squealing front brakes

[skyman]

hi developed this annoying squeal on the front brake, when hard on the brakes its quiet til just before coming to a halt then it squeals,
striped them out shims are on cleaned calipers pistons de glazed the pads and rotors copper slipped all pins and moving contact points and rear of pads feels great lever is firm and stops much better but still squeals anny ideas

[VTRDark]

That's what the pad retainer springs are for. They are supposed to keep the brake pads from squealing.

(:-})

[skyman]

That's what the pad retainer springs are for. They are supposed to keep the brake pads from squealing.

(:-})

well they are on so prob need new ones then eh

[bluestoesonnose]

Retainers may be weak but there are a few other things to think about.

Are the callipers and discs mounted correctly? Be worth checking the bolts to ensure they are tight and the rotors are callipers are mounted correctly.

Have you cooked the pads? If you've over heated the brakes then all the friction material may damaged, you'll need new pads.

Are any of the pistons sticking? This may give you uneven pad contact when breaking, which will cause the noise or over heat the pad if it was binding.

Are the discs within tolerance? Are they warped even slightly then you maybe setting up a squeal as the pads bounce. If they are way past their best with worn pads you maybe extending the pistons beyond their safe limit and causing the squeal.

Whilst you've done the correct stuff to start with you may need to look a little deeper, check the discs for warping and thickness if that's ok then a full calliper rebuild and new pads could be required.

All simple stuff but it may take some time to find the root cause.

[tony.mon]

Check for rodents.

[Kev L]

Wasn't that what Mac ended up with, road dents!!!!! BaBoom tish.

[lloydie]

Wasn't that what Mac ended up with, road dents!!!!! BaBoom tish.

Good one that

[MacV2]

Wasn't that what Mac ended up with, road dents!!!!! BaBoom tish.

OI ! leave the crap jokes to me!

[skyman]

thanks for the ideas pads have loads of life rotors so have not sure about warpage they dont appear to have any run out had the calipers off so in know bolts are tight and pistons are clean and seem to be even pressure the only thing i havent checked are the rotor bolts but may just put new pads in which would be a shame as these stil have plenty of life , dont think i have over cooked them as i do ride quite steady . but who knows never used them back brake as much cos of this annoying squeal , will check for rodents but doubt itas we have a big ginger tom oh err missis !!!!

[tony.mon]

these stil have plenty of life , dont think i have over cooked them as i do ride quite steady .

Ah, that's interesting.

You might have glazed the pads, try taking them out and use a bit of sandpaper or emery to remove the shiny surface, until it's duller- back to clean pad material.
Then reinstall, but this time use the brakes quite hard- proper stops from 70 or so, and see if it still squeals.

[Penfold]

I have the same problem.

New pads, chamfered the leading edge, smear of copperslip on the shims, all pistons moving freely etc etc but they still squeal and judder like a bstd at slow speeds or light pressure. They''re fine if I hit them quite firmly at speed but any gentle pressure gets them screaming at me!

Is there a recommended brake pad? I was thinking that these new ones might just be too hard with too much metal in them?

Edit: They're EBC "Double H" pads.

[skyman]

these stil have plenty of life , dont think i have over cooked them as i do ride quite steady .

Ah, that's interesting.

You might have glazed the pads, try taking them out and use a bit of sandpaper or emery to remove the shiny surface, until it's duller- back to clean pad material.
Then reinstall, but this time use the brakes quite hard- proper stops from 70 or so, and see if it still squeals.

already done still the same hard on the brakes no sound tillit slows to about 5 mph then squeals to a halt its driving me mad

[VTRDark]

You might have glazed the pads, try taking them out and use a bit of sandpaper or emery to remove the shiny surface, until it's duller- back to clean pad material.
Then reinstall, but this time use the brakes quite hard- proper stops from 70 or so, and see if it still squeals.

already done still the same hard on the brakes no sound tillit slows to about 5 mph then squeals to a halt its driving me mad

What about the discs themselves. You may want to give these a quick once over with light wet n dry so they are not so shiny and polished. When new they have a machined finish and over time the pads polish them up. At the same time you may as well spin all the, oh what are they called bobbins I think. The round bits that mount the outer disc to the inner that make them floating disks. These should all spin freely.

(:-})

[Penfold]

already done still the same hard on the brakes no sound tillit slows to about 5 mph then squeals to a halt its driving me mad

Sounds just like mine. Had my storm for 13 years and never had anything like it and I've gone through quite a few sets of pads!

What about the discs themselves. You may want to give these a quick once over with light wet n dry so they are not so shiny and polished. When new they have a machined finish and over time the pads polish them up. At the same time you may as well spin all the, oh what are they called bobbins I think. The round bits that mount the outer disc to the inner that make them floating disks. These should all spin freely.

(:-})

That was the next thing on my list to try, I've also gone round the discs tapping them with a plastic hammer to make sure none of the disc rivet/bobbin things have seized.

[Penfold]

I've discovered the cause of mine.

The right hand caliper isn't sitting correctly. It's either the caliper is bent or the fork lugs are bent as it sits twisted over. A quick look at the old pads shows that they are worn at an angle. The new pads were only touching at the top on one side and the bottom on the other, confirmed by the wear marks on them, so they've seriously overheated and glazed over.

There's something not right with the whole front end though as the more I look at it the more it looks twisted. The right disc sits a lot closer to the fork than the left disc and further inspection shows the left disc sitting perfectly in the middle of the caliper where as the right disc is almost touching the right hand inner edge of the caliper.

Time for a new front end I think