Well, heres the deal

today, I noticed this weird noise coming from the right rear wheel area. The noise is barely audible with the windows rolled up, but when I rolled them down to have a smoke I noticed it. Then, I kept them down for the remainder of the ride. On this latest ride today, I kept the windows down again. It made the noise still, but it got alot worse on the ride home.

The best way I can describe the noise is a metal on metal type "screeching" noise. It only happens over bumps, or potholes, or anything that really jogs the suspension, like in a low gear, you kinda abruptly hit the gas, and the car almsot bucks forward a little. It doesent keep going or anything, just a real short squeaking noise, but not squeaking like rubber. Like metal or something. Very high pitched.

I sprayed my LCA bushings with WD-40 since they have been squeaking from my SFC install. I can make them squeak by pushing on the rear fender. This is different though.

I was able to somewhat simulate the noise, by parking flat and level in the garage, with the e-brake on, and if I push the passenger rear tire towards the back of the car, it will make a quieter version of the noise. Not that the tire moves much, the LCA is still doing its job. But it also does it if you Kick the tire backwards too. Without the e-brake set, it doesent make the noise.

On the last trip home, the noise was getting worse I said. So, I lightly applied some e-brake at about 35mph, and the squeaking got really loud, and didnt go away for a few seconds (I didnt leave the e-brake up, just a light tug). Then, I went over a bump and the noise disappeared. All the way up my road to my house, even trying the e-brake again, it didnt make a sound.

Any insight would be most helpful. Oh, and I have a LO3, T5, 10-bolt 3.08 drum rear.

 

Just taking a poke... given any thought to popping the rear brake drum off, checking the hardware?

 

Yeah I think I might do that, but last time I had them off they still had like 80% life on the shoes. Also, I need to pick up a can of brakleen first lol im out.

 

Well, I pulled off the wheel and the drum, and sprayed it with brake cleaner. There didnt appear to be any problems, everything is connected and working. Also, I sprayed all the bushings better with oil: panhard, lower shock, control arm ect.

The minute I pulled out of the driveway, it started making the noise just as bad as ever. My mom could hear it from the front porch.

A little ways down the road, I hit a bump and it stopped again. I went to the parking lot, and adjusted the brakes by going in reverse, then pumping the pedal to slow down.

On the way back up my road, it started making the noise again. Not as bad as before, but enough that I can notice it.

 

Well, the noise is back in full blast again. It goes away intermittenly, but always comes back.

One thing I noticed, it doesent change at all with speed. It sounds exactly the same from like 10mph through 50mph (as fast as I went).

 

I don't now the name of the part, but the "housing" that the UV joint mounts into, the bearing that rides in, going into the rear-end. Have you given it a glance, looking for worn or shiny metal? Any flakes?

I'm thinking as the rear end moves up and down, and left and right as you pressed on one tire, it could be moving it just enough, to give you the squeak you're hearing.

Then again, I could be totally wrong, but hey, it's an idea.

 

You mean the U-joint on the driveshaft, on the pinion side? I will need to look at that.

Is there any way to lube u-joints, or does it just ride dry?

 

If youre U-joints have grease fittings then then you can lube them. If not they are nedel bearings & if they wear out you have to replace them. A ggod way to check the u-joint is to jack up the rear, make sure its in park & try to rotate the shaft. If their is alot of play its time to change it.

If the problem still persits, it may be a rearend problem. I may be wrong

 

Well, how long do driveshaft's usually last? Mine is origional, but only has 56,000 miles.

Other than that, the only suggestion I have had, is maybe a roller in one of the axle bearings got hung up. But that would break the bank lol. I would porbably just park the car for a while, and get rides from friends.

 

Well jack up the rearend, put it on jack stands, block the front tires, start the car, put it in gear, see if the noise is their, take tires off, put 1 lug nut on the axel to hold in drum & start car & see if noise is their . then you can try process of elimination.

 

I will have to try that when I get some more free time... good idea.

However, I dont think it will do it, because it seems to be triggered by bumps or jolts in the road.

I took the car out today, and I still made the noise, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. It only happend a few short times when I hit some bumps. So either it is fixing itself, or it is one of the bushings or something that has been affected by the warm damp weather.

I think that sounds too good to be true though. Last night, the noise really sounded like a loud metallic "dragging" noise. The best way I can describe it is: imagine the noise your front brakes make, if the pads are gone, and the metal studs are hitting the rotors. Now make that noise twice as high-pitched, and 3 times as loud.

BTW thanks for the continued help guys. It is important that I can keep driving the car - its my only transportation, so is important to me.
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Actually, I found a better way to describe the noise. If you have ever worked in a shop, you know the noise the brake lathe makes when it is cutting a rotor. Also, if you dont put the rubber band around it, it makes that high pitch whistle. That is really similar to my noise.

