Brake noise with good parts

[blackbetty14]

At around 43k my truck had already developed brake squeal at most light to medium braking and it’s a 2018 all OEM stuff. I yanked the stock rotors and pads and did Wagner premium ecoated rotors all the way round. And then did PFC carbon metallic pads. Lubed all the pins and cleaned it all up. Got much less noise and after about 2k miles I pulled the PFC pads bc they had gotten alittle louder and consistent with light brake noise/squeal/high pitch noise. I ended up swapping to EBC yellow stuff pads and noise went away. Now I’m at 54k miles and the noise is back but it’s only
On light brake tip in. Once I get past that initial second of pad touching and press further it stops. No noise during medium light, medium or heavy braking. It’s annoying bc it sounds like front and back are squealing sometimes and it’s not consistent. When cold the brakes are dead quiet, get some heat in them and they make noise. On light brake tip in once it makes noise I can maintain light pressure and keep the noise going for a while till I let off or press harder to stop. It’s a high pitch squeal. Also pass rear I think makes some noise when I’m coasting straight with no brakes and no throttle. Sounds like a light scrape or high pitch whine almost but not very loud.

What are my options to get this to stop? I can say the EBCs are fully broken in, not sure if I warped all the rotors but I have no pulsing or funny braking feeling. Brakes work great and the EBC yellows stop pretty good. When I called PFC about the noise they said I could break them in again but if the noise continues to come back they said some vehicles/platforms are just prone to more brake noise.

 

[Burla]

You went from metalic, to metalic, to metalic (carbon/kevlar)

So try ceramic, wagner oex best all around pad on the market imo, they simply do not dust either.

 

[Burla]

They say ceramic doesnt grab as good as metalic, but the oex grabs way better on our suv, noticeably over oem metalic. As you see 10 rating on anti squeak and dust properties.

 

[blackbetty14]

You went from metalic, to metalic, to metalic (carbon/kevlar)

So try ceramic, wagner oex best all around pad on the market imo, they simply do not dust either.

I wasn’t aware that the yellow stuff was a mettalic pad. All I found was Amraid fiber but nothing specific.

 

[Burla]

Amarid is kevlar, and to my limited knowledge that means it would be carbon/kevlar brake pads. I know yellow stuff was copper until the gov't banned copper in brakes last year, so for sure they were semi metalic at that point. But you don't have to guess with oex, those are ceramic for sure. Another nice feature they have channels cut in to dissipate heat, I do wonder why more brake pads dont adopt this idea.

 

[buckeyexx]

I had a similar issue. Mine ended being the caliper sticking just enough to cause squeal. When I started inspecting everything I found the caliper slide pin was hanging up bad enough I had to replace the caliper bracket. I would check your pins and the caliper it’s self. It may be sticking on you. May just need more lube also.

 

[blackbetty14]

Amarid is kevlar, and to my limited knowledge that means it would be carbon/kevlar brake pads. I know yellow stuff was copper until the gov't banned copper in brakes last year, so for sure they were semi metalic at that point. But you don't have to guess with oex, those are ceramic for sure. Another nice feature they have channels cut in to dissipate heat, I do wonder why more brake pads dont adopt this idea.

Gotcha, that’s good to know. I got the EBC red for my firebird which are ceramic as well. I ordered the OEX and will slap them in in the coming weeks. Less than $100 for all 4 corners is pretty cheap.

 

[blackbetty14]

I had a similar issue. Mine ended being the caliper sticking just enough to cause squeal. When I started inspecting everything I found the caliper slide pin was hanging up bad enough I had to replace the caliper bracket. I would check your pins and the caliper it’s self. It may be sticking on you. May just need more lube also.

I will verify they move freely. I added a good bit of high temp synthetic brake grease to all the pins when I did the brakes and they all seemed fine. Idk how to tell with the caliper piston besides oddly worn brake pads.

