Clunking noise coming from brake pads

Hi guys, I hope you're all well!

I've been noticing this rattling sound when going over bumps, which doesn't seems to go away!. I know it's a problem with the brake pads because it goes away as soon as I depress the brake pedal.

So I decided to take another look at each wheel.

- Brake pads are relatively new and properly installed.
- Wheels have anti-rattle clips properly installed.
- Bolts were properly tightened with a torque wrench by me.
- Slide pins are lubricated.

During my visual inspection I saw the rear wheel calipers are a bit loose and that should be making the noise. I would describe it as up and down play with respect to the rear rotors or the ground.

I don't know what would cause that since each bolt is tight. I don't know if low brake fluid could cause that, no lights are lit on the dashboard but will take a look at the reservoir.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Oscar.

Stepping on the brakes changes the suspension geometry. My guess ball joints.

Thanks aleekat,

balljoints are still tight, even when they have 93500 miles on them.

I guess I should have said "slightly stepping on the brake pedal" ;)

Oscar.

Hello,

Ive been having the same problem with my van which also goes away when pressing the brake pedal. When looking around the Caliper i noticed that the pads were in stalled backwards (outer pads on inside/ inner pads on outsite) by the mechanic :nono:. There are two raised areas on the back of the pads that is supposed to be mated with the two pistons on the caliper, on my vehicle it was place outbord on the caliper. So far everything works fine except when I hit a bump, but I will be correcting this mistake soon myself with a few other maintanenece items. Good Luck.

Hi MARZBX157,

Thanks you for your input!

I know what you're talking about, when I installed the front brake pads, I made sure they were in the right direction, so that shouldn't be what's causing the noise. The rears can be installed only in one way and are tight.

As I said before the calipers seem to move up and down a bit, but I don't know what's causing it. I checked the brake fluid level and was a bit low but didn't help.

Oscar.

A quick update.

After topping the brake fluid and driving a little, and topping again the brake fluid, the noise has improved. It's no longer constant, but only when going on bumpy roads and at a moderate speed. Front wheels are no longer making any noise; the remaining comes from the rear wheels.

Any other ideas? Anything else I should pay more attention to? Thanks in advance.

Oscar.

I'm having the identical problem...I just replaced the front pads and will see tomorrow on my way to work if its fixed. I did notice while replacing the pads, that the pins, top and bottom, are kinda loose even after lubing them good, and the caliper rocks a bit in the bracket. If mine isn't fixed, I'll be investigating new pins.

UPDATE: I had to go out this afternoon, so took the opportunity to check out the rattling. It's not fixed...still rattles/clunks going over bumps in the road. The calipers rock a fair bit on the pins (compared to other vehicles I've owned)...seems like a crappy design. Anyone else have the same problem? How'd you fix it, if you did fix it?

Thanks.

Does the rattle or clunk stop when you gently press the brake pedal?

Does the rattle or clunk stop when you gently press the brake pedal?

Yes it does. All quiet when you just slightly press the brake pedal, so I think this rules out other things, such as ball joints, control arm bushings, sway bar rods.

Ok, so definitely brakes then. It's got to be something somewhere. I doubt a little bit of caliper movement like you described is the issue. I guess it could be, but let's rule everything else out first.



Did you replace the metal anti-rattle clips? Are they in the correct configuration? There's a different one for the top vs. the bottom on both the front and back.
Did the pads fit securely in the anti-rattle clips? In other words, is there any loose horizontal play in them (besides being able to move backwards without the caliper attached)?
Do the pads have their backing plates attached properly?

Ok, so definitely brakes then. It's got to be something somewhere. I doubt a little bit of caliper movement like you described is the issue. I guess it could be, but let's rule everything else out first.



Did you replace the metal anti-rattle clips? Are they in the correct configuration? There's a different one for the top vs. the bottom on both the front and back.
Yes. I replaced them exactly as the old ones came out.

Did the pads fit securely in the anti-rattle clips? In other words, is there any loose horizontal play in them (besides being able to move backwards without the caliper attached)?
Yes. I don't think it's the pads that are clunking/rattling.

Do the pads have their backing plates attached properly?
Yes
The pins do not fit tightly in the bores they belong in. The top pin has a rubber sleeve on it about 1/2 way down the pin's length. The bottom pins don't have this sleeve. Even with lots of lube on them, the pins don't fit snugly. Glueing the shoes in didn't help either, as the old pads were glued, and it still rattled.

I've never heard of a caliper feeling loose like that. I'd bet they're the wrong size pins before the caliper is actually worn or something like that. Does the rotor sit completely flat against the wheel hub? If not, that could cause a bit of wobble as well.

Did a shop ever replace the rear pads in the past? Perhaps the pins were corroded and they replaced them with the wrong size. Just a thought.

According to rockauto.com, it's Dorman part # HW5066. Might be worth a shot for 5 bucks...




