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I want to start out with saying I know enough to be dangerous and when I have most mechanical issues I need to involve a mechanic.
Since purchasing my 87 IROC about 10 yrs ago I have always had a rattle in the front area when hitting bumps. It seems to be much better (or totally gone) when I braking. I’ve had it looked at in the past by several different mechanics and have essentially been told it’s nothing to worry about because these cars have rattled since they were new. Well…I would like to be able to drive my car without it sounding like I’m going to lose a wheel as I drive down the road. I found several threads that discussed brake rattle and the posters refer to clips that fasten to the brakes to help prevent this rattle.
Are these brakes more complicated than a normal set of brakes? In other words, is this clamp something that’s common or standard on the brakes the mechanics should know about? If not, any suggestions on how to go about bringing this up with a mechanic that is not familiar with the setup?And lastly, where can I get some if I find mine are missing?
It seems this is a quirk with the third gen Camaro and many mechanics may not feel like sitting on the internet for hours trying to problem solve my issue so I’m trying to do some legwork to hopefully help.
No, the front brakes are pretty much the definition of normal brakes. I'd jack up the car from the center of the k-member, put jackstands under the frame rails, and start wiggling stuff up there. See if you can reproduce the noise and hook your peepers on where the loose items are.
Just a guess but your outer pads might be rattling around. Nothing unusual nor uncommon. The outer pads are 'supposed' to hold tight-ish to the caliper with the little tabs bent over. Easy cheap solution is to use disc quiet to hold the pad in place on the caliper. IF that's what is rattling.
Very few people that have installed hundreds of sets of GM pads have any idea on how to make them stop rattling. The inner pad has an anti-rattle clip that holds the pad steady in the piston. The outer pad have 2 tabs that hook the upper part of the caliper . They are meant to be bent or fitted to fit tight to the caliper and stop the outer pad from rattling. When installing tap those tabs to tighten the pad to the caliper. After installing the pads use prybar and put upward pressure on the pad by prying easily against the rotor hub and bottom of the pad. Then have someone hold down on the brake pedal clamping the pad in place. While prying up and the brake pressure applied tap down on the tabs to clinch the pad in place.
I just take my BFH and gently love-tap the tabs down so that they assume their position before I even put them on the caliper. 2 seconds, DONE. No assistant, no prying, no NOTHING. Just me and my BFH.
I HATE work. It's the only thing I'm allergic to, that I know of.
This is in the class of things, like, making sure the oil filter is full of oil before starting up the motor after an oil change. I've seen people unplug the dist and whirl the motor over with the starter, take out the dist and use a primer tool, and about everything in between. How about... just pour oil into the filter until it's full, before you put it on??? This brake pad thing is much the same: consider the outcome you want, and find the most direct possible path that leads there. Too simple I guess.
Last edited by sofakingdom; Sep 19, 2021 at 11:34 PM.
Hitting them with a hammer won't tighten them down, it will just push them to the other side. What you need to do is grab them with a big pair of pump pliers (channellocks) and squeeze the tabs down. The various disk brake quiet compounds will also help.
That said I'm betting that this isn't the front brakes but some piece of trim or bodywork under the front end is not screwed down all the way and rattling.
