How to stop brakes from squealing?

[Samckitt]

Just recently started doing it. Can I do anything to make it stop? Pads/rotors are fine.

[mc84_zz4]

Clean the back of the pads, and put some high temp brake adhesive on the back of the pad where inner pad contacts the caliper piston, and caliper and pad on the outside.
Usually the pads are chattering back & forth against the caliper piston. The inside pad usually is the culprit, but I put adhesive on both of them. Some brands have an add-on alum crush-plate that 'should' avoid the squealing.

I also clean the contact area where the pad rides in the carrier brace, then add high temp grease to the groove/tab where they make contact.

[modular93fox]

At the BMW dealer we use BG Stop Squeal..

http://www.bgprod.com/products/brake.html

I can see how it works, but weather or not it works, I dont have come backs. When cars come in with squealing brakes and its not warantee and the customer approves the repair, I bevel all the edges of the pad and put that BG stuff on both pads. Also I clean off the caliper where the pad touches, grease the slider and put it back together. To be honest, if it were my own car, I'd do the exact same thing.. except I wouldnt pay anyone to do it for me :)
clint

long shot here... if you pay shipping to and from, I'll mail you a bottle... use what you need and mail it back?

[taz]

At gm dealer we also use bg stop squeal but i use anti sieze where pad contacts caliper and anti sieze where pad backing plate contacts piston in caliper and on outside pad backing plate where it contacts caliper . A heavy metal compund in brake pads will squeak but most of the time its where the pad backing plate contacts the caliper antisieze works every time . If you have cheap pads with lots of metal in them get some ceramic pads they are very quiet and dissapate heat so you dont warp rotors as frequently as metallic compounds .
Tim

[silver69camaro]

Since some of us here use fairly aggressive compounds, be aware that some borderline street/track pads will be noisy no matter what you do.

[MonzaRacer]

DO NOT use the sticky stuff, it will exaggerate the noise.
For the last 20+ years I have done this, use silicone disc brake lube ans lube anyplace that has metal to metal contact, even if it has silencer shims , even smear some between the pad/piston or pad/ caliper so everything can slip and slid. I have had super hard (Raybestos) to softer (mighty) and never had any noise issues after doing this.
EXCEPT when Raybestos had some issues for a while and we used a product made by Kent called Brake Silencer, it was black came in bottles and spray can like paint. We would pull pads off and sand them on 36/50 grit emery cloth, spray couple coats and tada no squeal. the spray had microfine quarts in it. Theory on its development is if you rub quarts it sets up a frequency, smaller pieces, the farther out of human hearing and it would setup sympathetic freq.
And it worked on drum shoes too.
Master used to sell an aluminum complex product that was put on drum disc, but it never worked as good as the Kent, but did work.
But I still lube everything, used to use anti seize but silicone break lube holds up better in brake heat.

[ErikLS2]

Toyota makes a great disc brake grease for between the shims and on the edges of the pad backing plate. It's part number is 08887-80609

[Apogee]

We've had really good luck with Ceramlub and Pastelub products. These are high temp greases with very high-solids content which are good up to 2800 F (the solids anyway). We use the Ceramlub anywhere there is contact with rubber, like on slide pins, and the silver Pastelub on the metal to metal contact points.

Bendix I believe is brand-labeling the Ceramlub and includes ampules with their pad kits. We stock both, but only in Jobber quantities (10 oz tubs).

Tobin
KORE3

[silver69camaro]

We've had really good luck with Ceramlub and Pastelub products. These are high temp greases with very high-solids content which are good up to 2800 F (the solids anyway). We use the Ceramlub anywhere there is contact with rubber, like on slide pins, and the silver Pastelub on the metal to metal contact points.

Bendix I believe is brand-labeling the Ceramlub and includes ampules with their pad kits. We stock both, but only in Jobber quantities (10 oz tubs).

Tobin
KORE3

Is Ceramlub the purple stuff? If so, I think I used that on my BMW and seems to work great.

[Apogee]

Yes, the Ceramlub is the purple stuff and the Pastelub is silver for identification purposes. Both work great wherever we've used them, just be careful not to get it on your clothes...don't ask.

Tobin
KORE3

[bochnak]

Anyone have experience with the permatex brand you can get at Napa?

