Brakes squeaking - can't tell if its front or rear

[MakaveliX]

Had my pads replaced 3 days ago with some high end ones.

Today, when braking to a stand still i notice some squeaking. It only makes a squeaking noise toward the end of braking just before coming to a stop.

Discs are new, been done 7 months ago.

Can't tell if it's from the front or back.
The rears are drums and were squeaking 7 months ago so I got them cleaned and lubricated and have been fine ever since.

I'm hoping it's just the new pads need to be bedded to the older discs?

Thanks

[Smint]

You could apply the handbrake very gently just before braking, that would almost certainly stop the rear drum brakes squealing as you apply the footbrake so eliminating the rears.

Often squealing is high speed vibration of the pads, the squeal coming from the point where the edge of the pad backing plate touches the caliper, or where the piston faces against the pad back plate.
If you whipped the pads out you would probably find some shiny metal at the contact point where the squeal is coming from, a touch of the correct brake grease on the back of the pad where it contacts the piston, or a small wipe of coppaslip on the edge of the backing plate where it touches the caliper might well cure it.
Coppaslip is best not coming into contact with rubber, henace why i suggest correct brake grease for the piston/pad contact point.

If you didn't fit them yourself you can only hope the fitter cleaned and lubed things correctly at the time, it might sort itself out as the new pads wear to the shape of the old discs, however you might end up having to clean and lube things up at some point if the fitter hasn't done the best job possible first time.

[MakaveliX]

Thanks
Noise persists even when handbrake slightly applied and then braking, so that means it's the front ?

Probably just wait until the MOT in a couple of months and get them to clean things up then

Edited by MakaveliX on Sunday 24th July 09:42

[E-bmw]

MakaveliX said:

Had my pads replaced 3 days ago with some high end ones.

Define "high end".

[MakaveliX]

E-bmw said:

Define "high end".

I don't know the exact brand but I asked my mechanic not to fit cheap ones, so whatever they define as high end. Possibly brembo as they do make pads for my car. Put it this way, the old pads I had put on looked half as thick as the newer ones.

[Dave Brand]

MakaveliX said:

Put it this way, the old pads I had put on looked half as thick as the newer ones.

That's what wear does to brake pads!

Even though your new pads are "high end" you can't guarantee that they won't be noisy.

OE pads will not (or should not!) be noisy as the vehicle manufacturer, the brake system manufacturer & the friction material manufacturer will have done a considerable amount of testing to ensure that the brakes perform acceptably on all counts - especially cost! As part of the development process they may take steps to mitigate squeal, such as shims, rubber coating, chamfers, etc.

Aftermarket suppliers will select a pad material approriate to the vehicle in question, but will almost certainly not have done real-world tests on that particular vehicle. A friction material which is quiet for most applications may be noisy for some - the squeal-mitigating features may not be present.

[MakaveliX]

Dave Brand said:

That's what wear does to brake pads!

Even though your new pads are "high end" you can't guarantee that they won't be noisy.

OE pads will not (or should not!) be noisy as the vehicle manufacturer, the brake system manufacturer & the friction material manufacturer will have done a considerable amount of testing to ensure that the brakes perform acceptably on all counts - especially cost! As part of the development process they may take steps to mitigate squeal, such as shims, rubber coating, chamfers, etc.

Aftermarket suppliers will select a pad material approriate to the vehicle in question, but will almost certainly not have done real-world tests on that particular vehicle. A friction material which is quiet for most applications may be noisy for some - the squeal-mitigating features may not be present.

Thanks for the useful info.

I mean that when my old pads were brand new they were much thinner than the high end ones ive just had fitted.. if you know what I mean

[E-bmw]

MakaveliX said:

Dave Brand said:

That's what wear does to brake pads!

Even though your new pads are "high end" you can't guarantee that they won't be noisy.

OE pads will not (or should not!) be noisy as the vehicle manufacturer, the brake system manufacturer & the friction material manufacturer will have done a considerable amount of testing to ensure that the brakes perform acceptably on all counts - especially cost! As part of the development process they may take steps to mitigate squeal, such as shims, rubber coating, chamfers, etc.

Aftermarket suppliers will select a pad material approriate to the vehicle in question, but will almost certainly not have done real-world tests on that particular vehicle. A friction material which is quiet for most applications may be noisy for some - the squeal-mitigating features may not be present.

Thanks for the useful info.

I mean that when my old pads were brand new they were much thinner than the high end ones ive just had fitted.. if you know what I mean

Sorry, but that makes no sense, every pad manufacturer I have come across will manufacture to the same basic dimensions as OE pads.

