02 Dakota Quad Cab 4x4 - brake noise!

[carcrazysincebirth]

The brakes on my 02 Dakota are making a high pitch squealing noise until I touch the brake pedal. As soon as I apply the brakes, the noise disappears. I hear the noise at most speeds, but once I hit the highway, it either disappears by itself or maybe I just can't hear due to wind noise. The noise seems to be coming from the rear brakes. Can somebody give me advice & step by step instructions how to get rid of this annoying problem - Greatly appreciated!

[shark2000]

My first guess is brake dust. When I was a mechanic in the Air Force, we had lots of them do that. Some vehicle just squeak a bit until they warm up. Things like glazed brakes and drums will do that. Drums do that a lot. I tried one time to turn the drums with new shoes, and it was good for about a week. Then it came back with the same noise going on. Best we could figure was that the replacement drums were just cheap steel that would get glazed hard spots easily.
I'm no expert. So if I'm wrong, that's fine for someone to let me know.

[rhandwor]

I would pull the rear drums and clean with sandpaper and also sand the brake shoes. A metalic noise is usually metal rubbing somewhere. Check for any leaking seals on the axels. The rear shoes shouldn't be rubbing much. Check for the emergency brake pulling on the shoe. A spring installed improperly could also be rubbing the drum.