Brake help requested

Hey all,

I could really use some troubleshooting help/advice.

My rear brakes were shot, so I replaced the pads and rotors. I bought a set of Stoptech slotted rotors and pads to do the job. Everything went smoothly, coming apart and going back together . . . until I took it for a drive.

Both rear wheels are dragging, making a moderately loud, raspy "wisk-wisk-wisk-wisk" noise. Can't feel it, but you sure can hear it! I took it down the street, did the usual drive-and-stop to bed them in, but it didn't change. The noise appears to be coming from both rear sides evenly. The fronts are quiet and work fine, so I don't think it is a master cylinder issue. I adjusted the parking brake star wheel properly after replacing the rotor but before doing the pads, and they rotated freely and without any noise before I proceeded, so I can't imagine that's it either.

Are my calipers shot? They both retracted without too much pressure when I did the brake job, and I saw no leaks or damaged boots . . . but I guess they still could be bad? Any other ideas on what is causing this?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Dust shield rubbing against the rotor

 

Huh. Honestly never thought of that. Why would that happen, especially on both sides? The sound is not at all metallic . . . but I'm going to go outside and check it out. I'll update when I get back.

 

Nope, that's not it. Plenty of clearance all around; I used a problem to "feel" around the rear of the rotors, and there is plenty of space there too. :-(

 

Usually the dust shield is the culprit, i guess you're unlucky then. How about when you removed the rear rotors, did they come off easy? Sometimes you can stretch the 2 springs holding the parking brake shoes and they'll rub against the wheel stud's rear butt.

 

Rotors came off without a hitch - I used the two tapped holes in the old rotors with a pair of bolts to break it loose. The parking brakes are in good shape too; no visible damage or play, adjuster works fine.

 

Does your whisk sound increase with vehicle speed?

if it does it something rotational.

I would say take them down and re-install again. Could be a bad brake pad clip allowing the Pad to be loose and “flop” hitting the rotor as it rotates.

my other thought would be the rotors not seated completely flat and doing the same thing, hitting the pads or even the ebrake hardware.

 

That, sadly, is today's plan. It *is* clearly rotational, due to the sound profile. Everything looked perfect when I reassembled, but any of those things could be the case, I guess. FXFormat may be correct too - it could be some kind of dust shield shenanigans way behind the rotor, where I cannot detect it with the wheel on. I'll post an update later.

 

Double check the dust shield - even if it doesn’t “feel” like it’s touching the rotor as sometimes it can ever so slightly touch and make noise - happens to me quiet often on brake jobs.

 

Good luck, i'm curious of what it could be too.

 

Your dust shield is absolutely hitting the rotor (i'd bet anything on it). Take the rotor off and check the inner diameter of the rotor. It hits the inner dust seal flange. I"ll find an image.

I spent last Saturday cutting the lip off the rotor (i can't recommend cutting a brake rotor) but that's what i did to fix it. Or you can pay $800 bucks in parts to have the bearings pushed out of the way. Lots of people just drive it that way until the rotor cuts a hole in the brake dust shield.

My issue was causing this: https://www.tundras.com/threads/new-problem.49282/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/changed-rears-to-powerstop-and-now.54775/#post-1435791

check last post for where you rubbing is coming from.

Hope this helps. My solution was to cut that lip with the grinder. Shouldn't have to do that but that's what i did. (made more sense than 800 bucks for bearings that aren't bad)

 

Really common issue (there’s a TSB for changing the backing plates and everything but $$$) what I do at work is cut the lip of the rotor down on the brake lathe.

 

so are the tolerances on the aftermarket brake rotors the problem? Would going OEM fix this issue? Just trying to understand why the ones i took off the truck didn't require this modification.

 

Oem Toyota do it too.

