BY BLAIR LAMPE / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 31, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / When our cars make unexpected noises, we get nervous. When it’s our&hellip;{"id":10688,"date":"2018-09-10T12:22:55","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T19:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=10688"},"modified":"2018-09-10T12:22:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T19:22:55","slug":"how-to-fix-squeaky-brakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/10\/how-to-fix-squeaky-brakes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix Squeaky Brakes"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">BY BLAIR LAMPE \/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 31, 2018 \/<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION<\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\/<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When our cars make unexpected noises, we get nervous. When it\u2019s our brakes acting up, we get very nervous, and with good reason.<\/span>\u00a0<a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/drum-brakes-vs-disc-brakes-whats-the-difference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The nature of brakes<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">is such that they will make noises from time to time and in response to certain conditions, but that high-pitched squealing is enough to drive someone mad if it\u2019s ongoing. You can learn how to fix squeaky brakes at home, but first you need to know what you\u2019re dealing with.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Sound and the Fury<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Brakes squeak because of vibration between the rotor, calipers and pads at a frequency insufferable to the human ear. Sometimes, it can\u2019t be helped; the caliper piston must push the pads to contact the rotor to stop the car, and that\u2019s going to cause friction on a moving object, which will in turn cause vibration. For the most part, however, the design and the materials have been developed to keep this to a minimum. It\u2019s also possible for moisture to creep in when the temperature drops overnight, and this can cause a small amount of rust to form, which requires heat and friction to remove. In that case, you simply have to drive until the brakes heat up enough to take care of the problem themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Brake Dancing<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That said, when brakes make noise, pay attention. In fact, they\u2019re designed to make a LOT of noise when the pads wear too thin, alerting you to have them replaced ASAP. This is much more than a high-pitched squeak though; you\u2019ll notice metal-on-metal scraping and sounds of tearing. In any case, it\u2019s your brakes: Always make sure you\u2019re not dealing with a significant issue. Check for loose parts, worn pads and scratched or warped rotors, and fix any problems you find before they escalate.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Extra Padding<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There are a few solutions to consider for getting rid of the squeak. You could change the pads to a different friction material. That might reduce the squeak, but keep in mind that the original manufacturer parts were designed to be there, so be sure to do your research and only replace with pads that still give you plenty of stopping power. It\u2019s also possible on some calipers to install Teflon shims between the piston and the back of the pads. This reduces the space available for vibration, and is a longer-lasting fix. Not all caliper-rotor-pad combos will accommodate shims, however, and you don\u2019t want to wear your pads down to nothing just so you can shim them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Another option is lubricating the backing plate of the brake pads with<\/span>\u00a0<a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/CRC091445?cid=social_blog_082018_disc_brake_quiet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>high-temperature grease<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. This is an easy (if temporary) fix that will dampen the vibration and doesn\u2019t require changing all your pads. Finally, you can attempt to adhere the back of the pad to the caliper itself. This eliminates vibration in the caliper-pad part of the equation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Do not, under any circumstances, lubricate the rotors or the face of the pads. This will reduce your ability to brake, potentially putting you in a very dangerous situation. Brake squeal is annoying, but there are ways to lessen it, and it\u2019s not worth compromising your safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Check out all the<\/span>\u00a0<a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/c\/brake-systems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>brake products<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">available on\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>NAPA Online<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">or trust one of their 16,000<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/store-finder.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NAPA AutoCare locations<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information on how to fix squeaky brakes, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/store-locator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>local NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Photo Credit:<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/selkovjr\/4651863846\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Restored slides with pads<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> by<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/selkovjr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Gene Selkov<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/legalcode\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CC BY 2.0<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><strong><i><a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong><i>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/event-info\/car-show-hours-dates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the next Pomona Swap Meet &amp; Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":10690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[4152,4580,6478,3494,6479,4590,4373,6007,5472,6477,3491,3037,3026,3609,6102,6476,6480],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/4651863846_b59ebaa152_o.jpg?fit=512%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2Mo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10688"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10693,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10688\/revisions\/10693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}