 

[joesstripclub]

I'm in the same boat as you. Just rolled over 52k miles or so and noticed a light squeak on the OEM brakes just like you described. I ordered new pads and rotors for the front last night. I have plenty of pad left on the fronts from what I can tell, so its not the wear tab making noise.

 

[blackbetty14]

I'm in the same boat as you. Just rolled over 52k miles or so and noticed a light squeak on the OEM brakes just like you described. I ordered new pads and rotors for the front last night. I have plenty of pad left on the fronts from what I can tell, so its not the wear tab making noise.

Yea, I had like 1/2 pad life at least. It’s a shame bc the stock pads were fine till they weren’t. I had one rotor stuck on there real good too and took a lot of hits from heavy hammers to break it free. Make sure you get coated rotors or use some anti seize on the hub face to keep the two from rusting and welding themselves together.

 

[joesstripclub]

Yea, I had like 1/2 pad life at least. It’s a shame bc the stock pads were fine till they weren’t. I had one rotor stuck on there real good too and took a lot of hits from heavy hammers to break it free. Make sure you get coated rotors or use some anti seize on the hub face to keep the two from rusting and welding themselves together.

I always dab on some anti seize and definitely got coated rotors. Removing the factory rotors is always fun. I have a 350z that does the same squeak, I just push the pedal a little harder and it goes away. It has ceramic pads and rotors that I did a thorough break-in procedure.

 

[Burla]

Gotcha, that’s good to know. I got the EBC red for my firebird which are ceramic as well. I ordered the OEX and will slap them in in the coming weeks. Less than $100 for all 4 corners is pretty cheap.

eventhough the rotors are semi knew, check them for wear galley's, if it isnt fairly smooth get them mic'd before you slap the pads on. all of that squeaking might have cut some galleys in those rotors.

 

[GTyankee]

Do they feather the edges on brake pads still, or did they stop doing that

 

[hemihustlin]

may or may not be the problem, but an old habit I have from doing hundreds of brake jobs in a garage is when serviceing the pads, I even do it to new pads, take a small file or grinder and remove the sharp 90* edge on the long sides of the friction material. takes 30 seconds per pad and removes any chance of a small squeal from there. sometimes the sharp edge or black paint they put can make noise

Also you have to do a brake service (clean and relube) every year for optimal performance and quiet operation.
remove any big ridges that may or may not form on the disc or pad

 

[blackbetty14]

eventhough the rotors are semi knew, check them for wear galley's, if it isnt fairly smooth get them mic'd before you slap the pads on. all of that squeaking might have cut some galleys in those rotors.

Sounds good. I can see slight rings/deviations in the rotors but still fairly smooth/flat. I try to run a 120 grit over the rotors before swapping pads to make sure I get the old transfer material off.

 

[blackbetty14]

Do they feather the edges on brake pads still, or did they stop doing that

I think they do on the short ends. I do remember slots in the pad material as well.

 

[blackbetty14]

may or may not be the problem, but an old habit I have from doing hundreds of brake jobs in a garage is when serviceing the pads, I even do it to new pads, take a small file or grinder and remove the sharp 90* edge on the long sides of the friction material. takes 30 seconds per pad and removes any chance of a small squeal from there. sometimes the sharp edge or black paint they put can make noise

Also you have to do a brake service (clean and relube) every year for optimal performance and quiet operation.
remove any big ridges that may or may not form on the disc or pad

So take down the edge how much on the long side? I’ve never done that but will try it if it helps.

 

[blackbetty14]

Do you guys think I can still run these EBC anti vibration shims with the new OEX pads?

I thought these where unique and I’ve never seen them before the EBC pads.

 

[hemihustlin]

So take down the edge how much on the long side? I’ve never done that but will try it if it helps.

not much, like a mm or 2 just enough to remove the sharp 90* edge

 

[blackbetty14]

not much, like a mm or 2 just enough to remove the sharp 90* edge

Won’t it just create another sharp edge as it wears? Also the OEX pads are a very curvy pad. I don’t think I will be able to do that on these.