 

Maybe there bearings in the rear end are bad, my dodge dakota did that till i replaced those bearings, could also be a bad wheel bearing.

 

I had brakes before that had a sensor in the back and when they where starting to go bad it would make the nastiest noise to let you know they where almost done. It was like a metal on metal screaching noise.

 

Noises at night are louder because their are no other noises cancelling them out, so sometimes it may sound louder at night then the day time. It could anything from wheel bearings to carrier, but problems don't fix them selves. Im thinking its a rearend thing.

 

Well this noise is loud both day and night. If you are driving over a bridge, or by a guardrail or something, and have the passenger window down, you almost have to cover your ears because the sound gets reflected back in the window.

Yesterday, the rain seemed to keep it quiet. It would only chirp once and a while. Nothing major.

Today, it was fine in the morning. As the couuld tapered off, and the roads dried up, it started making the noise worse and worse. On the highway just now, the noise was almost continuous. So it seems like speed doesent affect the tone or volume at all, but it affects the amount and duration of occurances of noise.

I just put the back axle tubes on jackstands, and now it wont make the noise in ant gear, in the garage. But it makes the noise really bad driving. I dont get it.

 

This sounds identical to the problem I had with the rear brakes.

 

Alright you were right, I guess. I dont have rear discs, so I decided to check the front brakes. For whatever reason, the front right wear tab is dragging on the rotor, but the pad is still at least 3/16" thick!

I need to find a way to break it off.

 

Just bend the tad with a pair of pliers.

 

3/16" isn't very think. Breaking the squeal tab off isn't a good idea either. They're there for a reason... Why not go ahead and get a set of pads and install them? It would be the same amount of work as removing the pad to break off the tabs... They're only like $20 at any parts store.

 

Yeah I think I might just do that, but I still gotta teach myself how to do a bunch of stuff.

The caliper on these cars I guess you need to take apart. On my last car, the capiler swung open to change the pads.

Also, people say I should pull the rotor to change the wheel bearings, or re-pack them. But I have never done that before either since I have only used non-servicible wheel bearings!

Its gonna be a learning experience.

 

The caliper has 2 allen wrench bolts on the inside. They're rather large, so that little allen wrench kit everyone has lying around, wont do the job. You can see the bolt heads from under the car without taking anything off, so if need be, while you're at the parts store, tell them what you need, and they should help you figure out the right size.

Those allen headed bolts are a PITA to break loose too. I found if you turn the wheel all the away from you ( if you're on driver side, turn the steering all the way to the right) you can get the allen wrench in there, and press it down with your foot. (passenger side you will sit down on the ground and press up). Sounds silly, but you'll see what I'm talking about.

Once you have the caliper off, use a large pair of channel locks, or a C-clamp to press the pistons back in. Snap in the new pads, and re-install.

Grab a can of brake parts cleaner, and clean any grease or oil that may have got on the rotor, while you were bumping around down there.

As far as the wheel bearings, I've never done a set myself, so I can't offer any advice on that. You're with friends here though, start another thread, and I'm sure someone would be glad to give you some tips.

 

well, I have another thread on my local f-body club's website. Also, they recommended getting an allen head socket bit, that is like 3/8" drive, and you can put it on a ratchet like a socket.

So, the caliper just comes into 2 pieces? Thats kinda weird. Do I have to grease anything in there?

Also, they tried explaining to me the wheel bearings, but I guess maybe its something you have to see to understand.

 

The caliper stays in one single piece. When you slide those two bolts out, it will simply lift off it's mounts. I don't think theres anything to be greased. If there were, there would be a grease fitting.

I was just browsing through the tech articles and found one on brakes and bearings. The allen wrench (or socket bit) is a 10mm. Don't be intimidated by the tech article, just read through it a few times, and decide what you think you're comfortable doing.

 

yes a hex tip socket of the right size is a good buy ( I bought mine at Sears), that way you have the right tool.

If the bolt is tough to loosen, I would not recommend using your foot. My recommendation is to get a piece of pipe or tubing with an ID big enough to go over your ratchet handle, and long enough to slide most of the way up the handle and leave 8-12 inches off the end, then gently apply pressure (Archimedes was right!). Make sure you dont tear up the rubber dust boot or loose the bushing the bolt slides through. If you do loose the bushing or break the bolt, or other insanity, all the parts are cheap and commonly available new.

Oh and for bearings: remove the dust cover from the hub, pull the cotter pin, pull the locking nut, undo the spidle nut, pull the bearing out, clean bearing of and check for signs of wear (blueing, spalled or grooved), if your rotor needs to be turned go ahead and do so (is it smooth or can you feel grooves and ridges on the surface?), although I have found sometimes its almost cheaper to buy a new rotor than to pay to have it turned (last time I checked it was $17 to have one turned, and a new one was $22), pack bearing (this can be done by hand or you can get a bearing packer that works with a grease gun, FYI by hand is messy), then reinstall. Do not overtorque the spindle not and use a new cotter pin.

