Meety Peety

A little while ago my front brakes started to go, so I tok my truck to a local shop (Ron's Tire & Brake for those of you who are familiar) to have them done. They told me I needed new pads (Obviously) one new rotor and grease. They also resurfaced the opposite rotor. Everything was fine at first, but the next day I started to hear my brakes squeeking again. After a few minutes with my father outside listening while I stopped, he concluded that it was a rear brake issue, not the front.. however the day before, they told me that the rear brakes were fine and didn't quite need to be replaced yet. I found it odd to say the least that the very next day my rear brakes were going out. I took the truck back immediately after we figured out where it was coming from and they litterally told me "I don't know, they look fine to me".. and I left not knowing what was going on.

Now tonight I was driving down a pretty steep and windy hill and something went wrong with either my tire or my brakes. I'll admit, I was going a bit faster than I should have been, but nothing crazy and certainly nothing that I haven't done before. When I got to the bottom of the hill and got out to open a gate, I smelled burning rubber. First I checked the engine, everything was fine. All fluids were great and I saw no leaks, steam, anything - the engine was fine. Then I had a funny feeling that it may be the brakes, because after the squeeking started, I really don't trust the shop that put them in at all. I figured out it was the right driver side wheel and went down to smell it hopeing I could tell where it was coming from. I put my face right up near the caliper and I really didn't smell the rubber at all, yet when I smelled the tire itself, it definately smelled like the TIRE was the cause of the smell. Then, when I got back home I went back down there and smelled several spots on the wheel and this time, the tire smelled fine, yet the smell seemed like it could have been coming from the caliper.

I'm just so confused here, the shop I took my truck to couldn't even tell me why my brakes were squeeking.. and they're an effing brake shop, so naturally I don't want to go back. I have a feeling I'll end up getting another "Uhh... I don't know" if I bring it back in and tell them about the smell. Can anyone help me figure out what to do here? I know I DO need new tires soon.. but I wouldn't think the tire would start to smell like that just from driving down a hill, right?

Hit-By-Thunder

my money on this is that when you were going down the hill you had your brakes on more than normal cause you were going a little faster than normal. When slowing down on a hill and brakes are steady on they will heat up ALOT. Instead of using the brakes so much, use a lower gear even if it's an automatic use the engine brake to slow down. Usually rotors will warp if the brakes are held too long and especially if you sit at a stop light at the end of the hill. Hot pads sitting on a hot rotor while the other side cools spells warping.

As for the brakes sqeaking, maybe you have a metallic pad and lots of life in the pads still If you have rear disks have a look while it is on the hoist usually the inboard pad will wear faster if the caliper is seizing.

Hope this helps you out abit

Rob/HBT

atvrider93

brakes dont just sqeek when they are worn, they also need to be lubed, not sure if they did this or not

Meety Peety

I was hitting the brakes somewhat hard toward the end of the trip down hill, I was going faster than my girlfriend liked and I slowed down a lot. Think maybe thats all it was? I guess i might just be a little paranoid now.. that brake shop REALLY lost my trust lol.. you should never tell a customer that you have no idea whats going on right after working on their vehicle. I mean, it wasn't even like "I dunno man, maybe try this.." it was straight up like "Uhhh... wow I don't know lets get this guy out of here before he sees something we screwed up".

I don't think the lubing would be the problem because they were 100% fine up until the day after my front brake job. It would just be extremely odd timing for them to need grease I guess.

Hit-By-Thunder

hey Meety, lubing the brakes is meant by the caliper slides and slide pins or if you have rear shoes, where the brake shoes touches the mounting plate.

usually on pads, there is a wear indicator clip that squeals really loud like fingers on a chalk board but metal to metal. It is just that an indicator to give you an audible que to get the brakes looked at. Do you have rear disks cause this is where the sound is coming from right?

Rob/HBT

Meety Peety

Yes rear discs and I believe the Ebrake is a drum (But is in perfect condition). The thing is, I had the shop check my rear discs and they said they were fine. I also checked the pads myself and I have about 3/8" to 1/2" of pad left on all four rears. They aren't going to last forever, but they sure looked fine for now. I was planning on having them done in a month or so when I can afford it.. since I still have to buy tires ASAP.

Should I maybe take it in and have them lube up the rears anyway? Any idea what they would charge for this? I mean regardless of if that is the problem.. if its cheap I wouldn't mind having it done just to keep things in good shape.

Hit-By-Thunder

That is lots of rear pad, yes the e-brake sit inside the disc. On mine I was driving down the hiway and the rear ebrake pad went. It sounded like an oil slinger spinning in the tranny. The sound was right under the truck. I put the truck on jackstands and that when I heard the sound from the left rear wheel. The shoe for the e-brake came unbonded and was sliding inside on the rear disc. Had I known then when it happened, it would have saved me a $230 towing bill

Rob/HBT

2000xl_toronto

doesn't anybody think it's sort of weird that they only replaced the one rotor and turned the other? That's a big no no for me - I don't think that has any bearing on the problem you're having but that was a red flag for me when I read the post

donw9195

I gotta ask, did the truck pull ? Years ago I got a little peice of trash in a brake line of an old car I had. Basically it wouldnt let the fluid back out of one of the cylinders and therefore one on the calipers was grabbing a bit all the time, however it did make the car pull a bit while driving. The reason I mention this is that I find it very odd that only 1 of the rotors needed to be replaced. As far as the squeeking my f 150 brakes make some squeeking all the time, even after I put new pads on it. Don't know if thats any help or not.

Meety Peety

Well it doesn't pull at all, but it does slightly feel like the brakes are being applied when I'm not pressing on them. It feels like its bogged down a little bit, but I can't really tell if its just the truck or if its the brakes because its perfectly even (Like I said no pull) and its so slight that it hasn't caused any sort of problem. Basically it just feels different than most other cars I've driven.

As for only replacing one rotor, I asked them if it needed to be replaced or not and they said no. I didn't want to spend any extra money if I didn't have to, and they told me it wouldn't make any difference at all except for the fact that eventually the other rotor would need to be replaced down the line. I really would have liked to put two rotors on, but I couldn't afford to spend another $80 if I didn't need to.