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Brake Problems

O.k. I'm really confused here. About a month and half ago, I replaced the front brake pads and rotor on my 1998 Ford Explorer. No big deal right? Well, every once in a while when I apply the brakes, a rubbing noise comes from the front brakes. It's really noticeable when I go really slow right before I'm completely stopped. It makes a horrible noise and it just doesn't feel right. It doesn't pull to one side, the rotors still feel nice and smooth, and everything still looks good. The weird thing is, it doesn't do it all the time. Half the time the brakes are fine. It seems to do it more when the brakes have been used or are hot. I don't know. I'm just throwing thoughts out there. I've already taken things apart and put more of that anti-squealing crap on the back of the brakes and have taken some fine sandpaper to the front of the pads, but it still does it. Any suggestions would be great before I take it to a Ford Dealer just to find out it's something stupid. Thanks in advance. Later. Nate

Reply to
Nate
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Did you put any of the caliper pin lube onto the guide pins? I have a

96 explorer and took it into a trusted garage to get the breaks done. The too put that anti squeek crap behind the break pads and it didin't do anything for the noise. I ended up taking the wheels off and just removed the antisqueek guck and putting on caliper pin lube and the problem went away. Now I do my own breaks as it's cheeper than going to ford and I think i do a better job.
Reply to
MJM

MJM,

Yeah, I put lube on that stuff. I usually do my brakes on my own too, but I've never run into something like this. Weird. I can't explain what the noise sounds like. It's just a loud annoying grinding/rubbing noise. Hmm?

Reply to
Nate

Are you sure the noise isn't coming from the axle? H

Reply to
Hairy

My '96 had that problem. It's a really loud and shrill sound, almost like a whistle.

I think that the problem comes from the pads themselves. I bought my '96 when it was two years old, from a Ford dealer. They had replaced the brakes with OEM pads. I took it back to them and they said the sound was normal. Same thing as Nate - the brakes worked fine, no pulling or vibration or anything like that. Just this noise at low speeds, and when I applied light pressure to the brakes. If I applied more pressure, the noise went away.

Finally, the brakes needed to be replaced. I bought a set of semi-metallic pads at NAPA. Problem solved! Well, at least until the next time the pads wore out. I bought the same darn pads from NAPA, and the noise returned!! The guys at my local NAPA store were perplexed, but one of them suggested that I try a set of their Ceramix pads. I did, and the noise is gone. As an added bonus, ceramic pads create a negligible amount of brake dust, so my front wheels are cleaner than the rears, which still have semi-metallic pads.

Hope this helps, Nate.

Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

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