Brakes grumbling / grinding after off road (1 Viewer)

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BGMachine

Working on cars I can't afford
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Threads
48
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294
Location
Detroit
Hey all,

I went off roading last weekend with people and shortly thereafter my brakes (mostly the front) started to make a grumbling grinding noise. There's no change in pedal movement or stopping power. I wondered if the calipers were just dirty so today I cleaned them out at the car wash. I also took the wheels off to spray brake cleaner into them. While there I checked the rotors and pads and they looked fine ( the pads are ~10,000mi old). I couldn't see or feel any grooves in the rotors and the pads still had tons of meat on them. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Does anyone have any other suggestions for making the noise go away? Thanks for the help.
 
My brakes make noise after wheeling too especially when the trail is muddy and wet or very dusty. If you have no damage evident, just keep driving it. My brakes had a minor squeal recently for several months before it went away.
 
Does the noise stop when you push on the brakes, or is it there the entire time. You may have a small rock or dirt stuck in between the brake pad. There is a grove in the middle of the pad that helps keep the entire pad clean and you may have something in there.

Second thought is if your ABS did not "fire" and you felt something coming apart inside the hub. You may have to jack up the wheel and take the drive plate off so that you can spin the wheel and check for problems.

It seems when people use the word "grumbling" to describe a front end noise, their problem often is that the spindle bearings/ bushings are not greased up. You have to take the wheel bearings all the way off and pull the spindle to check. Not a huge job or problem, just a little messy and it will take some time. If you don't have an idea about what I'm suggesting, look in the FAQ section on how to rebuild the birfield joints to get an idea about the job. But I would start "easy" by pulling the front pads first to look for little rocks jammed up in them.
 
I have the same issue. I have just ignored it though. My brake petal gets hard and it sounds like grinding up front and the brakes dont do anything. It mostly only happens at full turn. It happens a lot in the mud. I just release the brake and steering then brake again and its fine. I think it might have to do with ABS but have no idea.
 
Does the noise stop when you push on the brakes, or is it there the entire time. You may have a small rock or dirt stuck in between the brake pad. There is a grove in the middle of the pad that helps keep the entire pad clean and you may have something in there.

Second thought is if your ABS did not "fire" and you felt something coming apart inside the hub. You may have to jack up the wheel and take the drive plate off so that you can spin the wheel and check for problems.

It seems when people use the word "grumbling" to describe a front end noise, their problem often is that the spindle bearings/ bushings are not greased up. You have to take the wheel bearings all the way off and pull the spindle to check. Not a huge job or problem, just a little messy and it will take some time. If you don't have an idea about what I'm suggesting, look in the FAQ section on how to rebuild the birfield joints to get an idea about the job. But I would start "easy" by pulling the front pads first to look for little rocks jammed up in them.

The noise is there mostly at the end of braking. I'm 98% sure what I felt was the ABS. The pedal was pulsating. The front wheel bearings are all brand new. I rebuilt my front axle this past summer. I'm going to try to better clean out the brakes tomorrow since I have the day off. I feel like it's a dirt/mud issue since there were no issues before a wheeling trip and then grinding / grumbling after.
 

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