I just replaced all of my pads (front and rear). For a week and a half I enjoyed squealless driving. Then I began hearing an odd "clanking" sound. Kind of like a squeaky spring sound. It occurs once per revolution of the , I think, rear wheels. Any ideas? Also, after reading 'brake' posts on this site, I noticed a lot of them talking about bleeding the brake lines. I didn't do this, could this be the problem? Is it absolutely necessary to bleed them?

 

Bleeding them is a good idea, but it shouldn't be causing the squealing.

Sometimes the pads are a little too big and don't move freely enough in the caliper (particularly the rears). A little work with a file on the backing plate can free them up. Sometimes the pad is a bit too long and hangs up in the caliper.

Cleaning the calipers out with some brake cleaner can help, too. Sometimes there is just too much dust and crap built up in there for the pads to move freely.

Applying some "disc-brake-quiet" compound to the backing plates of the pads may also be an appropriate solution.

-Max

 

Thanks for the input Max. I did put anti-squeal compound on the backs off all of the pads in-between the pads and shims. I haven't tried the filing idea. What exactly do you mean'backing' to file?

 

Brake pads have friction material applied to a "backing plate". The backing plate fits in the caliper to keep the pad in place, but it must be able to move relatively freely in the direction perpendicular to the rotor surface. If not, the pad may drag on the rotors. Sometimes the backing plates are a little too long so the pad doesn't move freely in the caliper. If that is the case, you can use a metal file to take a little material off the "tabs" at the ends of the backing plates to make them fit a little more loosely in the caliper. I had to do that for the pads on the back of my daily driver recently.

-Max