Ok, so I took off my driver's side front tire the other day because I wanted to get some of the grime off the backside of the wheel. Now, I had the truck jacked up and I had blocks behind the back wheels. When I tried to spin the axle, it felt and sounded like the pad was in contact with the rotor. So I put the truck in neutral, tried it again and it was the same. Then (and I know it wasn’t real safe, but I had blocks behind the wheels and it was on level ground) I released the parking brake, and it was the same. My dad says it's normal though. But I don’t buy that, because if the pads were constantly in contact with the rotors, they'd wear out pretty quickly right? The pads don’t look worn down very much, but I'm wondering if its time to change the pads. Also, if I’m driving around at slow speeds, I can hear the brakes squealing until I apply pressure to the brakes and it goes away. The brakes are not worn enough for the metal "squealers" to be in contact with the rotor, I checked. I got the truck with 47k on it and I’m around 60k now, but I don’t remember how much life the brakes had when I bought it, but I remember they certainly weren't new. The rotors are in good shape though, no gouging or scoring or anything. So should I change the pads?

 

IDK man

 

From the brakes i've done the pad is in contact with the rotor when not engaged. It's not really applying a force persay, b/c you can still freely spin the rotor, but it is in close contact. As for changing the pads, check the pads in order to judge that. If your not hitting the squealer clip, then you must have some pad life left. Alot of people get a squeel in the pads, they even have a couple different products meant to eliminate that.

 

Neons never stop squeeling... even with the non squeel products

 

I say it's normal, the pads are just touching, there should not be any force on the rotors.

 

should be alright, my 03 did the same thing.. never had a problem w/ them besides running through pads every 2-3months cuz my rear brakes were gone...


edit: go to discount, or autozone or sum auto place and get sum stop squeal stuff.. should work (except on neons lol)

 

Never Mind... ryan21c21 you misunderstood what i ment by the pads backing off the rotors.......

 

Pads don't just "back away from rotors" There is no negative pressure pulled from your master cylinder. In drum brakes the shoes are pulled from the drums by springs but in disc brakes the rotors have what is known as run-out. The rotors are not the same thickness all the way around. There is a very small thickness change that pushes the pads back. If there was any pressure at all being applied to your brakes you wouldn't be able to turn the rotor by hand. If the rubbing seems excessive you may want to use some lithium grease to lubricate the slides that the calipers and pads slide on. Sometimes the protective rubber boot that covers the slides becomes damaged. Every time I change my pads I inspect the boots and lubricate them. It is possible that you need new rotors but I doubt it.

 

thats what i was thinking, maybe his "slide pins" are dirty.

my front brakes where making a squealing sound when i first hit the brakes, then i clean and adjusted the rear drums and it went away, lol who knows.

 

Yea, that’s the thing though: if I try to spin either of the front wheels by hand without the parking brake on and in neutral, they will not spin and I can hear it and feel the pressure from the pads on the rotors. If I'm going pretty slow, I can hear a high pitch squeal until I just put the lightest pressure on the brakes and then it goes away. Also, I REALLY have to mash the brakes to get it to stop sometimes. I know the brake system on my Ranger is different than the one on my dad's Acura but the difference is huge. Like, pedal to the floor in the truck sometimes whereas if I push the pedal on the Acura less than halfway, I get flung forward. I checked my fluid and its full, and yesterday I checked all my brakes: disc and drum and they all look like they’re in ok shape. I'm just wondering if somehow the quality of the pads in the front and/or back is bad. Now time for a stupid question that I’ve just never been 100% on: when I push my brake pedal, my front AND rear brakes go on right? Not just my front?