Front Brake Squeaks on a 2006 TE250 (Brembo)

[Herb]

Have been trying to get rid of squealing or squeaking noises on my FRONT brake, usually just before it comes to a stop. Brakes fine, but has that annoying bicycle whine when it stops.

Rode it for a month no change ... ordered new brake pads and swapped those out, no change . The ones in there seemed like the original Brembo, very little wear from what I can tell.

Before installing the new brake pads cleaned the brake assembly inside very thoroughly with CRC brake parts cleaner spray .

In now are a set of EBC sintered (FA181R) of the right size.

 

[Herb]

Here's what the new pads look when installed ... Rode around ca. 20 miles to seat them in ... they still squeak .

 

[Herb]

Some more pics

 

[Herb]

The REAR ones are fine, no squeal or squeaks, but they do have some sort of thin metal clip, which the front one don't have (at least not on mine).

Could the retaining bolt be worn?

 

[Herb]

I was thinking of using this CRC "brake " sticky red acrylic compound

http://www.walmart.com/ip/CRC-05016-High-Temp-Film-Water-Resistant-4-oz/41072448

but then the pads will never come out again with that sticky stuff on them ?

Or this grease on the backing ?? :

http://www.walmart.com/ip/CRC-Synthetic-Brake-Grease-4.75-cc/23740891

Or both ???

 

[Herb]

Anybody ???

Am I the only one that ever had major squealing Brembo front brakes?

I did lots of reading on the internet (ktm for ex. seems to have pretty much the same brakes) and came to no clear conclusion / cure .

 

[NCSteve]

I hear other's brakes squealing, but mine don't. I clean it all regularly and keep fresh EBC pads on. DP Brakes says:
Wearing earplugs will cure brake noise, but you will still cause dogs to bark and the police to notice you. Brake noise or squeal is due to vibration that sets off a harmonic frequency within the brake system. You can take steps to reduce noise, the most common fitting is an anti squeal shim or greasing the abutment sides of the pad and making sure corrosion etc has not caused pads or caliper to jam.

And there's this: http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/squealing-brembos.55949/

 

[Herb]

Hey Steve, thanks for the reply ... yes that thread is useful too ... sounds like black magic.

Here's what I did waiting for a reply:

(a) clean the original Brembo brakes very very thoroughly -> no effect, still squeals

(b) order EBC sintered brake pads and put those in -> no effect, still squeals a bit (after riding 20 miles or so)

(c) took out again the brand new EBC brake pads, and

(d) put old Brembo pads in, with a thin layer of CRC brake quiet on the back, AND a very thin layer high temp blue grease on top of that to prevent them from getting permanently glued inside.

(e) rode around some more (20 miles or so)

(f) squealing went *almost* away entirely, except on the occasional very slow soft brake.


MY CONCLUSION ? : A combination of some rather generous but very very thinly spread "brake quiet" and a very thin layer of the blue hi temp grease on top of it will (should) make all the squealing go away. And also possibly a very gentle scuffing of the brake pads with steel wool or similar.

It did come as a surprise to me that just putting in some brand new EBC sintered pads had almost no effect on the squealing.

 

[NCSteve]

Hi Herb, might try some carbon pads on the front. I run carbon up front and sintered on the rear, no prob's for me even in the rain, crossing creeks and occasional mud hole.

 

[pahusky]

Is the front disk a 'floating' disc or hard bolted to hub?

 

[Herb]

Front is hard bolted, rear is 'floating' ...

 

[pahusky]

I've always been told that the squeal is a result of vibration in the disk. On some of the floaters I've seen people put clear silicone caulking on the floating connection and part way up the disk arms but not near the braking surface. It dampens the vibration and quiets the squeal.

It frustrating, but if you have a slight ding or bend in your disk it can greatly affect your ability to get it quieted down. You could try some beads of caulking on the disk arms and see if it makes a difference. Not too hard to clean up if it doesn't work.

During a race it is one of the most distracting things even when it's not on your bike!

Good luck...

 

[Herb]

Hi PaHusky,

Applying a thin film of the $3 walmart CRC "Disk brake quiet" (see link above) on the back of the disk pad, and then some of that blue high temp grease ($3 at walmart) to prevent it from sticking cured the problem !

In my case the disk itself is fine, there is no deformation. Any sort of slight bend would, I think, cause a lot of vibration. Mine has no vibration whatsoever, just that squeal when you brake at very low speed.

So I am happy the problem is fixed, NC Steve and Pa Husky thanks for the help !