Brake pads rattle & ticking hub sound.

CCzArt

Registered User
Hey folks... anyone have any ideas? Sorry it's a little long winded!

I should start out explaining what I'm driving, and that the rest of the front end is quite sound, including the sway arm, bushings, and new upper ball joints, springs and shocks all over the last year. The car is a 1994 Thunderbird LX - 4.6L V8.

Ever since I bought this car, (May 2002) the front brake pads have rattled. One of the first attempts to right this horrible wrong... (I hate a rattle in a car!!!) was to take it to the garage where I worked during my previous life. (Same owner, same great bunch of guys!) Anyways, they put some adhesive goop on the back of the pads, which did litterly nothing, but I was too busy to take it back then, as I'd just bought the car, and had many other things to do.

In an effort to stop the rattling through last summer, and based on the garage telling me the caliper pins were worn out... I replaced them all... then they told me it needed a bushing kit for the pins... I replaced them too... still the same problem persisted.

Well, finally, I took the car back to have the front rotors turned due to an increasing pulsation while braking, mostly noticable at highway speeds. One of the pads had actually come apart from the riveted backing... so they installed new pads at the same time, and turned the rotors. Ever since then, the pads have been rattling even more significantly than ever. I took it back to the same garage, and they (at my request) installed some Permatex brand adhesive (double sided tape) brake pad stickies. I was involved at a distance in the inspection that took place, and you could see that the pad backing plate was a very, very loose fit in the area that they would normally slide along... (both sides) I'm talking a good 1/8 inch of play. What's with that, eh?

In any case, the permatex adhesive seemed to fix the problem for about 2 weeks, during which time they gradually started rattling again... albeit not nearly as noisy as they were before. (The ring of the clatter is reduced, probably due to the adhesive tape on the back of the pads.)

Unfortunately, I don't have a place to work on my car myself, since my driveway is on an insane angle. Way to dangerous to jack the car up and do anything to it... besides, it's about 0 degrees F, not including wind chill, right now... much too cold to be messin' around on a car, outdoors!

One other thing I should point out, as a side note. At the same time that they replaced the pads, they also replaced the driver side front hub assembly, (the bearing was shot!) and ever since then, it's got this ticking sound... one tick per revolution... and it seems to be more pronounced when I steer to the left. Any ideas on this one?

I appreciate any ideas on either of these issues. Thanx!
 
When does this rattle occur? Does it increase with pedal braking?

At least some of the symptoms you describe are the result of warped brake rotors, although you said you turned them. I found new rotors are cheap for these cars, and I think they are a better alternative than removing material from the stock units which were prone to warping even with full material. Also ensure your wheels are bolted on correctly, using a star pattern for tightening the lugnuts.

As for working on the car; you could check a simpler problem like this at your local car wash during low usage hours..
 
Hey guy, Thanx for your response.

No, I should have explained that part of it. The rattle occurs when no brakes are applied... as soon as you "just touch" the pedal, the rattling disappears completely. In other words there is not enough static hydralic pressure to hold the pads steady over any kind of "even minor" road bumps. When the road is smooth as silk, there are no rattles.

In so far as the rotors are concerned. Yeah, having been a mechainic from the early 70's, when disc brakes became more prominent on most North American cars... turning the rotors once, is not a bad deal...helps you get a little more mileage out of your purchase... and tightening the wheels nuts in sequence and to proper torque specs are certainly desired... but often not practiced in many garages.

I wouldn't have the nerve to use a public car wash facility to be jacking the car up to do inspections or work of this nature, not at any time of day... but I appreciate the mention. I'm seriously looking at moving in the near future, and hopefully I can find a place with a garage, or at the very least a level drive way!
 
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