ever since i took my car to midas to have the brakes inspected, there has been a rattleing(or clunking) noise comeing from the rear end. it sounds like one of the calipers got loose and is banging around all over the place. i took off both tires myself and they were on really tight and everything looked totaly fine..... the guys at midas said the brakes were in good condition too. wtf is with this? my brakes were fine untill now. i dont feel like going back to midas and complaining because i was in the shop watching the whole thing and they didnt do anything unusual to it. plus im just not the type of guy who enjoys raising hell in public places. what could this noise be? it makes the brake peddle shake too when it happens. also it doesnt happen ALL the time, just about 60-70% of the time im driveing around

 

Maybe I can help. I just need more info. It probably not the brakes.

 

could be a bad rotor.. maybe a loose pad or something like that..

 

Dude........my 92 Firebird did that with the front brake caliper....when i got it fixed the brake shoe was split in half and the clip holding them on was missing and one of the sleeves was busted and rotor was warped ..... , mine was an intemittant problem also only noticed it when i would drive 40 miles per hour and under.....once i had ( new rotors/pads/hardware) installed no more noise.......good luck......

 

I have a similar problem to that. It's a noise coming from the rear like a clunk when I come to a stop or a clunking noise when I go over bumps on the road. The shocks were checked and fine, and the rear shoes are new and fine. The only thing I figure it could be is the parking brake is out of adjustment. I will see when I take it in to have it looked into in depth.

 

yeah, but i took my car in and actualy had it inspected, they said the brakes were ok, shortly after that it started happening. i checked out all 4 wheels myself, the calipers and pads look fine and are firmly in place. it just doesnt make sence for this to be happening, could it be the shocks or struts? it ONLY happens when i apply the brakes under around 40km's it almost sounds like its comeing from the dead center of the car at the back.

 

i know for a fact my parking brake is total crap and doesnt work at all, could that have something to do with it?

 

i guess check under the car again, could be a parking brake cable moving around, the only thing i can think of thats dead denter on the rear end of the car would be where the torque arms hooks up to the rear end, and the driveshaft.

also maybe could be something on the exhuast, or gas tank area; loose.

 

They found my parking brake out of adjustment and a lot of brake dust inside the drums. They cleaned it out and adjusted the parking brake. In my case I've been told that the pinion and ring gear could be either worn or out of alignment. Hopefully it is just meshing out of alignment.

As for your parking brake, according to my 1988 GM Service manual it says this:

"After adjustment is performed, parking brake hand lever should travel 14 clicks. Rear wheels should not rotate forward when hand lever is applied 8 to 14 ratchet clicks...

Need for parking brake adjustment is indicated if the hydraulic brake system operates with good reserve, but the parking brake hand level travel is less than 14 ratchet clicks or more than 17 ratchet clicks."

That's at least what the manual says, I would assume every professionally done brake job would adjust it but with my car I know it was never done with the brake job.