I have a 2005 Camry. Disc brakes in the front, drum in the rear. I’ve noticed a squeaking sound coming from the front of the vehicle while braking at low speeds. It doesn’t happen every time, but only sometimes, even after driving the vehicle for some time. It happens when braking while going straight. Haven’t noticed it while turning and braking at the same time.
I checked tire pressure of all tires and they are in specification.
I checked all brake pads in the front, and there’s plenty left, much more than minimum.
I checked all rear drum brake shoes, and there’s plenty left, much more than minimum.
After inspecting the discs, I noticed heavy pitting in the surface on the rear of the discs. So I replaced them. The squeaking problem went away for about a month but came back.
I replaced the drums the last time I replaced the brake shoes. There was no pitting or any surface problems of the drums.
I used brake grease on the back of the break pads the last time I replaced the front brake pads.
At this point I’m not sure how else to trouble this problem further? Thanks for any help.
This is not a functional problem. The brakes will work fine. It is annoying, though. Try a light bit of grease where the pads push against the brackets on each end. Just a bit on the tips. That should make it go away for a while at least.
So I recently re-did my front brakes. I used Permatex 80653 Silicone Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant. I used this lubricant on the back of the pads. On the metal shims that hold the brakes. On the brake caliper on both sides that comes into contact with the pads. I also used this lubricant on both slide pins. I did this for both the front and passenger sides. No lubricant on the actual rotors, nice clean braking surface. The rotors looked fine. They were brand new and haven’t been resurfaced even once, because I still have the same brake pads from when I put them on. Plenty of the pad is still left, way more than minimum.
Yet I still hear a squeaking sound when I brake at low speeds. Is there any other suggestions on how I can make this noise go away? It’s a bit concerning to me that I’m still hearing it.
That is normal if those parts were not taken apart for a couple of years.The old grease will be dry and hard and the pin hard to remove.I use brake cleaner spray to take them apart.
some times with high performance brakes if you make some hard braking it will get rid of the squeaking temporarily. just do it in a empty parking lot or empty road.
Thanks guys. It’s good to know there’s nothing wrong, and it might just be high performance brake pads. High performance I guess is for maximum stopping power, and not necessarily for quite operation.
Just out of curiosity, what exactly is the difference between high performance brake pads and normal? I know this might be like an engineering question, but I’m just curious.
I just have the shims that came glued onto the brake pads I bought. Would it be worth getting these metal back plates to help with the noise? If so, can anyone point me to some that I can buy for my car, 2005 Camry? I checked on Rock Auto and they are sold out. They aren’t on 1A auto.
Thanks, guys.
Once the improper friction material is applied to the brake rotor, the rotor finish isn’t correct for the proper break-in to occur between the pads and rotors when OEM pads are installed.
So, you replace both the pads and rotors with OEM to make sure it’s fixed right.
@Tester, you are a professional mechanic and from your standpoint you are 100% correct - this is the only way to make sure that the customer will not get back to the shop with complaint and rework request
from DIY standpoint, things might be a little bit more workable, IMHO
friction material is on the rotors’ surface?
fine sandpaper and a little bit of elbow grease may be the answer…, then follow up with burn-in on new pads