 

This is the TSB for the brake noise way more work than just cutting the lip down a bit. not to mention way more expensive

 

yeah, Roman was kind enough to verify the TSB parts include new dust shields.
I just can't bring myself to replace wheel bearings that aren't bad to make a noise go away. And the money for parts (even doing work myself) seems way out of the ball park to make sense (600 ~700 in bearing parts, then another 50 to 60 per rotor to replace those). Crazy

 

You may have to turn the rotors at a automotive machine shop or at lease measure the runout, Also check to make sure your shoes are and calipers working properly. you should be able to move caliper by hand. good luck use a air hose to work the caliper in and out

 

Try to drive it some more. Mine did that when I replaced my rear pads and rotors for a few days then went away on its own. I assumed it was the dust shields rubbing something and then they straightened out.

 

Wow I had no idea this was a common issue. I can personally vouch for the brembo rear kit had zero issues and no noise. A little extra brake dust from the brembo pads though

 

not all trucks exhibit the issue. but alot do.

 

I had the exact same thing on my rear brakes. I had originally put Detroit slotted rotors on and they dragged and squealed. I must have pulled the rear apart 4 times that day.
I did find out the parking brake tensioner under the drivers side was frozen. I freed and oiled that up and I sent through the steps to adjust the parking brakes. That fixed the grinding but not the metallic noise. I did see the wear in my dust shield and I ended up getting a new set of premium coated rotors from CARQUEST. They did rub the dust shield slightly but it went away after a day. I knew better than to buy the cheap rotors but I did it anyways.

 

Its not price, oem rotors do it tii

 

@Tuthmose, if it does it when rotating by hand, can you post a video so that we can hear it? As mentioned, it is common, but not all trucks will do it. I have StopTechs on mine and no rubbing on the shields. Keep in mind that even if it appears that you have clearance, metal expands and contracts with heat and cooling.

Hey guys....it has been a while, but if he hears it by hand, can the shield be unbolted and slid back away from the rotor and see if the noise is still there?

Another option.....put a couple of chalk lines across your emergency brake pads. Put your rotor on and use to 2 lugs to hold it on. Turn the rotor by hand a few times and then pull it off and see if it rubbed the chalk lines. Could be just needing an adjustment.

 

Sorry to disappear everybody. The demands of getting a distance-learning studio set up and running in my basement with our school division changing the mission every six seconds left my truck sitting for a while. Only upside, I guess, was that I didn't have to commute.

I got a chance to tear it back down today . . . and I am not a happy camper. Triharder was absolutely correct: the grinding is the apparently well-known-to-everybody-but-me problem with the emergency brake backing plates.

My driver side:

My passenger side:

They can't be replaced without removing the axles, so it's gonna be very spendy. That's not a job I can do myself.

I'm strongly considering doing what Triharder did, and just cutting that crescent of the lip off with a grinder. Does anybody else see any unanticipated issues or dangers with that?

Thank you to all who responded - as always, I appreciate the help!

 

Went out this morning and ground off those two crescents. A tight curve to avoid hitting the e-brake pads, but between hogging off the lip with an angle grinder and then doing the inner curve with a dremel die cutter, it's not too bad. It definitely helped that a large part of it was cut through already. A bit of rub on the passenger side at 4 o'clock, but I tapped that back with a punch and hammer. Holding the rotor in place by hand and turning it, I hear just the tiniest bit of drag, which I assume (hope?) will go away after a short drive smooths out the edges of my cuts.

I'm going to get it fixed with the new-design parts from the TSB, but at least this should get me back on the road in the short term. Finger's crossed . . . .

 

I went through this exact same scenario recently. Took it all apart multiple times. Lots of cutting, grinding, banging and swearing. Doesn’t make a sound now though!

 

I just lived through this same scenario last 2 days. Took the wheel/calipers off probably no less than 5-7 times to figure this out. I ended up taking hammer to the shield and bending it in. Worked out good. No noises!! Btw I can replace rear brakes and parking shoes in less than 7 minutes per side

 

Still frustrated me this isn.t covered in a recall or at least parts under $700 bucks.

 

This has me thinking.
So if I took my truck to the dealership for rear pads and rotors and it squeaked, Like this, what would their fix be?

Any Toyota techs here?

 

I cut the inner lip of the new rotor down just a hair on the brake lathe.