[rrunner68]

I just let it happen. If any one looks at me funny, I yell "RACECAR!"

[MonzaRacer]

Anyone have experience with the permatex brand you can get at Napa?


Yeah I believe the newest version has moly in it and is gray. A dab on the back of the pads and smear it around with your finger, and thin coat on any and all metal to metal rubbing and your good to go.
Now also a not to others if you have aggressive pads dont forget if you use then easy they can build up used/burnt pad and this can also cause squeal. So also sanding the pads can remove this and some aggressive braking every once in a while can help.
Like I said Raybestos had some issues with over tempering (cooking) the pads. See what was found many decades ago on disc was if the material was fully cured(by heat) it was too hard to seat in to the rotor. See the pads and rotor mate by transfer of pad material to rotor upon braking so the brakes get better as you use them, so if you use 2 sets of pads, ie track and street, break them in on fresh rotors with the street pads.
So the brake people figured out if they simply cured the pads to a specific point and let brake heat fully cure them, then you have less noise/dust/etc.
Now some of the performance pad companies have developed many different ways for the pads to seat in and some have developed formulas that require much less if any seat in time.
Also compatibility between brands in street vs track day pads is sometimes nil. So if your track pads are Hawk, stick with Hawk street pads.
Now if you only have one set of pads do a search for a company called Kent, they have a product called Brake Silencer, its a quartz based product and you scuff the pads, apply a couple of medium coats on the pad surface, l;et it dry and then reassemble and seat pads back in.
Its an awesome product and can be a used at any point in pad life and even repeatedly, like after every road course.
Master used to sell an aluminum complex product that was sprayed on fresh turned rotors but Idont see it much anymore but it did work.
Also if the pads get worn you can use a grinder to bevel the pad material edges and this will help too.

[John Wright]

Is it all street driving? or is there some track time on these pads?

reason I ask, I used the red hightemp gasket sealer (1200°F stuff) on the backs of the pads and that seemed to take the pig noises out of my truck...which is used to tow and haul pretty heavy in the mountains

[thepartsman]

Late response but though others would like to know more about brake noise.... here is a great technical link

http://www.StopBrakeNoise.com (5 Step Procedure and Proper Burnish Procedure)

Others in the post mentioned Pastelub and Ceramlub, they are the best for supporting movement due to their extremely high solids content (30% to 40%). Under extreme pressure they will not compress and therefor keep the parts moving, so energy is not built up and then transferred as noise.

If you want to address the main reason for noise, known as slip-stick related harmonics by engineers, look at the 4th step in the procedure. You need to condition the brake rotor and pad to each other, this requires a molecular level process. By doing so you extend the burnish period and keep the from hardening beyond its tolerance limits.

http://www.BrakeSilencer.com

Most of the other ideas and products mentioned have problems so be careful, especially those that you put directly on to the face of the brake pad. These are dangerous and will void all manufacturers warranties, they can modify the bonding adhesives used to hold the pad material together.

Starter kits are available so you can get all the products at a price offered to trade schools and classrooms.

[MonzaRacer]

http://www.kent-automotive.com/images/content/KRES_BrakeNoiseElimin_AD.pdf

[rixtrix1]

I have used both Ceramlub and the purple Permatex product with excellent results. Make sure the abutments are not worn where the pads ride, or if you have mounting tabs like a D52 pad, make sure to crimp them down tightly against the caliper, all to eliminate excess movement which causes squeal. Note that I've seen most disc brakes squeal at different times, sometimes from brake dust accumulation, or even a slight build-up of rust on the rotors of a cars that gets driven very little or sits a long time between drives. I've been a ASE Master professional mechanic for 40 years and these symptoms seem to be the root cause of noise, assuming you have good pads and follow a proper bedding procedure.

[rixtrix1]

Parking the vehicle works 100% of the time!

Pardon me, I just had to say it, it's getting late, but disc brakes WILL squeak.

[NoMoneyZ]

If a customer comes in here with a brake squeal I always recommend machining the rotors and scuffing the pads. 99% of the time people have glazed there pads and got the rotors really hot from riding the brakes on the fwy. I lube with AC delco silicone brake lube. I never lube the back side of the pads just the area where it slides on the caliper bracket. Always works for me.