Lockedin

I have a '01 SCrew 2wd 5.4 w/ 121,000 on it.

This weekend I was heading up a canyon road with all four windows down. I noticed that when I was rounding right hand corners, I could hear a quiet ** shing, shing shing ** , when I applied the brakes, the sound would go away.

It's so quiet that I can only hear it with the windows down while there is an object (curb, wall, cliff-side, etc.) to reflect the sound back; and there is no wobble or any other indication that anything is wrong. Visual inspection (and general ignorance on my part) don't show anything obvious.

I'm not driving the truck this week, so no worries there. I'm thinking it's just the brake pads - I'd just like the opinions of more experienced owners.

Thanks!

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

There are sheilds around the disks and one might be contacting the rotor. The only other thing is maybe a par prematurely worn out but I'm banking on the shield.

TLB4

Might also be a warped rotor. At slow speeds it will feel like the brakes are somewhat pulsing. Or if you remove the tire, and spin the tire free hand, it will be stiff or hard to turn in one area.

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

Very true

Lockedin

Thanks for the responses guys!

Not sure if it's a very slightly warped rotor - the brakes still operate very smooth at all speeds with no pulsing I can discern. I'm hoping to have time to get the tire off and look at it this evening.

I drove it to the corner store last night - so that I could really concentrate on the sound - again,

I can only hear it during a right turn
It's so slight that I have to have the windows down and a wall on the right side of the truck to reflect the sound so I can hear it.

If I liked air conditioning more I might never even know about this...

Lockedin

UPDATE

Pads were low, so I replaced both front pads, the noise didn't go away.


I figured that even though there's no "pulse" feeling in the pedal, I should have the rotors surfaced.

I took to a local shop who say that the front wheel bearings are shot, the rotors are too thin for surfacing, and it'll be about $500...

I completely believe the bearings, but the rotors seemed to have a lot of meat left on them - I'll be getting a second opinion on those.


All that said - how hard is it to replace the front wheel bearings on a 2001 SCrew? And is there a good how to?

harding01screw

Id be interested in this too as mine are bad as well. Bearings i mean. 500 bucks sounds right. The bearings total for me off autozone total just shy of 400 bucks. Then thd cost of new rotors and labor.

CodyW.17

Even if the rotors seem like they have a lot of meat left on them, you have to take in consideration that the difference between a rotor that's able to be resurfaced and one that's not is thousands of inches. The number one reason for returns in a shop for brake jobs is noise. I did the brakes on my 97 in February and I hear noises every now and then but I agree on the bearings. If you turn your wheels all the way to the right and start moving, you could probably hear a noise from inside your truck.

Lockedin

Ahhh, !!!!!

But thanks for the responses guys. Think I'm gonna bite the bullet and take it in - just haven't had a lot of time lately, and this weekend is no exception.

Frank_Ford

With today's ceramic brakes, it is always a good idea to change the rotors when you change the brake pads. I always do this job myself so the cost is really low. I can buy cross drilled rotors and pads for two wheels for about $100. The last time I did this I also replaced the calipers for about another $50 and replaced all the brake fluid with DOT4 brake fluid. The DOT 4 has additives to prevent corrosion so it should cut down on the maintenance of your brake system. A few weeks later I change the shoes on the rear brakes and also changed the brake cylinders. My truck stops great now and it all cost me only about $200. In the end, it was not a very hard job to do and one that can save you a lot of money over taking it in to have someone do it for you.