Brake noise caused by bad wheel/unit bearing?

[Jared]

Hey y’all,

A little bit of vehicle info:
2008 Silverado 1500, 4wd, 34″ tires, 49000ish miles

I replaced both the rotors and the pads about 9 months ago, and for the first 3 months they were silent and performed great. Rotors are Summit Racing drilled and slotted rotors, and the pads are Raybestos ceramic. The description did say you could use them on drilled and slotted rotors. Now though the driver side brakes are making noise. Usually when they are hot, during heavy braking, or sometimes I can hear a scraping sound while just driving, and it doesn’t happen every time I drive. It’s not a squealing sound when braking, like the brakes are worn out, but more of a screeching sound that can’t be heard when the window is up. I replaced both the caliper and the caliper mounting bracket, the bracket had a tiny bit of play, while the p-side didn’t, and the caliper felt like it might have been sticking a little(this truck sees mud fairly often). Afterwards the noise was less frequent, but still persists. I’m at a crossroads as to whether it could be a bad wheel bearing or the rotor itself. I put brake grease on the outside of the pads, on the slide pin bolts, replaced the brake pad shims during install, and did the break in. When I checked the wheel/unit bearings I didn’t find any excessive play, temperature(by hand), or noise.

Braking performance has not decreased at all, it just bugs me to hear new brakes making noise(p-side is completely silent).

I was thinking about swapping the pads and rotors to the opposite sides to see if the problem persists.

Topic

[jarrod]

More then likely a worn wheel bearing, i have had a similar situation with a badly worn wheel bearing, where i had a lot of brake dust on the wheel with the worn bearing. Jack the car up and check for excessive play, and look for rust.

[college man]

check that the dust shield is not touching the rotor.
Jack up the front and spin the wheel by hand to see if the
noise is there.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

[Jared]

Just checked the dust shield and there’s a good 1/4″+ of clearance.

I’ve checked both the driver and passenger side wheel bearings and they were both almost identical in noise, play and temperature. D-side had a little bit more play side to side, but that looked like it was from the inner TRE rather than the wheel bearing. I’ll check again this Thursday, and I’ll double check the dust shield. Just to make sure nothing is wedged between it and the rotor. I’d imagine it would have been worn away or dislodged by now, but stranger things have happened.

Thanks for the replies!

[george gonzalez]

Check the pads for flatness of wear along their length. Sometimes the leading edge wears more quickly and that causes the caliper to tilt a bit in its mounts and jam up on hard braking. Any slope more than a millimeter or two and things could jam up. Also if you used a LOT of that rubbery brake squeal goop or have a bent-over stainless steel shim edge tab, that can make the pads seat at an angle and jam things up.

[Bill]

Do the pads have a warranty on them? Explain the situation to the vendor you purchased them from. They might replace them for you.

[Dave]

It could also be the brake pads themselves, It is not the best thing to use ceramic pads on trucks because they just do not hold up to the heat as well as metallic or organic pads do. I would look at the pads for any signs of glazing, They might just need a light sanding to get a good surface back on them. Plus mud could contaminate the friction material if it got in between the pad and rotor, so when entering the mud it is a good idea to keep one foot lightly on the brake pedal.

Remember that you have gone from a 31″ tire to a 34″ tire and are still asking for brakes designed to stop a much smaller rolling mass to do the job.

Oh and a last thought is to check for a tiny stone caught in there somewhere. I had a customer come in to work one day after putting brakes in his truck and it made noise like you are describing. When I took it apart a stone fell out from the caliper and the noise was gone.

[Jared]

Pulled the pads and rotor, cleaned them both, sanded the pads down a bit, and scuffed up the rotor as well and it’s much quieter than before. They are still making the same noise though. For the 1st day they were quiet, even with heavy braking, but after towing a trailer they started to complain again. The pads did look a little rough, but not nearly as bad as my old ones, and those didn’t make any noise at all. I also measured the pads and there was about a .020 difference between the top and bottom, on both the front and back.

I’m not entirely sure that it’s the bearing, but the upper balljoint is starting to show signs of wear, and the inner TRE has a bit of play as well. It feels like the tires are trying to drive under the truck on hard right turns, but only going forward. Not saying that those are contributing to the brake noise, but with those parts possibly worn out as well, it makes it hard for me to decide if the feeling in the steering wheel and the brake noise are connected or completely unrelated. Also I have just recently had it aligned.

[EricTheCarGuy]

As I suspected, and what might have been proved by your last post, it’s the pads. The #1 cause of brake noise is the friction material used. I see this a lot. The fact that you were able to lessen the noise by cleaning and resurfacing the pads I believe is evidence of that. The nose won’t keep you from stopping, it’s just annoying. There are some tips in this video that might help. Using the correct lubricants is critical.

[Author]

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