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noisy brakes

First, I am no mechanic. What I am is cheap, and don't want to pay $400+ to have my brake pads replaced and/or rotors replaced or turned. I have a 97

2WD Explorer Sport. Over a period of 50,000 miles, I've had the pads replaced or replaced them myself at least 4 times due to very loud brake noise, and the rotors turned twice and replaced once. Everytime I've replaced the pads, there has been plenty of pad left, but they've been loud anyway. The last time I serviced the brakes, I put 4 new rotors and premium pad sets on (from O'Reilly autoparts), with the help of my father who's a mechanic on the front rotors. After 5000 miles, the fronts are squealing, and the rears (especially rear left) are screaming very loudly. The brakes work great, they're just VERY loud.

So my questions are these.

  1. Is this a common problem with explorer brakes?
  2. How do you wise newsgroup readers recommend I go about fixing this?
  3. What types/brands of brakepads/rotors do ya'll recommend?
  4. Does anyone know a good website detailing the procedure of changing out pads for a '97 so that I can check to see if I did something wrong?

Thanks for the help.

-Andrew

Reply to
Andrew C.
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I have used Raybestos, Motorcraft, Wagner and UBP with a great amount of success. I find that improper break in procedure can result in noisy brake operation. You'll need a chunk of fairly open road as we want to avoid coming to a full stop with heated up brakes. Get up to speed and then, using moderate pressure slow down to about 10 or 15 mph and release the brake completely. Accelerate back to speed and give the pads a few moments to normalize.... repeat this process about five times and the pads should be properly cured. This should nearly eliminate any future noises.

YMMV.

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Reply to
Jim Warman

Did you "brake" them in properly? Sorry, couldn't resist.

If they are VERY loud you might not have used the included shims with the brake pads? Maybe use that "firming gel" that goes in between shims and the pads, let it set up for about 10 minutes and them install the pads. This gel will harden to a rubbery texture and dampen brake squeal.

I have also heard of pads that are incompatible with rotors but that is usually the case when experiencing "Brake Fading" where you gradually lose your stopping capability.

r/

-IanCT

Reply to
IanCT

Good point on the anti-squeal compound, Ian..... I used to use it every brake job before I moved to the dealership. Since then, I still break in every brake job I do and haven't gotten a noisy come-back yet. With the mixed bag of pads we used at the indepedent shop, I'm sure the anti-squeal helped. At the dealer we usually install the top of the line Motorcraft pads.

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Reply to
Jim Warman

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