Brake squeal

[Rittmeister]

Well, my brakes are noisy. It's a loud squealing that happens under light braking pressure. If I let up, it goes away, and if I step down harder it likewise disappears.

This is an 11" Fastbrakes setup with Wilwood forged Dynalite 4-piston calipers on the front, stock rear, stock BMC and booster. Car was originally automatic so it has the larger booster. S13 without ABS.

Pads are Hawk HPS all around, and the pads are nowhere near worn out. When I contacted Brian at Fastbrakes about the noise, he advised me to take the pads out and scuff them up on the sidewalk and put them back. While I was doing that I broke out the tin-snips and cut away most of the rest of the dust shields (I'd originally just cut the lip off to fit the larger rotors).

Anyway, the noise was gone for about a day but has returned, though less than before. I'm 90% sure it's coming from the front and not the rear. According to Fastbrakes the HPS pads shouldn't make any noise.

I did a bunch of searching with no results. Anybody have any ideas? My big concern is that the wheel bearings might be going, but I've never heard of wheel bearings making a brake-squeal sort of noise.

[Rittmeister]

Uh... anyone?

[OptionZero]

properly bedded?
did u apply the anti-brake squeal gel stuff

everything installed correctly?

[tec_neak]

I have stock calipers on a S14 with the HPS pads, and once in a while that happens but I don't really mind it, just thought it was normal...

[240srhatch]

lube it up!! apply some anti-squeal lube behind the pads, shims, and pins

[Rittmeister]

How goopy/gunky does that stuff get? BTW, there are no shims with this kit, it's a 4-piston setup and came with only the pads.

For that matter, no pins either except for the cotter pin that goes through the pads to keep 'em from falling out.

[240srhatch]

yea just lube up all the moving parts on the caliper.. it happened to me when i did z32 brake upgrade.. just a light coat is fine, just dont get it on the rotors or the contact side of the pad

[5t341tH]

damn i thot mine was the only one. after the z32 swap, i have the same problems as you. i didnt think that brakelube would be that benificial

[kenshinS14sks]

maybe your rotors are glazed over. . . when's the last time you got your rotors resurfaced? this can cause noise too

[CrimsonRockett]

My rotors were glazed the hell up.

Noisy as foock after a few minutes of driving.

Got them resurfaced, installed new pads...done.

Quiet as hell.

Z32 fronts.

[SoguRacing]

just as a note: i wouldn't rub the pads on the ground, as silicone grains can bed themselves into the pad causing odd vibration and strange noises.

[Issa__40__]

so im having this issue now aswell i have 4 pistons up front and z32 in the rear in my s14 . z32 bmc . for the first couple minutes of driving theres no noise once they warm up and under light breaking shit sounds like a fuckin train lol and im lost lol gonna take the wheels off and inspect anything . im hoping i just forgot to grease them enough

[jedi03]

hard pads on hard rotor surface will squeal, a lot of other times dust buildup can cause it...micro cracks on the rotor surface...lots of possible avenues...i just make sure i still have pad left and know that noise is a good one!

[dizzariot]

...so you bumped a thread from forever ago?

What kind of pads are you using? I thought it was cool to 'ball out' on the Project Mu D1 pads for street use. They are loud as fuck due to the type of pad they are.

[brndck]

so im having this issue now aswell i have 4 pistons up front and z32 in the rear in my s14 . z32 bmc . for the first couple minutes of driving theres no noise once they warm up and under light breaking shit sounds like a fuckin train lol and im lost lol gonna take the wheels off and inspect anything . im hoping i just forgot to grease them enough

don't bump old threads unless you have some new or useful information to contribute.