2018 Laramie brakes grinding noise

[EdGs]

My Nephew has an '18 Laramie 4x4. 150k miles

He calls me today says he has a grinding noise that he can hear a slower speeds, kind of goes away at higher speeds.

So, he meets me and we take a ride. When brakes are applied, yes, a grindy noise. Cannot pinpoint front or back. Almost sounds metallic, like a shield rubbing, etc.

With my head out the window it just sounds like coming from under the truck, I can't tell front, back, or determine which side.

We get the truck in the air, cannot really hear much just spinning the wheels, but notice a couple wear grooves in the left front rotor. Not bad but you can see them, correspond to the rivet locations on the pad. Pads themselves have 75% or better pad life.

I pry back the pad, but the caliper does not want to come off. Finally with some prying, it comess free enough to remove it, and one of the pistons has this huge break in it. Running down from the edge of the piston down diagonally into the cup.

Really surprised there was no fluid loss.

They are nice looking, red coated calipers, too.

Anyone ever run into this?

Sorry, I do not have any pictures yet. I will post up a bunch when we get back on it after he buys replacement calipers.

 

[hemihustlin]

hmmm, wild guess is about as good as we can do for the moment but ive got a crazy idea!

previous owner or person that did the brake job forced the caliper off without pushing back the pistons enough and the inside of the piston got caught up on the little pin(s) thats usually on the the backplate of these 1500 pads. force enough and bingo crack a piston as the caliper comes off.
slap it back together with new pads and rotors and hope you never see it again.

 

[EdGs]

I hope to God that didn't happen trying to take them off just now. Those piston cups are not thin by any means.

He and I put the current pads on 8 months ago and also replaced rotors due to passenger side slide pin sticking and forced backing plate-to-rotor contact.

I will get a better look at things when we're back on it. First time I've seen something like that.

 

[hemihustlin]

I hope to God that didn't happen trying to take them off just now. Those piston cups are not thin by any means.

He and I put the current pads on 8 months ago and also replaced rotors due to passenger side slide pin sticking and forced backing plate-to-rotor contact.

I will get a better look at things when we're back on it. First time I've seen something like that.

did you notice any cracks or micro fissures in the pistons when you changed the discs + pads last time?
unfortunately while its not easy to crack a piston like that its also not extremely resistant to repeated prying and hammering
good occasion to change the brakes, both front calipers, replace all the brake fluid in the bowl with new fluid and bleed at all wheels and you should be good for a bit in brake maintenance, assuming the back is decent haha

 

[EdGs]

No, never really noticed any cracks, but was never looking for them, either. Was not reefing on it either. Just NEVER had anything like this happen before.

Gonna replace fluid while we're at it.

I guess I'm the one that did this, will get a closer look later, and will see if it resolves the original issue or not. If it is better, I can feel ok about me not being the cause of the break....lol

 

[Daw14]

On my 2014 I had both front calipers start to seize one side around 18k and the other side around 20k miles.
Needless to say , my opinion of the factory caliPers is very low.

 

[EdGs]

I don't think these are factory calipers, as they are red in color. My nephew has had the truck for about the last 30k miles, 150k now.

It needs everything serviced, especially since we've no clue what was done before.

4x4 stuff, I have zero experience with. I know he needs both diffs and transfer case service, and I pray it's nothing related to any of those.

 

[EdGs]

Ok guys, I'm the dumba$$ here. I was the one that broke the caliper piston.

If it had previously cracked/broken, fluid should've been all over I would think

Anyway, new caliper went on and bled easily. No issue.

The small grooves in that rotor led both of us to think the issue was there when it mostly wasn't.

The dust shield was bent on that side very close to the rotor. Got that straightened out.

I got under the truck to look at the driveshaft and u-joints, reached up to help scoot under and bumped the heatshield for the exhaust, it had mostly broken free and was wedged at an angle between the exhaust and frame rail.

