Last week my brakes sounded like they were grinding. So I take it too the brake shop. They check out my brakes and they are fine. Rotors are about 6 months old. Pads were okay. They replaced the rear shoes. But it's still making a grinding sound. It happens when I hit the brakes. And sometimes it does it even if I'm not braking. But it doesn't do it all the time. It's like the brakes aren't wanting to release. Any ideas what it could be? Thanks

 

What type of pads do you have? Lifetime pads are made of harder materials and make awful sound when you brake........similar to a big city bus when it stops. Lifetime pads also tend to eat up the rotors. I put the stock pads back on my truck when I had the brakes done and they rarely make a sound.

 

The pads are called Thermoquiet. They are lifetime pads. But it wasn't making the sound until a couple of weeks ago. The rotors and everything, including the pads, are fine. I'm starting to think that it could be something other than the brakes. The sound isn't always there. But when it is, it happens even when I'm not braking. Could it be a ball bearing?

 

If the bearings were bad, it seems that the brake shop certainly would have found the cause of the noise and the cause of the brakes not releasing or dragging. Bad bearings make a rumbling sound, and they would do it all the time, not just when braking. If brake pads, rotors and bearings are good. look for something else. A good shop should be able to find the cause. I would take it to another shop and see what they find.

 

It really baffles me though. The brakes check out fine. And it will do it for awhile and then stop. Then start up again.

 

Not unusal for the pads to have little hard spots, like flakes of hard metal in them. as they wear the hard spots will develop and make a noise / grinding feel. It usally passes in just a little while. Does not cause any real problem.

 

I have the same problem. Not sure what to tell you, except that I noticed that the last time that I changed the pads on mine that part of the left front piston had broken away. Not a very big chunck, so I didn't think that it would be a problem, but I'll bet when I replace the piston that the grinding noise goes away.

Greg

 

Could be an alignment issue/worn front suspension parts.

On my wife's mini Suzuki SUV, the specs call for 0 toe in. After a few years of wear, it started making a grinding noise on braking even though the brakes checked out fine. Basically, the tires were going slightly toe-out on braking (the outer edges of the tires were also geting feathered). It actually sounded like the brakes grinding. I added a little toe-in and the noise went away.

 

Which front suspension parts? I replaced the ball joints in the front last year. And my truck is always out of alignment. I work part-time as a rural carrier. It's impossible to keep it aligned.

 

I had something similar and it turns out that the piston in the caliper was not seated square in the bore. Since it was under warranty, Ford just replaced the caliper, which was preloaded with new pads. The grinding stopped after that.