There may be a fraction of a mm in it, but that is all.

I asked what you mean by "high end" pads, as some more performance biased pads are well know for being noisy.

[MakaveliX]

Fair point thanks.
To the eye these ones look noticeably thicker, not sure why.

[MakaveliX]

E-bmw said:

Sorry, but that makes no sense, every pad manufacturer I have come across will manufacture to the same basic dimensions as OE pads.

There may be a fraction of a mm in it, but that is all.

I asked what you mean by "high end" pads, as some more performance biased pads are well know for being noisy.

How come some high ends are noisy ?
Seems a bit better last two days, put some music on and no noise.

Rears were cleaned and lubed 4 months ago so unlikely to be them I think

[E-bmw]

MakaveliX said:

How come some high ends are noisy ?

If by "high end" you were to mean performance pads, hence my question.

For example Pagid RS29 Endurance racing pads.

They are designed to slow down cars travelling at very high speed repeatedly every couple of miles & are very noisy when just used on a car driven normally.

[MakaveliX]

Going by the fact the last thing to be done on my car was the front pads ( occasional squeal started 3 days later )
If I pull the handbrake then brake, it still does it, and the rears were lubricated 4 months ago.. would that imply its definitely coming from the front ?

Car is due a full service soon, so I could get the rear drums checked and lubricated or even the shoes replaced

[MakaveliX]

Full service this week. Hopefully that sorts it.
Unsure yet as to whether I'll need to replace the rear shoes or not. They've done at least 27,000 miles

[E-bmw]

MakaveliX said:

Full service this week. Hopefully that sorts it.
Unsure yet as to whether I'll need to replace the rear shoes or not. They've done at least 27,000 miles

A service won't sort it unless you tell them to.

They will just generically check there is pad & disc life left.

[MakaveliX]

E-bmw said:

A service won't sort it unless you tell them to.

They will just generically check there is pad & disc life left.

I'm referring to the rear brake shoes in the drum as I'm fairly sure the noises are from the back of the car.

They said its most likely a build up of dust and debris. I'll ask them to replace the shoes if they need doing

Last time the rears were squeaking they cleaned and lubricated them and it was quiet up until recently

Regarding rear brake shoes, how many miles can you get out of them ?

Edited by MakaveliX on Tuesday 2nd August 07:39

[E-bmw]

MakaveliX said:

E-bmw said:

A service won't sort it unless you tell them to.

They will just generically check there is pad & disc life left.

I'm referring to the rear brake shoes in the drum as I'm fairly sure the noises are from the back of the car.

They said its most likely a build up of dust and debris. I'll ask them to replace the shoes if they need doing

Last time the rears were squeaking they cleaned and lubricated them and it was quiet up until recently

Regarding rear brake shoes, how many miles can you get out of them ?

Edited by MakaveliX on Tuesday 2nd August 07:39

Sorry, I missed the post above where you said drums.

As for life of them, well that is definitely a stupid sounding answer (sorry) they only wear when using them obvs, so it has little bearing on mileage if you don't brake much.

It is quite easy to get well over 5 years out of a set of (manual handbrake) rear shoes.

[MakaveliX]

Got the service done today, said they would clean out the drums etc and make sure everything looks OK.

Now when driving at low speeds I get a squeal until I press the brake. Any idea what that is? Can't be a wear indicator as the pads are new. Sounds like it's from the rear again

Edit: Thankfully that has subsided so probably just some moisture.
Still squeaking the same as before so I'll get the shoes replaced

Edited by MakaveliX on Thursday 4th August 18:58

[MakaveliX]

Any idea why after the service its started to squeak whilst driving then stops when braking ? Never did this before

[E-bmw]

That sounds like the pads are just on the discs when you are driving & when they come into proper contact with the discs they shut up.

Likely candidates are pads just catching slightly or caliper sliders being slightly sticky..

Edited by E-bmw on Friday 5th August 20:45

[MakaveliX]

E-bmw said:

That sounds like the pads are just on the discs when you are driving & when they come into proper contact with the discs they shut up.

Likely candidates are pads just catching slightly or caliper sliders being slightly sticky..

Edited by E-bmw on Friday 5th August 20:45

I thought it could be the shoes slightly catching the drum due to the springs at the top of the drum being worn. As it sounds like it's from the rear . Also as said, the pads are brand new so shouldn't be squeaking yet.

Taken off YouTube these two springs at the top..


Suppose all we can do is speculate. I'll have to take it back to the mechanic so they can have a look.


Right. when I apply the handbrake with the door open I hear a squeak.
If I turn the wheel it subsides

Edited by MakaveliX on Saturday 6th August 07:37