Noisy brakes

[CuJo's Pride]

Our BF has developed a noisy squeal/whistle when you apply the brakes at low speed. It seems to vary with the amount of pressure on the brakes and goes away when you press harder on the brakes. It is not a scraping or metal on metal sound but a high pitched whistle sound.


Has anyone run into this before and know what it might be? We're taking of for Colorado and need to know before we head out.

Thanks

Curt

[bigdipper]

Look at owners manual. May be trying to tell you pads are worn.
Ralph

[Roger H]

There could be several things: you could have a stone wedged in a pad or it could be the wear indicators. Both of those would likely not disappear at speed though. Most likely, it sounds like the brake pads are glazed. If that's the case, it's not a significant problem. Disc brake pads will glaze with light repeated application. Most of us don't brake hard in our coaches, and that leads to glazing and then that delightful squeal.

In order to break the glaze, do a few hard stops from speed. That will likely solve the problem.

To prevent glazing, just be a little harder on the brakes in your normal application.

[CuJo's Pride]

Thank you so much for your help. I think we'll take it out and brake kind of hard and see if that resolves the issue. If not Curt's going to be busy before we go. He does all of our brakes and brake shoes on our vehicles. These might be a whole different deal so not sure if he'll tackle these but I'm sure he'll give it shot...

[Roger H]

Thank you so much for your help. I think we'll take it out and brake kind of hard and see if that resolves the issue. If not Curt's going to be busy before we go. He does all of our brakes and brake shoes on our vehicles. These might be a whole different deal so not sure if he'll tackle these but I'm sure he'll give it shot...

You're welcome. The E450 disc brakes, calipers and pads are no different from any others, just a little larger. Ford's "better idea" about brake rotors having the hub as an integral part is a nuisance compared to the Japanese-style bolt-on rotors. But that's a whole 'nother issue.

Please let us know what you figure out.

Roger

[CuJo's Pride]

Hi all,

Well the squeaking stopped after we deglazed the brakes!! Thank you so much for suggesting to do that. From here on in we will make sure we do that every once in a while. Big lesson learned ! This is why this forum is so valuable. When it comes to our BF this is the go to place.. There is many years of knowledge on this forum and we appreciate every bit of it.

Thanks again. This saved up time and $$$$..

Jo and Curt