brake noise
 

Would bad bearings cause the brakes to squeal? Also, would the steering wheel shake when they are bad in the front?

Re: brake noise
 

I am not an expert but bearings will have growling noise not a squeal. Squealing sound comes from worn pads/rotors. Check the wear on them. Shaking steering (when breaking) probably means your rotors are wrapped. Have them cut if you still have some more room. Otherwise, replace them.



If you are replacing them, get organic pads while you are at it. They takes longer to break but they do not squeal.



If the car is shaking while normal driving, have the tires rotated and balanced. That should do the trick.



Lwin

Re: Re: brake noise
 

I do have the growling. The pads are about a month old. My front brakes will squeal sometimes when braking, sometimes very loud. The steering wheel doesn't shake at all when braking , only when driving. It gets better after I drive it awhile but it is still there. I had just recently replaced the hose that goes to the master cylinder a it sounded like it helped to keep them quiet. I've been pondering this problem for nearly a year now.:confused:

Re: Re: Re: brake noise
 

My guess is that you used aftermarket pads. You'll find that A/M pads have more of a tendency to squeal than OEM.

There are several things that could be causing your shaking in the steering wheel. If it levels off after driving, I'd suspect the tires, but, would have the front suspension fully checked, for safety's sake.

Re: Re: Re: Re: brake noise
 

Just to point out something a little different, my brakes were squealing to beat all hell 3 years ago. Original brakes on a 92. I changed rotors and pads, Subaru pads and rear rotors, NAPA front rotors(availability of NAPA was next day Subaru next week and I was moving.) It was embarassing to be seen in the car while braking before the change. There was still plenty of material on the stock pads, so I wouldn't always attribute squealing to AMs. I also changed out the brake fluid at the time, pretty simple to do.
Mike

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: brake noise
 

I just got the car inspected and was told that I needed new cv boots. Aparently they are cracked and grease is slinging everywhere. So that might be some of the shake.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: brake noise
 

Bad CV joints will make the front end shake. I put in new Subaru axles, that's the whole assembly from the wheel to trans, in my car for $150 each. If the shake has been going on for awhile it may have damaged the tie rod ends. Bad tie rods will allow the front to shake, bent rims also. You can check out the wheel bearing with a dial indicator.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: brake noise
 

Oh man, don't say that. Well, fortunately, the mild shaking only started a little while ago(about 3 weeks), so I'm hoping that it's just that the grease is unbalanced and causing it(crosses fingers).On a related note(to this thread), I replaced my vacuum hose for the master cylinder with a piece of hose from the tranny filter kit I purchased. The squealing is all but gone now except for when I drive in the city and the brakes have a chance to get good and hot. Also, they aren't spongey like they were. The only bad part about it is there isn't a replacement hose in the country at this time.

New pads
 

While the aftermarket pads I bought about a year and 3 months ago aren't worn and work well, they squeal like crazy. I just ordered OEM pads and will be putting them in this weekend. It's SOOOO embarassing to make so much noise when braking, especially when you are trying to impress people!

Jeff

the shaking you feel could be.....
 

warped rotors. how is the alignment on your car? does the car shake everytime you come to a stop? only during hard breaking? just trying to get an idea of what exactly is happening.

The shaking is very...
 

mild. It's worse on cooler days or when the car has been sitting for awhile(I attribute it to being cold tires). However, when they warm up, it still has a very slight shake to it. I just had the car aligned again, although it is still pulling to the right, which tells me they didn't align the damn thing worth a crap. I have no shaking during braking, except when I have to aviod the occasional cow or deer.:) One thing I have noticed is the pads do put out a LOT of dust.

An alignment lesson...
 

Alignment techs put the car back to original factory specs. They can not adjust tire problems, nor can they (on a Subaru) adjust caster. Guess which side of the car will pull...the side with the most negative caster.

So before you go saying the alignment shop did a crappy job...didja align it with new tires? Didja try swapping tires front to back (or for just a test side to side)? Was the tech able to put the thing back in factory spec...or do you have a bent part?

Are you feeling the normal pull associated with the crown of the road. You *do* realize that roads aren't flat right? In the left hand lane the thing will drift to the left, and in the right hand lane, the thing will drift to the right.

Frankly guys, there isn't a whole lot of aligning that can be done anymore...not like the olden days when cars used shims. You may have a whole different problem than alignment causing your pull. I have on many occasions had to take customers out and show them that what they are feeling is normal. (And yes, even after showing them..."well my toyota don't do that".)

Re: An alignment lesson...
 

Well, it pulls to the right even when I'm in the left lane. I had the tires rotated (I think they just moved them from front to back) and it still pulls left. I am rather hesitant to swap them from one side to the other, they are monodirectional tires, but I will try it tomorrow(if'n I get up early enough:D)

They were able to get it back to factory specs, and it drove nice and straight, then I hit a bump(big pothole) and knocked it out of aliagnment. This was in February of this year when I got new tires put on.

About the vacuum hose for the master cylinder. What are the valves for in the hose?(They look like valves at least):)