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How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
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Heftyjo
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Pop Mech is growing increasingly irrelevant. Every article is light on substance and lacks any meaningful advice.

They didn't say a darn thing about the rotors. Pad material transfers onto the rotor and builds up. Hot spots (bluish tint) on the rotors will start to cause squealing. Sometimes just going over the rotor contact area with a fine grint sand paper in a small circular motion on both sides will knock down the buildup. Hot spots can be deeper and may require them to be turned down. Costs about all of $5-7 a piece at most shops. Then, always wash your rotors in a soapy washing machine detergent bath to get all the grit and grim off, rinse clean with water, and then spray down generously with brake parts cleaner. A nice cross hatch pattern on the rotor surface will insure proper pad break in and nice quiet stops.

Also, most people don't bed in their new set of brake pads properly. A new set of pads that has not been properly broken in will invariably lead to squealing. Most brake shops will just hang the pads and call you to say the car is ready. You have to bed the pad surface in with a series of short low speed stop allowing plenty of time for the brakes to cool between stops. I usually stop the car about 20 times in a row, never going above 15 mph, and allowing about 1 minute between stops. It is crazy, it is boring, and people that get stuck behind you will most certainly be pissed, F 'em its your brakes, you have to live with it, not them. Pull over and let em go by and continue with the bed in.
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CptSevere
05/18/09

@Heftyjo: I did almost the same thing, but inadvertently. Right after I put new pads and rotors on the '71 Caddy that I used to have, some buddies and I visited someone high up in a hilly neighborhood above Salt Lake City (The Avenues). Rode the brakes coming down, and they stunk like hell when we got back down to the flats. Never had any problem with them after that, no noise, fade, anything. And that car saw plenty of mountain use.
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metal face eagle premium is not from So Cal
05/18/09

@Heftyjo: The pad material transferring to the rotor and the subsequent friction between it and your brake pads is what makes your car stop. That's what "bed-in" IS. Just because new rotors are clean and show evidence of being machined does not mean you need to remove your wheels and sand down your rotors ever couple thousand miles.

Also brake squeal is caused by the pad vibrating against the rotor. This is not exclusive to people with warped rotors, nor will any amount of prep or procedure or 'nice cross hatch pattern' eliminate the potential for vibrations to occur. That's what the thin sheetmetal pad shims and popmech quick fixes are for, to absorb those vibrations.

The way the internet told you to bed in your brakes does technically work, but that's advice I would only ever tell someone who's changing their brake pads one night with plans to use them HEAVILY at autocross the next morning. And, in that scenario, the person I'd be giving advice to would probably slap me for thinking I was patronizing him. I promise that within a few days of commuting to work and light highway travel, that a fresh set of brake pads will bed themselves in just as well for the overwhelming majority of daily drivers' intents and purposes.
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beercheck
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Just bend the wear-sensor tabs back.
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Graverobber
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
I read the tips, but due to the lack of both Billy Mays endorsement and miracle-cure in a bottle, I began to doubt its veracity.
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damnelantra™
05/18/09

@Graverobber: i just saw an advrotisement for fix-a-sqeek onthe picture tube. only 19.95 [+shipping and handling] for a lifetime supply of fix-a-sqeek and for a limited time they are even going to throw in a shamwow!
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FTGDWolverineEdition'09
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Add lead. More Pd the better!
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I love me some cleavage
05/18/09

@Formerlythegreatestdriver: Lead is Pb. But I know what you meant.
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FTGDWolverineEdition'09
05/18/09

@California Stig: Yeah. I just came back from a long trip from Norway. A bit jet lagged and drunk. Forgive me. A heart click for ya.
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MushyHeirloom
05/18/09

@Formerlythegreatestdriver: I was assuming lead poisoning.
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Graverobber
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Ah, Popular Mechanics. Whether you want to learn how to build a hover craft, or field strip an M1, they've got you covered.

