k i am haveing a problem today when i was driveing my car a sound from the front passanger tire came on it sort of sounds like i have the brake on and it is sweeking, but if i tap the brake it stops. it dont go on all the time but often enough to mean something. does any one know what this might be? and ya i do need to replace my brakes could that be it?????

 

Your brake pads and/or shoes need to be replaced.

On the pad, and shoes themselvers there are little metal 'sensors' that live at about the halfway point of wear for brake pads and shoes.
Once it is reached the brakes will squeak letting you know they need to be replaced soon.

When you put the brakes on the sound will disappear because you have made the steel 'sensor' have complete contact with the rotor or drum.

 

thanks man

 

Make sure you change them soon, or else you'll ruin your rotors and have to change them too.

 

Do yourself a favor by not getting the cheap pads, too. They will squeak worse than what you have now, but only while you are braking. Get some good Performance Friction, Raybestos, or something like that, instead of the cheap parts house brands.

 

well i cant change them till i get paid next week i hope they hold up till then, but just to dubble check something it does not skweek when i press the brakes its when i dont press them one noise one tire, when i press the brake it stops. dont mind me asking the same question here its just this guy is trying to tell me it some cbc joint thing. thanks for the help.

 

CV joints tend to make a creaking/cracking sound.

 

Sounds like you just have worn out front brake pads. The squeal flange on there is designed to make that noise when you are driving to warn you that your brake pads are about gone. They usually get quiet while you are braking. It won't hurt to drive on them for another week or so, but don't let it go past that. I was simply saying that the cheap pads will squeal while you are braking, and that is annoying as crap, too. Sorry if I confused you.

Camaro89dude... you mean ball joints don't you? Constant Velocity joints are on the drive shafts of front wheel drives.

 

Ive had a similar squeak for some time now, again, i brake, it stops, BUT...it is not the wear sensors...i have checked that many times, the pads have plenty of life left and the sensors are not bent close to the rotor or anything. could it be just cheap pads? or maybe loose calipers?

 

Oops....yeah. My girlfriend just had to replace her CV joints on her tempo, thats what I was thinking of.

 

Are there any groove in your rotors?

 

hmmmm...not sure...i hope not.
is that something that would cause this? i think my rotors are warped too.....when i brake it is ...hmmm how to describe it...wobble wobble, or maybe pulse pulse pulse.....feels like maybe the rotors are warped??

maybe ill just replace the rotors and pads this summer??

are those kinda cheap replacements from like jc whitney any good?

 

Yep, sounds like a warped rotor. Why not just get it turned down? (Unless it's too thin to turn, that is.) Major cause of rotor warping? When we come off a highway at 60 mph, then come to a stop at a stop light, and those heated-up brake pads sit on one spot on the rotor. Since I found that out, if I have to do some heavy braking and then come to a stop, I stop about 10 feet "extra" behind a car, then while the light is red, I roll up every few seconds to try and keep the rotors from getting hot in just one spot.

 

tom, you're a go'damn genius.

so having it turned (if it's still thick enough) will take care of a warped rotor???

tell me how this sounds....if i take off the rotor, take it to a store like Discount Auto Parts/Autozone/Pep Boys, and they will tell me if it is worn too thin(i dont have a micrometer caliper or whatever), and turn them??

how much does that cost?? (only have front discs)

and should i replace the pads when/if i get them turned??

 

I just bought new rotors....I heard the telltale brake squealing and didn't do anything about it. Soon it became vibrating...and by the time I got to fixing them, it was shaking. I just got new pads and rotors, and they weren't even that expensive. And it was a pretty easy job.

 

Yes, if you take your rotors to those places they can tell you if they are too thin and i know that autozone and advance (maybe other places too) will turn them for free.

 

free?? wow.

what EXACTLY does turning a rotor mean??
isn't something like resurfacing/rebalanceing it??

 

You'rre supposed to have your rotors turned every time you change your pads, but it's such a pain; I actuallh haven't turned any of my Firebird's rotors yet! First set, they were too thin to turn, I checked 'em with a micromter, and yep, the guy was right- although he sure was a ***** about it. So I went to the junkyard, and found a newer trans am (3rd gen, I guess around 88 or 89?) with "blown motor" written on the windshield, and brand new brake pads and rotors. Got those suckers for $5/each. Poor guy, got new brakes, and blew his motor. I think it's only $10 to have a set turned; it's not much.

You can measure the runout with a dial gauge and mount. I forget the spec, but if the gauge varies by more than a certain amount, the rotors should be turned. See dial gauges and mounts here: indicators: http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/products/567.cfm mounts: (picture on right, not the "mighty mag") http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/products/283.cfm

To turn them is kind of like boring out an engine cylinder. A machine spins the rotor while a cutting edge slices a small amount of the rotor off, probably going from the inside to the outside of the rotor. So it cuts both sides so they're flat.

And of course, make sure the new pads you put on are broken in well before you start slamming on the brakes.

