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How to fix squeaky brakes

Ronan Glon
Miles Branman
By and

We’ve all had the ear-piercing squeal of squeaky brakes appear at the worst times. Whether you’re pulling in to pick up your boss to take to lunch, or trying to leave your driveway early in the morning, there is no good time to have noisy brakes.

Thankfully, a few tools an afternoon in your garage quickly address this problem. We’ve put together the items you’ll need, steps to take, and a few troubleshooting tips.

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Car Maintenance 101

Why the whine?

Before diving into some of the causes and solutions to your brake headache, it’s worth noting that brakes will sometimes make noise. Intermittent chirps are normal, especially if you live in harsher climates. If you still have brake pedal feel and can scrub off speed as normal, there’s nothing serious to worry about.

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Put simply, brake squeal is generally vibration. Specifically, the noise comes from the interplay between a brake disc, a caliper, and a pad. Affected systems will emit a noise when pressure is applied from the caliper on the disc. You can slam on the brake pedal or carry more/less speed into each braking maneuver, but your brakes could still howl because of the contact between your pad and the disc.

If you notice your brakes only make noise sometimes, it might be due to moisture-turned-rust on the surface of a disc or pad. This can happen as quickly as overnight, and there may be some squeal until all of the rust has been scrubbed from the components. Here again, this is nothing to worry about.

Track day enthusiasts with racing pads need to acclimate to some squeal. The material used to make performance brake pads is more resistant to heat and creates greater friction, which boosts the resonant frequency into the audible range. For this reason, many weekend racers either choose a pad compound that isn’t aggressive enough to make noise or swap pads for weekday commuting.

In these two instances, there’s no cause for alarm, but if you start to hear a shrill metallic noise rather than a consistent, high-pitched squeal, you need to tend to your brakes immediately. In this case, you’ve likely worn your pads down to the metal and are slowing your vehicle without any compound buffer.

What tools and products you’ll need

Here are some of the most important tools and products you’ll need to hush your brakes:

  • Some form of hand protection (we’d recommend a pair of mechanics gloves with some built-in grip)
  • Jacks and jack stands (Harbor Freight has some stellar deals on these year-round)
  • C-clamp
  • Lug wrench
  • Socket wrench (with multiple socket sizes to fit your vehicle)
  • Teflon shim
  • Brake grease or anti-seize
  • Anaerobic adhesive

How to silence that noise

Brake pads
Baranq/123RF
Baranq/123RF

First, you’ll need to decide whether you want to dampen the noise or change the components to stop the sound altogether.

If you don’t want to swap pads, another option is to insert a Teflon shim between the pad and caliper piston. This won’t work for every brake system — some are engineered without any margin of space for a shim to fit without making the pad drag on the disc. You could wear down your pad to a point where it no longer drags with the shim, but that would be a waste of money.

You can use brake grease and anti-seize products to fix your squeaky brakes. This method is a relatively easy and quick way to eliminate that annoying sound. However, we want to point out that applying these products to the back of the brake pad is not a permanent fix, but it does offer temporary relief.

According to Popular Mechanics, one surefire way to eliminate brake squeaking is to affix the brake pad backing plate to the caliper piston or housing. This technique works by altering the vibration frequency and stopping the sound. The piston’s mass increases when you add the brake pad backing plate, thus muting the squeal. If you opt for this method, you’ll need to make sure the plate sticks. If you need it to stay secured for days, weeks, or months, you’ll want to purchase a quality adhesive. In this case, the best bond will require a viscous substance like glue. Simply press the plate firmly against the piston/housing. The glue will block corrosion from dirt and water, preventing the plate from falling off. 

Final thoughts

There are cases in which none of these methods work. Luckily, there is one final thing you can do if you’ve tried out all of these tips without any luck. You can confirm if there are any defects with your car’s model. Search for brake recalls involving your vehicle’s make and model. Most of the time, this isn’t the case. However, it’s worth researching, as malfunctioning brakes tend to be commonly recalled car parts. If you don’t find any brake recalls, you can always reach out to your dealership, as they keep a detailed record of all existing vehicle recalls.

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Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon
Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
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