I have found that the best way to prevent squeaky disks is to clean and lube the caliper slides as well as I can when changing pads. Also, turning the disks if they warp (damn camry's) is critical.
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lilwillie
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
"They just started squeaking yesterday, honest...

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Dr. H. F. Danger
05/18/09

@lilwillie's E21 leaks no more.: I have actually seen people do that in person. When I was working for PepBoys in HighSchool, someone had the pads all the way down to the vents and wondered why it was soo difficult to stop.

Do you hear that bone-scraping-death-grind? That is a couple hundred dollars down the toilet.
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dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!
05/18/09

@lilwillie's E21 leaks no more.: I could be wrong, but I think your rotors might need to be resurfaced.
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discontinuuity has left the Jalop until further notice
05/18/09

@dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!: I think they've been resurfaced a little too much.

@lilwillie's E21 leaks no more.: Good. Some people don't deserve to own cars it seems.
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.357
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Who even uses brakes? They're for treehugging, rainforest saving, hybrid driving pussies.
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I love me some cleavage
05/18/09

@CoЯiolis Eff Smites You With The PoweЯ of BuЯbeЯЯy: I agree. In order to slow or stop, I use all the other cars around me. If there are no cars around me, well, I don't need to stop. Duh.
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.357
05/18/09

@California Stig: Exactly. That's what bumpers are for.
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wkiernan
05/18/09

@CoЯiolis Eff Smites You With The PoweЯ of BuЯbeЯЯy: On the contrary, us Prius-loving tree-hugging pussies use kinetic energy recovery systems as much as possible. As you would know if you had ever read anything except the ads in the back of Hustler magazine, you Neanderthal, braking turns valuable, expensive kinetic energy into mere heat, I>i.e. global warming. Whereas regenerative braking saves natural resources and decreases pollution, which causes butterflies to frolic happily amidst rainbows.

Now shut-up and get on over here so I can kick your ass, stick-boy.
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.357
05/18/09

@wkiernan: In life, sometimes there is a thing called sarcasm "stick-boy."
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Pssh, just turn up the radio.
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Flathead Smith
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
My preferred method is to switch to drum brakes, cause drums don't squeak.
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Mad_Science
05/18/09

@Flathead Smith: They do if you have a leaky axle seal.

Not that I know...
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MushyHeirloom
05/18/09

@Flathead Smith: They can't squeak. They're too busy sucking horse cock.
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spuy767
05/19/09

@FstrPssycw: You win the internets for a day.
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MushyHeirloom
05/19/09

@spuy767: I'll try to be gentle with 'em.

But not too gentle.
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MushyHeirloom
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
Wheel weights?

/someone had to
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engineerd
05/18/09

In reply to How To Fix Squeaky Brakes
I put WD40 on it.
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Ted Hamilton
05/17/09

In reply to Of The Potential Responses To My Brakes' Failure, I Did Not Choose The Best
Any duo that "affectionately" refers to a Dodge Dart can't be all that bad...

And the credits at the end of the show are classic.

Legal Advice given by: Duey Cheetham and Howe...
Vacation Planner: Mirasmus B. Draggon
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Ben Wojdyla
05/17/09

@Ted Hamilton: I believe you're looking for:

Head of Working Mother Support Group: Erasmus B. Dragon
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Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
05/16/09

In reply to Of The Potential Responses To My Brakes' Failure, I Did Not Choose The Best
The only "healing" brakes can do is scrape off rust on the friction surface.
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MushyHeirloom
05/16/09

In reply to Of The Potential Responses To My Brakes' Failure, I Did Not Choose The Best
I love it.
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Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing
05/16/09

In reply to Of The Potential Responses To My Brakes' Failure, I Did Not Choose The Best
I only recently found out that the "brake" dash indicator also warns for the clutch. Randy was having trouble engaging reverse on his 5-speed. The next day he comes home and says, "oh, great! Now the 'brake' light is lit". Brakes were fine, but the fluid level needed topping up.
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