Uh-oh, 2 days ago I replaced the front brake pads + rotors on my gf '05 MC. I got Akebono Euro pads + Brembo standard replacement rotors. Job was relatively easy and was done in less than 2 hr. I made sure I clean the rotor surface to get rid of the grease and i apply the supplied lube round the contact points between pads / calipers. I drove it around the neighbor hood to do some initial brake in by slowing it down from different speeds. It was nice and quite and no issue at all.

2 days later, tonight, when i started driving the car out from the parking lot (about 20 min ago). The left front brake started to click when the brake is applied at moderate force. At light force there was no click. And it's happening only at a certain slow speed, maybe when the car slows down less than 10mph or so. Faster than that there's no noise. It goes tick-tick-tick-tick as if something is hitting the caliper, or the pads are loose? Weird...

I'm going to take it out to inspect tomorrow when there's light. But would like to get some insights from you guys first of what might be happening?

Thanks!

 

Hmm... took the wheel out, check the new pads, looks just fine. Everything is in tightly. What could be causing this ticking sound? Lightly roughen up the rotor surfaces and pads, put it back together again make sure everything is torqued down. Test drove, it's quiet, smooth and strong braking again. No ticking / kocking sound so far.

This is weird. I still don't know what's causing the ticking / knocking sound during braking last night. Could it be some contamination on the rotor that cause it to be 'grippy' on certain part which cause hang-up-and-let-go on the pads on each revolution of the wheel? Has anyone ever heard of this?

Thanks

 

The two most common causes that I've found are the pads loose in the holder/frame. They suttle up and down until applied. The other is the backing plate hitting the rotor. This happens if you were a little rough removing the old rotors. A lot of times it doesn't show up until there is weight on the wheel. With the wheel jacked up, push on the backing plate while rotating the wheel and see if it makes the noise. Good selection on the pads! I have them myself. Great feel and no dust. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply. Backing plate looks ok, i tried to spin wheel and nothign is hitting. Maybe it was the pads being loose in the holder. If it occurs again I'll pull the pads out and apply the store-bought anti-squeal compound instead of the 'grease' that comes with the pads. Maybe that's what causing the issue.

I'm trying the Akebono pads out. I got lots of recommendations on the HAWK HPS pads, but I absolutely wants minimal dust. I don't do tracks anyway (it's actually my gf's car). Also Akebono consistently got great reviews on TireRack.com. Hopefully it will work out fine.

 

Uh oh, happening again. Left side only. This is unusual. I'll have to take it out again to see what else could be loose. Will clean it and apply the anit-squeal instead of the compound that comes w/ the pads. Maybe that wasn't mean to be used that way.

Ok, clean out all the grease and applied the anti-squeal compound. Lets see if this helps in the next few days.

 

Just an update, the sound is gone and hasn't come back. Possibly because of the new anti-squeal compound or, during the 'break-in' period, some area on the rotor were too grabby and thus the brake grab and then slip a bit and grab again.

Either way the brake is nice and smooth now. Haven't noticed any dust at all and it's over a week. Once the pads bedded into the new brembo rotors, I haven't notice any braking power difference vs. stockers. So I'm pretty happy now.

I also put Akebono + Brembo on my Dad's MPV minivan with great success. Zero noise and smooth braking. I'll definitely look into getting this for my BMW in the summer too. Just about time to change the brake and after experiencing such good result, I can't wait to get rid of the dust-spewing OEM pads.