i purchased brake pads and rotors as a set from the mini global imports dealer, and installed them on my mini. braking is fine- sharp and smooth, and everything is peachy while driving until i'm coasting in between 30 and 50 mph.. i hear a loud, high-pitched shearing sound of metal on metal, rubbing together. it only seems to be coming from the front passenger side. when i brake, of course, the sound fades and becomes silent.

i've had my mini lifted, and while spinning all wheels freely, nothing is heard. i was told that the sound if from the new pads being so thick along with the thickness of the new rotors, and the lack of clearance between the two, however, i've been driving (and braking) for over a month now, and the sound is just as prevalent. i'm also concerned because it's just on this one side. any ideas?

 

Did you use 'brake quiet', or similar vibration absorbing goop on the back of the pads? If you didn't, that could be the issue.

 

no, i have not used any vibration absorbing goop.. should this be required, though? it's just one wheel giving me problems.

 

I've always used it to reduce/eliminate squeal on disc brakes. The pads are just floating in the caliper with the rotor spinning between them until the caliper squeezes them. Just a little bit of play = vibration = noise.

 

makes sense.. i guess the pad vibrates so fast that the noise is an extremely high-pitched scraping sound.. some of my passengers can't even hear it. being only $4, this brake quiet is worth a try. thanks for your help.