Any idea what this might be?

Hi All -
Sorry for the lack of communication - been traveling a pile.

So here is the deal. When the windows are down I am hearing a light scraping noise coming from the driver side rear. When I just barely touch the brakes it goes away. As well, while turning right it also goes away. I had my truck in for it;s last warranty go through last month. The dealer said I have tons of brake pad left both front and rear - which makes sense as the sound goes away when I actually use the breaks (the truck stops straight and strong without a peep). I depressed the ebrake slightly when driving. I can feel the truck drag a bit as it should, but it makes no difference in the sound. the sound is definitely rotational (you cant hear it over 35MPH) and it speeds up as the truck does. Think "ssst...ssst....ssst...ssst..."
Anyone ever had a break pad drag? Are there clips that can rub? Just trying to get some info from those in the know before I take it to the shop (I am moving and don't have access to my tools or a garage :banghead: )

Thanks a million!
Scott in Colorado

yeah, Clips can and have bent out of shape or broken. That would be my first guess. One of your pads is probably loose. If you want, just use the jack and tire iron that came with the truck to take the wheel off. Once off,see if you can wiggle the pads, they should be fairly stiff when in the caliper....

My guess is it's the emergency brake inside the rear rotor. Mine was doing basically the same thing. I replaced that E-brake shoe but it still does it occassionally. That E-brake is an extremely poor design (particularly on the drivers side). The little clip that is supposed to hold the shoe in place can't do the job. I had to wire mine!

You sure your rotor is perfectly straight? If it is ever so slightly out of round it will touch, not touch, touch, ..... sst....sst.... sst. Your pad does not have to be worn, it just touches then not.... Worth a check, it is considered normal wear if that is the problem.

I was going to suggest the rotors need turning too. A warped rotor is a pain in the arse. or the caliper sticking.
I just upgraded from a 1977 f150 to an 01 silverado. I was looking at the back wheels the other day and I was like :naughty: "Oh $#@! I have rear discs intead of drums??!?!!" It was a nice surprise. Trucks have come a long way since the 70's. In my experience, rotors warp easily from going from extreme heat to a quick cool down (ie hitting a water puddle).

Good luck to you either way!!
Hannibal

Welll, I bit the bullet and pulled the thing apart - what an amazingly simply design - a pad change would have taken me 20 minutes and most of that time would have been spent getting the thing off the ground and the tire off (used the factory jack...yuck). There is a ton of clearance on the rotors from side to side (I was worried that it might be the backing plate - there is no way this could ever rub). Pad clips looked really good and also had piles of room. Then I saw the third clip - it is located on the caliper itself. Sure enough, a small shiny spot on one of the tabs. Took a stiff wire bruch to the rotor (lots of scale on the outer edge) and then slightly bent the offending tab to match the distance of the other 4 sides. Sanded the break pads and rotor, reversed the pads front to rear in the caliper, and buttoned it up. Quiet as can be.

Too bad the e-brake was not designed as good/servicable as the main brake.

Note - There is close to a .5 to.75 gap between the rotor and the backing plate. I honestly think that in one of my recent camping trips that this big gap allowed something to hit the retaining clip that was causing the noise. I am also running 18" wheels, which obviously also creates a bigger gap between the the wheel and backing plate along the radius - lotsa room for bigger junk to get in there.....