TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:36 pm

I have a 1978 Westy, I pulled the wheels and calipers off and the pads are brand new. Rotors looked as though recently turned I then rubbed a 99cent package of brake lubricant gel on the rotor and the pads.

No more squeak/shrill metal on metal sound. For one week. It rained and the sound came back. It is mostly on the front left wheel. What should I look at?

Help... My kids know Daddy is coming home, when I am a block away due to the screech.........

Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:42 pm

I bet the water washed the grease off that you put on.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 3:53 pm

I know it is because it is wet, but with winter coming it will be wet for 8 month, Idaho winter.

Help please.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:02 pm

I had the same problem in my 71. The front pads were rubbing, when depressed, against the rim of my discs. Or could be your pads are worn.

Wed Sep 17, 2003 6:19 pm

New pads/rotor can cause squealing because of the tight tolerances and simply reveals that the rest of the system needs attention. The main culprit are old brake hoses so change those first. After than it can be a weak spreader spring or bad caliper piston seal. The tabs on the backing plates need to be engaged in the piston face and the back of the pads can benefit from spraycan some antiseize.

BTW, How did you brake in the new pads?

Wed Sep 17, 2003 8:08 pm

Your brake pads are supposed to have shims with little cutouts to properly locate the caliper pistons. 9 times out of 10, the little cutouts have been mashed flat by inattentive brake pad installation technicians. Pry the little tabs out 45* and test fit into the caliper to see if they line up with the pistons correctly. The pistons are not full circles, look at your old pads for confirmation of this exciting fact. You may have to rotate the pistons a little so the cutouts engage nicely and the shims are aligned with the rest of the mess. The incomplete portion of the circle is supposed to be "down" This prevents the pads from chattering at the leading edge as the disks approach the pads. To help keep them quiet, don your respirator-certified-for-asbestos-filtering, and chamfer the leading edges of your pads a bit, about 1/4" 45*. I personally do not use any grease, or gummy "quiet" crap around my calipers.
Colin

Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:31 pm

I am still having the squeaking problem..... The new pads were broke in before I bought it.....
(front driver side brake)
I see no leakage on the line connections but when I step on the brake it holds then you fill a soft give in the pedal, like you are standing on a balloon and the air just shifted. I read in muirs book that brake fluid does not have to leak but air could leak in. Would this cause a metal squeaking sound? Anyhow I pulled the caliper off and checked out the pads, could not see any rubbing or tabs touching anywhere. When I went to put it back on it slid right on, no pushing the pads back or pistions down to slide it on the rotor. Would this piston only move if someone pumped the brakes? or would pressure in the line just push them out? unless there is air in the line?

Or should I take Ratwells advice and just replace the old lines, This may hard to believe but I have never order bus parts on line. If I order new brake lines, should I replace it all? Or just the section I am looking at?

What vendors will treat me well?

Thanks all.....

Sun Sep 28, 2003 10:14 pm

Thor wrote: I see no leakage on the line connections but when I step on the brake it holds then you fill a soft give in the pedal, like you are standing on a balloon and the air just shifted. I read in muirs book that brake fluid does not have to leak but air could leak in. Would this cause a metal squeaking sound?
The squeak is most likely the pad rubbing slightly against the rotor.

Quote: Anyhow I pulled the caliper off and checked out the pads, could not see any rubbing or tabs touching anywhere.
The backing plates have little tabs in them.

Quote: When I went to put it back on it slid right on, no pushing the pads back or pistions down to slide it on the rotor. Would this piston only move if someone pumped the brakes? or would pressure in the line just push them out? unless there is air in the line?
Air is compressible, fluid is not so air in the fluid wouldn't move anything. The pistons won't move unless you step on the pedal. If you do that and there is no pad to hold the piston back from the rotor, you'll regret it.

Quote: Or should I take Ratwells advice and just replace the old lines,
The hoses are inexpensive and you only need an 11mm wrench and the time to bleed the brakes. Anything rubber on the bus, especially the outside won't last. The fact is that rubber hardens over time: CV boots crack no matter how few miles they have on them if enough time has elapsed. As for brake lines, they deteriorate from the inside and swell when the brakes are applied. Instead of releasing the fluid back they maintain the pressure and keep the pads engaged with the rotor resulting in squeaking.

Quote: This may hard to believe but I have never order bus parts on line. If I order new brake lines, should I replace it all? Or just the section I am looking at?
Get 4 brake flex hoses. The steel lines will be ok unless they have rusted badly.

Quote: What vendors will treat me well?
Yes. I buy almost everything online that I can. Not to bash the local stores but in general I buy german parts at least cost than the mexican/brazil stuff available locally which makes up the majority.

Research the part number, double check them so you don't make a mistake and pick the closest vendor.

California Imports (WA)
OEVeedub (CO)
BugHaus (CO)
Rocky Mountain Motorworks (CO)
Bus Boys (CA)
Go Westy! (CA)
West Coast Metric (CA)
Aircooled.net (UT)
Wolfsburg West (CA)
The Bus Depot (PA)
Old Volks (AZ)

I prefer to use the Bus Boys and GoWesty online catalogs for quickly researching parts numbers and checking them against model years.