DORMAN Part # HW5066 http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/Heart.png
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/us.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/ca.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) Rearhttp://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imagekey=965788&imageurl=http%3A//www.rockauto.com/info/RB/HW5066-007.jpg
$5.25
DORMAN Part # HW14154
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/us.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/ca.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) Fronthttp://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imagekey=1260421&imageurl=http%3A//www.rockauto.com/info/RB/HW14154-007.jpg
$5.68

You know... just looking at that image.... it looks like there's actually a metal sleeve that the pins go through. Are you missing that sleeve, perhaps?? That would certainly cause looseness and clunking!

EDIT: Sorry, you said front calipers. Those sleeves are for the rear calipers (which most of us don't have.)

Did a shop ever replace the rear pads in the past? Perhaps the pins were corroded and they replaced them with the wrong size. Just a thought.

According to rockauto.com, it's Dorman part # HW5066. Might be worth a shot for 5 bucks...

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/us.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/images/ca.gif (http://www.rockauto.com/lang/en/answers.html#flags) Fronthttp://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imagekey=1260421&imageurl=http%3A//www.rockauto.com/info/RB/HW14154-007.jpg
$5.68

Its a good thought! The pins above are the same ones I have. There is a rubber/plastic sleeve that goes onto the gold colored one in the recess there.

The van has just 100,000kilometers(about 60,000 miles) on it. I bought it from my Dad and he says he never had the brakes done since new, so I'm assuming everything is/was factory installed (pads had Ford part numbers on them).

I think I will try new pins and new rubber parts for them.

Caliper bushings.....these might fix it.....

http://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imagekey=4980729&imageurl=http%3A//www.dormanproducts.com/images/Product/medium/HW16441-007.jpg

Thanks.

It looks like those bushings in your photo could be worn down. I'm not a big fan of randomly throwing parts at a problem, but usually if it's like $10 or less I'll just do it anyway just to rule those out. New pins wouldn't hurt, anyway, and that's a pretty cheap gamble. (Heck, you can lose more than that in one hand of cards at a casino easily..)

OK...installed new pins and new rubber bushings....can you believe it's actually worse!!!...The new pins are looser than the original ones!!!...So, I reinstalled the old pins, and, on the parts store guys recommendation, I bought some disc brake pad glue. I figured out, to get the pads glued in properly, you have to remove the caliper bracket, install the caliper in the bracket with the pads glued to the caliper, THEN install the whole thing onto the spindle. I'll take for a test drive tomorrow on my way to work and see if this fixes the clunk. Man, what a lousy design...never had these problems with other makes I've owned.

Something's wrong. Were those calipers replaced before? Perhaps the wrong part was used. You might want to go to the parts store and pick up a couple of rebuilt calipers and compare them to what you have on the vehicle now and see.

How can you possibly glue the pads to the caliper? They need to be able to move back and forth along the shims to engage/disengage and also move closer as the pad material wears down. I've never ever heard of using glue on a brake caliper.

I've done plenty of disc brake jobs and these calipers are completely standard, like all the others, and there is nothing special or unusual about how they are mounted or configured. Admittedly I have drums on the rear so I don't know what those calipers look like exactly, but something is clearly out of whack in your configuration and I'd seriously consider replacing them if you can't get to the bottom of it any other way. (At least compare a parts store rebuilt caliper to what you have and see what's different...)

Something's wrong. Were those calipers replaced before? Perhaps the wrong part was used. You might want to go to the parts store and pick up a couple of rebuilt calipers and compare them to what you have on the vehicle now and see.

Nope...this is the first brake job for this vehicle. My Dad hardly drove it...sat in the U/G garage mostly.

How can you possibly glue the pads to the caliper? They need to be able to move back and forth along the shims to engage/disengage and also move closer as the pad material wears down. I've never ever heard of using glue on a brake caliper.

The whole caliper slides in the intermediate bracket. The inner pad moves closer as that pad wears with the pistons that its glued to. The outer pad stays stationary as its glued to the caliper. The original pads were glued in place...they just came loose with time and mileage. You can see residue of the original glue (factory)

I've done plenty of disc brake jobs and these calipers are completely standard, like all the others, and there is nothing special or unusual about how they are mounted or configured. Admittedly I have drums on the rear so I don't know what those calipers look like exactly, but something is clearly out of whack in your configuration and I'd seriously consider replacing them if you can't get to the bottom of it any other way. (At least compare a parts store rebuilt caliper to what you have and see what's different...)

Well, I've done a few over the years as well, and they are nothing like whats used on earlier Ford pickups...that was a much better design...no intermediate bracket.

I wish I could post a video to show whats happening and the sound thats made....sounds like the whole front end's gonna fall out on bumpy roads, until you gently apply the pedal...then it's all quiet.

Can you at least post a few photos of the caliper and brake pads and how they're glued on? I still think something's corroded internally. If this is the first brake job in 15 years and it sat in the same brake fluid for that long, surely the pistons have corroded in the bores by now. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning that it attracts/absorbs water over time. After 15 years, you very likely need to overhaul that thing. I'd replace the calipers and flexible lines that connect to them, and flush out all that old fluid. A rebuilt caliper isn't super expensive and those lines are like $8 or so. It's a lot cheaper than the current one failing at a bad time, at least!