It was loose enough that the air flow under the truck must've moved it where it could intermittently rub on the driveshaft.

Not sure how it failed that way, but we got it secured much better than it was.

@hemihustlin, you called it, I'm the idiot. Learned a thing or two here, the hard way via the long way around the lake........lol.

 

[olyelr]

Ok guys, I'm the dumba$$ here. I was the one that broke the caliper piston.

If it had previously cracked/broken, fluid should've been all over I would think

Anyway, new caliper went on and bled easily. No issue.

The small grooves in that rotor led both of us to think the issue was there when it mostly wasn't.

The shield was bent on one side very close to the rotor. Got that straightened out.

I got under the truck to look at the driveshaft and u-joints, reached up to help scoot under and bumped the heatshield for the exhaust, it had mostly broken free and was wedged at an angle between the exhaust and frame rail.

It was loose enough that the air flow under the truck must've moved it where it could intermittently rub on the driveshaft.

Not sure how it failed that way, but we got it secured much better than it was.

@hemihustlin, you called it, I'm the idiot. Learned a thing or two here, the hard way via the long way around the lake........lol.

I just went through the exact same thing last year with my ‘17. Noise would come and go, and swore it was from the rear brakes. Put the truck on hoist, spin the wheels by hand, everything was quiet as can be. Remove tires and start taking brakes apart, everything looks fine. Put tires on, spin them…quiet. Go for a test drive…GRINDING.

It wasnt till i put the truck back on the hoist, started the truck and put it in drive that i instantly realized the heat shield was rotted away and laying on the rear driveshaft. DOH! The noise would come and go throughout the day because it would get blown around a bit.

Wasted a few hours of my life trying to diagnose it and it was right there in front of my face, just overlooked it.

 

[olyelr]

That truck had 150k miles too ha.

 

[EdGs]

I just went through the exact same thing last year with my ‘17. Noise would come and go, and swore it was from the rear brakes. Put the truck on hoist, spin the wheels by hand, everything was quiet as can be. Remove tires and start taking brakes apart, everything looks fine. Put tires on, spin them…quiet. Go for a test drive…GRINDING.

It wasnt till i put the truck back on the hoist, started the truck and put it in drive that i instantly realized the heat shield was rotted away and laying on the rear driveshaft. DOH! The noise would come and go throughout the day because it would get blown around a bit.

Wasted a few hours of my life trying to diagnose it and it was right there in front of my face, just overlooked it.

At least you didn't bust a perfectly good brake caliper......lol.

 

[04fxdwgi]

Like your the 1st to break something an not realize it till later. Hahaha. You got off easy.

Stand in line Hoss.

 

[EdGs]

Like your the 1st to break something an not realize it till later. Hahaha. You got off easy.

Stand in line Hoss.

That one i didn't realize, err, want to realize...lol.

I didnt want to, but I had to own it, this site is about helping others.

It's not the first time, or the most expensive thing I've broken, either. Definately won't be the last.....lol.

 

[Kayci]

On my 2017, 6.7 4x4 I had similar brake issues. Purchased new, and won't let the dealer touch it. My left front was scraping. Took apart, was worn down to nothing with the backing plate bent into rotor as well. This was at 25k on it. So I put new pads on as the rotor had quite a bit of life left. At about 40k something was off. Took apart again. Left did totally crap. Right side still like new. Had to order a caliper was sticking terribly. Changed the rotor at this point too. I'm at 62k now starting to be a bit soft. It's getting old. (But my biggest issue is constant battery drain. And a start button with a mind of its own.) I hope your new brake job solves your issue. I'm at it again soon. The calipers do seem to be an issue. I replaced with non oem. I'm hopeful.

 

[EdGs]

Biggest thing is make sure the slide pins are free and properly lubricated.

This same truck as well as my '15 SLT had a sticking, dry slide pin passenger side that caused the inside pad to wear at an angle and eventuslly led to one end of the backing plate contacting the rotor.