whats with my brakes?

[voodoosx]

as i am driving my brake pad will rub against the rotor, but only sometimes, like if i go over a bump or somethin. it makes a screeching sound as if i am breaking, but i havent even touched the brake pedal. my brake pads are fairly new and the rotors should be in good shape warping wise. anybody have a good guess?thx, bruce

[stillmatic]

Mine does the same thing when I put the gear in neutral going downhill and basically letting the car roll on its own. It would squeak as if I were stepping on the brake pedal. I have no clue as to what's causing the noise except the noise is coming from the driver's side. Pads still have a lot of meat in them and I just had the rotors grinded a year ago... Oh, and my car ocassionally squeaks just like everyone else's everytime I step on the brakes.

[p00t]

when you put the pads in your supposed to spray anti-squeak stuff on the back of them, without it every slight graze on the rotor makes it go sccrreeeeeeeeeeeeetchhhhhhhhhhhh

[voodoosx]

i have done that, i put 'anti-squeek' liquid on the metal sheets between drum and brake pad. yet still the noise continues.thx replies, bruce

[Hijacker]

i don't use the anti squeel grease and i've never had a pad squeal on me. in fact, i removed my shims a while ago, and still no problems. but i digress. how old are the rotors? if they're fairly old, see if they're warped. parking brakes can cause hot rotors to warp, so i would have someone check it. if so, see if you can get them turned. if the rotors aren't warped, maybe you have a bearing issue in your upright. if a wheel bearing is going, it could cause the hub to oscilate under certain circumstances, which would in effect force the rotor to rub the pad. hope that helps

[voodoosx]

could u explain what bearings are, and would a caliper rebuild fix that?thx for reply, bruce

[Hijacker]

when i refer to the wheel bearings, i'm referring to a ring of metal rollers around your hub. usually, they're perfectly circular in their contour, but one may be off center now, causing an irregularity in it's ability to keep the hub rotating smoothly. a lot of times, a new bearing assembly may be needed. a good way i've found to judge a shot bearing assembly is to lift the wheel, and see if it has too much slop in it when you push the side wall (the wheel will feel like it's loosely held on)

caliper rebuilds work for only so long. my tempo's passenger side caliper locked up on me once, and i went to get a rebuild kit from advance, and it turns out that a reman caliper cost an extra 5 bucks, so i went ahead and jumped on it. check the cost of a rebuild kit and a reman caliper.

i don't think it's a caliper issue from the sound of things. if it were, the car would drag towards that caliper under acceleration (that wheel isn't accelerating like the other wheel).

i would recomend taking it to a mechanic you know (mechanics you know will usually look at a car for free and they tell you straight up) and see what he thinks about the wheel bearing issue

[voodoosx]

yeah i think i will get someone to look at it. thx for the help manbruce