking Brakes

[ohnoitsyu]

My '06 truck has 28k miles on it. A few weeks ago, the brakes started squeaking on the driver's side as I come to a stop. I immediately assumed that it was the wear indicators, so I bought new front pads from the dealer (for $130+tax #@$%! ).



I pulled the front apart to inspect the pads, and to my surprise the original were only half worn. They had plenty of life left in them. This was much better than my '98 1500 that only got 15k miles to a set of front pads.



I cleaned and applied caliper grease to the anti-rattle springs, and applied some orange gunk (sorry, I forgot what it's called) to the back of the pads. I assumed that would fix it.



Wrong. Still squeakin'.



I assumed that maybe my directionial hearing wasn't very good, and that it was the rear brake. I did the same procedure as above to the rear brake. Problem solved? Nope.



Granted, I have only been working on the driver's side, since I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from. Other than it possibly being the other side, does anyone have any suggestions?



Stupid trivia... Something I found kind of interesting in the Dodge service manual is that on the LD and SRT10, they use the term brake pads, but on the HD, they call them brake shoes. Even though they show illustrations of discs/pads, someone should tell the service manual writers at Dodge that they don't use drum brakes front and rear of the HD trucks for primary braking (parking brake is drum).

 

[Grizzly]

Sounds like one or some of the pads are glazed due to very hard braking at some time. Squeaking doesn't mean anything. A Screeching sound, on the other hand, is when you need to change pads.

 

[RDusch]

Just lube the caliper slides, i have to do mine about every 7-8 months or they will start to squeel.

Rick

 

[ohnoitsyu]

I suspected glazing, but the pads appear to have a regular finish - virtually the same as the new pads, actually.



Also, the pins float freely.



Now that I know it's not the wear-indicators, I understand that the squeaking is not a sign of an actual problem. But it sure is annoying! #@$%!

 

[ohnoitsyu]

Anyone else have any suggestions?



If it is glazing, how do I get rid of it?

 

[RJOL]

I had the squeaking in my 2001. I changed out the pads to "carbon metallics" and I still had the problem. Mine only stopped with I sold the truck... :-laf

 

[ohnoitsyu]

Bueller?







Bueller?

 

[ohnoitsyu]

Well, it's interesting to note that no one has had squeaking brakes or has ever resolved squeaking brakes by means other than replacing the truck.



I guess, as usual, I'll have to resort to the mountain bikes forums for Dodge info. I've had far better results there than here.

 

[RDusch]

Actually i told you how to solve your problem, but every body wants to overlook the simple solutions.

Rick

 

[ohnoitsyu]

Actually i told you how to solve your problem, but every body wants to overlook the simple solutions.



Rick

I tried that, but it didn't help.

 

[Grizzly]

If a squeak is all it is, ignore it. It'll go away on it's own.

 

[ohnoitsyu]

That's what I thought! It's been doing this for over 5k miles! It so annoying coming to a stop with squeaky brakes. If I could tolerate squeaks (and rattles), I would have bought a ford or chevy.





Not really... I still wouldn't buy a ford or chevy. Although anything without squeaky brakes would be nice. :{

 

[Grizzly]

I do understand your problem. The only thing I can think of to do is to do extensive research. Talk to every brake repair shop in town. Tell them you don't want to take it in, you just want to know what to do to fix the squeaking. LA is a hugh area, so there should be plenty of shops. Also call all the dealers in the area. Call Ford and Chevy dealers too. Also, do some research on the internet. That's all I can think of, keep us informed as to the fix when you find it.

 

[bighammer]

Did you check the rears? It seems I've heard of them wearing out first for some reason.

 

[100 Proof]

Try putting a chamfer on the leading edge of the pads with a file. That is an old trick that brake mechanics did for years to eliminate squeaking on disk brakes before the systems got better at being squeak resistant.



Please advise us of your results.



100 Proof

 

[ohnoitsyu]

Did you check the rears? It seems I've heard of them wearing out first for some reason.

After spending a few times working on the fronts, I figured my "directional hearing" wasn't very good, and so I moved onto the rear brakes. The rear brakes are wearing nicely and probably about the same rate as the fronts. This seems kind of unusual, since I'm used to replacing two to three sets of front pads to one pair of rear shoes on my old 1500.



Unfortunately, I don't have the time to chase around or even call shops. I have a normal 8:30 to 6 job with an hour commute each way. Although I can freely use the internet while at work, using the phone is a bit difficult. And as you know, most places simply would say to bring in the truck. I can respect that.



100proof: I forgot about that chamfering trick. That often works with the leading or trailing edge is squared off. However, the front and rear pads have not worn past the original chamfer, so I don't think that will help yet.

 

[Red Rocket]

I am having this same problem, and I am really close to doing something about it... . Did you figure it out?



Nick

 

[bcdiesel]

Mine did this last summer and finally went away with the winter. Now that the warmer weather is back they squeal again. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I believe the ambient temperature may have something to do with mine. No idea what the solution is, but I haven't had time to be bothered as of yet due to other priorities. I'll probably start with the suggestions here by greasing the slides and filing the edges.

 

[DRyder]

The problem can be attributed to several causes. I worked at a local Midas, stay far away from them by the way, and would have complaints about brake squeal commonly. The fix was to change the pads and turn the front rotors. This would magically fix the problem. Inspection of the pads would always show little to no defect and the rotor would only show signs of minor grooving. I spoke with the wise old shop owl and he attributed the squeal to the new material contained within the pad. Apparently the dust tends to cake instead of disperse during wear, this generally becomes lodged within the grove/s where gasses are designed to be vented, this in turn makes the gasses collect and disburse unevenly around the pad making it vibrate like a guitar string, thus your squeak. As noted by bcdiesel, the ambient temp. matters due to the cooling effect of the air flowing thru the rotor; hot summer air has a harder time cooling the rotors so pads warm up faster thus making gasses sooner in the breaking cycle. If you look at most new pads they have a groove in the middle of the pad, but for obvious structural stability reasons stop after the first 1/3 leaving the pad completely flat. Were your pads worn down smooth? Did you notice a gummed dust on the trailing edge of the pad? If so replace the pad, turn the rotor if needed and good chance you will stop your squeak. Hope this helps.

 

[bcdiesel]

In my case the factory brakes never made a noise. I've replaced the fronts last summer with Raybestos pads and did not turn the rotors as they visually looked decent enough to me. One day I'll take the time to investigate them again. And thanks DRyder for the above explanation, that does make sense.