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Why Are My Brakes Screaming For?

SargeRX8
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SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

Posted
Posted

When I first bought my car it was missing the little shims between the pads and the brake caliper which are designed to minimize noise. And it used to work, it was such a change. Yesterday I took the car for a spirited drive, only about 5 mins down some nice roads and immediately my brakes started screaming. It was ear piercing. It killed any bit of driving enthusiasm I had in me as I too noticed immediate brake fade and they just felt like they weren't going to do much after that. Normally they stop fine in traffic and on the roads. I planned to go to the next cruise which involved curvy roads but there is no way in shit stick that I am taking the car there in this condition. My cousin was in his car and he was like the brakes are worn out... They have about 3000km on them and they are no where near worn. Its not the screech of the indicator hitting the rotor, its a squeal of a million cats dying at once.

Anyway my car is equipped with the standard R33 brake calipers, DBA slotted rotors and QFM HPX pads.

I'm nearly f**king tempted to rip of these brakes and rotors and just buy a new front set but that would set me back almost 2k so that is a dream for now. Anyone have any ideas? And to add note, the rotors were not machined when coming from my old pads(endless brakepads). Could this be the dinosaur dick killing my brakes?

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gslrallysport Experienced

gslrallysport

Posted
Posted
And to add note, the rotors were not machined when coming from my old pads(endless brakepads). Could this be the dinosaur dick killing my brakes?

That was going to be my guess even before I read it.

Most modern pad compounds (since asbestos was banned) are VERY reliant on having their material on the rotor for them to work properly, and we know this to be particularly true of the QFM pads.

As has been said, take the pads out and give them a light rub on some concrete, and give the rotors a light machine and you should be fine. The HPX is definitely not known to be a noisy pad.

That said, HPX we've phased out in favor of a better performance street pad. It's a European performance pad called Remsa, which is rated to 650 degrees (versus 550 for the HPX). Also the Remsa come with noise reducing features such as a relief groove and shamfers in the pad material, as well as a soft backing shim, all of which the HPX do not come with. We've been supplying Remsa to high performance street road cars like Porsche and Ferrari for many years, but the pricing has now become such that we're now able to expand it to most road cars.

SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

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  • Author
Posted

I will be checking the thickness of my rotors tomorrow and if they are good for another light machine I will get that done. Otherwise I will be getting rid of my rotors and may upgrade my pads too. Those Remsa pads sound tasty!

  • 2 weeks later...
SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

Posted
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Posted

I just got the rotors machined, I gave the pads quick and thorough rub on sand paper to remove the mirror surface. I put everything back together and took it for a drive(all shims and what not in place etc) and started bedding them in. After the third bed in step they were screaming. A few more, my ears were done and I was really embarassed to drive it around anymore. Why are they doing this? New surface on the rotors and they are still screaming...

SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

Posted
  • Author
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Yep I have the same problem, tried lots of different things...

Ive even tried anti squeal spray, works a little, but Im not one for using that kinda stuff usually...

Band aid fixes, I try avoid them. This is the only car we have that squeals. The rotors are off my old car and that car had endless brake pads. They were the best. No fading and no squealing.

our12 Enthusiast

our12

Posted
Posted

Hi.

If it was me i would replace the pads with a set of standard 400c pads should fix the problem. Sounds as if your pads are too hard or the pad mix is incorrect.

A little tip if you use your car only on the street a harder pad takes longer to heat up therefore is not as efficient as a standard pad.

gslrallysport Experienced

gslrallysport

Posted
Posted
I just got the rotors machined, I gave the pads quick and thorough rub on sand paper to remove the mirror surface. I put everything back together and took it for a drive(all shims and what not in place etc) and started bedding them in. After the third bed in step they were screaming. A few more, my ears were done and I was really embarassed to drive it around anymore. Why are they doing this? New surface on the rotors and they are still screaming...