 

None of the chain auto parts stores around here will turn rotors anymore. There is an Advance Auto Parts, and an Autozone, and neither of them will do that. They didn't do it for free, either. Some of the local shops still do that, but I think they charge around 10 bucks per rotor to machine them.

You probably should replace the pads when you have the rotors turned. Right now, replacement rotors are cheap enough that I think I would just go buy two more rotors, two more seals, repack the bearings, and be done with it.

One of the things that warps rotors quicker than anything is not torquing the lug nuts on the wheels that are running on disc brakes. If you over tighten one, it will cause an uneven stress at that point, and that will warp the rotor before too long. I alway watch the guys at the tire shop to make sure they torque each nut, or I either get my torque wrench out and check it myself when I get home.

 

Good point; like I said in another message, we should all have bought a torque wrench by now!! I always check the torque of those nuts after I get my tire back from the tire shop; they go a little crazy with that impact wrench.

I originally had the GM lugnuts with the silver cap over the nut; one day, I picked my car up from the tire shop, brought it home, and went to check the torque of the nuts (by loosening them, then torqueing them to spec.) Well, the damn things were on so hard that the silver cap of one lugnut stripped out and fell off on me when I tried to loosen it. Then, the nut was too small for my lugwrench!! Wound up driving it back, and oh man, was I mad. The guy apologized, and had someone take it off. (I'm a frequent customer and they like me, I was more mad at the guy who went impact-wrench-happy.) In talking to the mech, he said that they know that 99% of their customers don't check the torque, so they have to crank the lugs on. So I do see their point, but still...

 

New rotors out of the box should always be turned as well. They are not always perfect, Its cheap insurance.

 

damn, i dont deserve to have car. i will abandon it on the side of the road and walk from now on.

(guess i better buy a torque wrench!)

 

They're not that expensive... you can usually find one for under $50. Just don't look at the snap-on catalog! The micrometer-style "clicking" torque wrenches (like http://www.craftsman.com 's stock number 44595 ) are usually preferred. The ones with a scale and needle are usually used to determine the torque of a bolt if you don't know what it is (watch the scale to see where the bolt loosens.) An example of these is craftsman's number 44642.

 

This is for those of you who have good brakes but still have the squeeking noise, the noise actually lies in the attachment point os the pads to the caliper. There are metal holding tabs that hold the pads to the brake caliper on disc brakes when a disc brake rotor turns as you are driving it is not perfectally smooth and is in contact with the pads every time the disc turns the pads hit these tiny imperfections and it moves the pads rubbing the metal together. blue high temp silicone between the pad tabs and the point they touch the caliper will quiet this squeeky situation

this annoyed me for a year till i finally figured out what it was seems so simple in retrospect

 

Les rythmes digitales.

 

I hate to disagree with Friggin, but if you take brand new rotors and have them turned, it will void the warranty on them. I know that nothing is perfect, but the manufacturers double disc grind them to make them flat and parallel before they ship them. If they still shimmy after you put on new rotors, at least you can take them back. If you take them and have them turned, then they will consider them modified components, and you will have no warranty or legal claims.

Hey, go look at the pawn shop for tools and stuff. You can usually find name brand, lifetime warranty tools there for the same or less cost than you can get the imported stuff new. That's what I do a lot, and it is a good way to score some really high quality stuff.

 

pawn shop...hmmm...good idea!

hate to have taken this thread so off topic, but...
i have noticed that torque wrenches come in different torque ranges ...so which should i get?? which is most useful for an all around/only one i will ever have/ torque wrench?

 

The most useful torque wrench (IMHO) would be a 1/2 inch drive unit that would go from about 40 to about 150 foot pounds of torque. That will be what you will need for building engines, torquing on your lug nuts, etc... The 3/8 drive ones usually aren't rated for enough torque to do those things with. Some of the high dollar (snap-on) ones may be rated a lot higher, but why spend more if you don't have to?

 

Plus, you can always buy a 1/2-inch-to-3/8-inch drive adapter for $6! Remember too that all of our intake bolts (throttle body, plenum, injector fuel rail, etc) are steel going into aluminum threads, so they have a lower torque spec- 12 to 18 ft/lbs. You could always get a cheaper beam-type torque wrench to handle those. Sears has some for $20, I'm sure you can get a $10 one from http://www.harborfreight.com - but I'm not sure how long it'd last...

 

They should last awhile as long as you don't overly abuse them every single day. I have a lot of different quality tools and all of them seem to be holding up the same. Screw drivers seem to break easily.

 

Oh wow, they have a 9" angle grinder for $35! I bought their 4" angle grinder 3 or 4 years ago for $20, and it's never given me trouble... hm... might be time to buy a second "bigger" one! 'Course, it's not a real brand name, it's their own name for a Foreign-Made tool... like all of their Central Pneumatic air tools- they're trying to spoof an expensive company- Chicago Pneumatic ( http://www.chicagopneumatic.com/cpdi...earch?openform ). But so far so good on that electric grinder I bought!

 

all is fixed turned out it was not my trany mount it was the screws they where like half out. and with all u guy talkin about rotor being grinded i got that done to, sound is gone all problems fixed. thanks 4 the help.