there's a squeak that seems to be coming from my front side passenger tire, and I kinda think it's the brake pad, but I wanted to ask if that sounds right to you guys

It squeaks when I brake moderately hard, but not all the time if a brake softly or I'm not going that fast to begin with

it will also squeak if I turn hard to the left, even if my foot is off the brake entirely. the squeaking will go away when I straighten the wheel out, and it doesn't squeak if I turn to the right

I'm looking to replace the brake pads myself (assuming that's what it is), but I'm a total mechanic n00b. any super tips? I've looked at various web pages about it and feel it's something I should be able to accomplish with a minimum of grief

11/30/2008 3:24:46 AM

could be brakes but also could be wheel bearing or something like that. tough to tell without hearing/driving it.

11/30/2008 2:10:01 PM

thanks for post erase

12/1/2008 11:39:30 AM

Is your car a Dodge or Chrysler? If it is and you figure out what this noise is, please enlighten me on what makes this noise.

12/1/2008 12:22:46 PM

year, make, model.


I have a dodge and I put new rear pads and rotors on recently when I noticed sqeaking under braking, but I knew the pads were worn out so no real need to investigate. Pulled the right rear caliper and sure enough the inner pad had bare metal of the backing plate showing. Back in february I had squeaking coming from the front, thought wheel bearing, turned out to be wheel bearings.

12/1/2008 2:17:15 PM

try to glance through the wheel and see if you can spot how low your pads are if you think its the pads.

or just rip the wheel off and take a look.

12/1/2008 2:19:05 PM

Mine's definitely not the brake pads. It's a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan SE. It only makes the noise between 25-45mph. Doesn't make the sound when on the brakes, just between those speeds and it goes in and out.

12/1/2008 4:06:09 PM

^could be the wear indicator tabs on the brake pads. Most of the time, they won't "chirp" when braking but will when free rolling. At least until things get good and worn out.

12/1/2008 4:46:56 PM

mine was a 2002 pontiac grand am, and it was indeed the brake pads

looking through the wheel I could see that they were pretty low (1/4" thick or less), so I replaced them myself and the problem went away.

12/3/2008 8:30:11 PM

probably just the wear indicator. with the proper tools you should be able to change the pads in under 30 minutes. just be sure you have a c-clamp or an actual caliper tool (i'm not sure what its called, its basically a flat plate with a piece of threaded rod going through it) to press the piston back into the caliper to get the pads in. also, don't let the calipers dangle by the brake lines.

12/3/2008 8:37:20 PM

if my first post wasnt deleted it said the wear indicators

12/4/2008 12:05:42 AM

12/4/2008 12:15:54 AM

damn i dont have that one yet. good looking out

12/4/2008 3:12:10 PM