Just quickly, you need alot more than a few quick stops for pads to be bed in properly. Bed in is about transferring an even layer of pad material to the rotors, and nothing to do with putting excessive heat through the pads, or burning off resin etc.. This can take up to a couple of hundred k's. The noise should go away once you've put a few k's on the pads.

That said, what sort of shims did you refit to the pads? If it's the standard metal type shims, they generally cause more noise they they save, and we rarely recommend fitting them to QFM pads. The only two types of shims that I would recommend would be the soft stuck on shims that EBC/Remsa/TRW etc come with standard, or a soft wrapped metal reusable one, like the Project Mu ones:

illust_other_shim021.gif

The only other thing I could suggest is applying a small 5mm chamfer on the leading edge of the pads, similar to what alot of OE pads some with standard.

Tom91 Explorer

Tom91

Posted
Posted

Ive had the same problem with my R34 ive tried two different brakes, the rotors machined and used crc anti squeal goo but the screeching is still there. i am missing the brake shims though but i cant find a store which sells them any ideas?

SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

Posted
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Posted

Ive had the same problem with my R34 ive tried two different brakes, the rotors machined and used crc anti squeal goo but the screeching is still there. i am missing the brake shims though but i cant find a store which sells them any ideas?

The brake shims made a HUGE difference when I was running my old brake pads. But running them with these HPX pads doesn't do anything. Its a little better but the screeching is deafening.

Nissan will sell you the set for about $200 which is a f**king rip off. Just buy another set of brakes which INCLUDES a set of shims. Remesa pads above come with a set as do a few others.

The temptation just to buy new calipers, rotors and pads set is kicking in. Ive spent about $600 on brake gear so far and need to spend about $600 more to get new rotors and pads. That is 1200 which I could have put towards a Ksport set or a little more for a wilwood set. I'm gonna give my pads another few hundred km to set in on the machined rotors, if no luck ill be going from there.

Ask Greg(gsrally guy posting in here) if he sells the shims alone. He suggests the spongy/foamy shims rather than metal. The reason we get noise is because of vibrations passed through the pad and rotor. Metal on metal won't really do shit to eliminate this noise...

gslrallysport Experienced

gslrallysport

Posted
Posted

Yep, those Project Mu shims are brilliant, in fact, Sarge, if your brake don't quieten down in the next couple of hundred k's, let me know and I'll send you a set of them as a free trial.

Normal price on them, to suit both Brembo and Sumitomo, is $65 for the front set, and $55 for the rear set.

Unfortunately noise is a constant bugbear with opposed piston calipers...

75coupe Grand Master

75coupe

Posted
Posted

Sounds like these shims may be the go for my QFM pads as well... I never had squealing issues like this before, I know its not the pads fault because Ive run them before with no problems...

the only thing I can put it down too is shim setup...

bluejeans Veteran

bluejeans

Posted
Posted

Yep, those Project Mu shims are brilliant, in fact, Sarge, if your brake don't quieten down in the next couple of hundred k's, let me know and I'll send you a set of them as a free trial.

Normal price on them, to suit both Brembo and Sumitomo, is $65 for the front set, and $55 for the rear set.

Unfortunately noise is a constant bugbear with opposed piston calipers...

i 100% agree!

ive been using the project mu shims and they have helped alot with my brakes

Bl4cK32 Grand Master

Bl4cK32

Posted
Posted

Nissan will sell you the set for about $200 which is a f**king rip off.

Are you referring to the Nissan Brake shim kit? I bought one and it cost me like $22 from the local dealer, and comes with the copper grease. Never had an issue with any squealing or noisy brakes. Comes with all the items below from memory except items 6 & 7

shimkit.JPG

SargeRX8 Grand Master

SargeRX8

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Are you referring to the Nissan Brake shim kit? I bought one and it cost me like $22 from the local dealer, and comes with the copper grease. Never had an issue with any squealing or noisy brakes. Comes with all the items below from memory except items 6 & 7

shimkit.JPG

WTF! They were $220 from Nissan up the road from me. Where did you get them?

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