Oh almost forgot...do not ever, ever let your caliper hang from the hose, use wire or zip ties to hang it from the a arm or spindle. Do not loosen or remove the banjo bolt that holds the brake line to the caliper unless you have to. If you do you will have to bleed the brakes after you put it back together

ok last edit...I swear...I just read the tech article linked above...very informative, it is a good guide.

 

Well, I understand the basics already. I know the rotor at least on the passenger side is fine. Not a single groove. I am just gonna spin it on the car, and use my 90* grinder with a cookie to clean scuff the surface perfectly flat. That is the whole reason I wanna do pads. On my last car, the rotors always got grooved and heat spotted, so I would just let the squeal tab burn off, and ride the pads to the studs , and then when I was down to the studs just buy new rotors and pads.

So one thing I dont understand, is the manual recommends using a C-clamp around the pads to reset the cylinder. But it shows him doing it before even loosening the caliper bolts. So to do that, would I put one side of the clamp on the inside of the caliper surface, and the other side on the outside pad backing?


Also, you say after you take off the castle nut, and washer, that the bearing slides right out? But isnt there two bearings? Or does the rotor slide out before you can get to the 2nd bearing? Also, would a new rotor have both races already pressed in?

One last question. In the manual, it shows him using channel lock pliers at the very end to crimp something. I dont understand what though:

 

I dont see any reason to compress the piston before removal, I've never done it that way before (heck somtimes I've just put the pad on and pushed it back by hand).

Hmm the other photo I think what they are trying to show is some pads have locking tabs that can be bent to hold them in place, not something I've ever notice on our cars.

yes there is an inner and outer bearing...the outer is removed before the rotor pulls off. inner is held on by wheel seal, I am pretty sure the races are integral to the rotor/hub assembly. LOL im trying to put this down from memory and its been a while since I've disassembled the front hubs. It really isnt too hard, just keep track of the sequence in which the parts were removed and they go back in the same sequence.

 

Alright thanks for the help guys.

One more question. I searched the brake board, but found all different opinions and no definate answer...

What pads should I get?

-Valucraft $14 a side
>Both semi-metallic
-Duralast $30 a side

-Ceramics $30 a side

-PFC Carbon Metallic $50 a side

I know hawks are good, but they are too damn expensive!

 

For brake pads it all depends on what you wanna pay, the cheaper ones won't last as long as the p***** ones, as for not turning your rotors thats fine. FYI your brakes may squeak & your steering wheel may shimmy when press the brakes, also your pedal may not feel solid. Also you should have your rotors spec'd to see if they are worth keeping.


For wheel bearings make sure you have another cotter pin if you destroy the other one. If I were you I would remove them & thake them to a brake shop to have them clean it & repack them, also you wanna find out if your rotors are still with in specs to turn them.

Yes its easier to compress the piston while the caliper is still mounted, but its up to you how you wanna do it. make sure you remove your brake resivor cap before compressing anything, fluid will come out, but dont worry it will clean off with water when you put the cap back on.

Have a few cans of brake clean, as for taking the caliper apart use a breaker bar so you don't break your ratchet. As for greasing use anti-seize on the caliper bolts, the shaft part that is, reason being that your calipers slide on them when they are bolted to the bridge. Also put some caliper grease on the metal tabs were the brake pads go so they slide easily with the calipers.
To clean the tabs use a small wire brush to take off the old grease buld up & brake dust.

 

If you want to just throw new pads on without messing with your rotors, I'd use the less expensive pads, semi-metallic will do fine. If your rotors aren't too mucked up and it's not shimmying now then you may be OK doing that. You can use a c-clamp to push the piston back in on the caliper. It will help to install the old brake pad over the piston to have something for the c-clamp to press against (the piston is hollow).

If you want to get crazy, now or in the future:

A set of stock replacement Brembo rotors can be had from Tirerack for less than $100. The chinesium rotors from the local parts store aren't worth the time and effort to install. They'll warp in no time.

Rebuilt calipers can be had for around $15 from AZ. Replace your brake hoses at the same time. AZ rents the vacuum brake bleeder, too.

A brake hardware kit is also available that includes new caliper bolts and the bushings they ride in. If you can't clean up your old ones so the caliper can slide on them, pick up a set of new.

The bearing races will be already installed in replacement rotors. New bearings will usually come with replacement races but you won't need them. Two bearings per rotor. You'll have to remove the bearing seal and replace it for the rear bearing.

Decent rotors: $100
Good ceramic pads $30
Re-built calipers: $30
Replacement hoses: $30
New bearings/seals: $30
Lube and new brake fluid (cause you're eventually going to bleed the whole system, right?) $15

Slap some $15 pads on there now and plan to put brand new brakes on it one nice Spring weekend.

 

Try pulling the cover off your differential and inspect in for wear.