Brake squeal

[Steve 2017]

I have just had replacement discs and pads fitted by to my 2004 RAV auto by an independent garage.  Had bad squealing when slow braking in traffic so returned to garage. They checked and chamfered the pad edges and used copper grease.  Problem was worse.  Returned again but they said nothing wrong. I insisted they replace front pads with OEM. Still has 4 Pagid discs and Pagid pads on rear. Now only squeals when turning slowly whilst breaking, but still sounds like a bus stopping! Any suggestions would be welcomed.

[mathepac]

I had all 4 discs and pads replaced on my 2007 Avensis as part of the purchase deal (one calliper replaced as well as it was a test failure). The brakes squeal in exactly the same circumstances as you describe. Probably not OEM on my car but would also be interested in a fix. Am I the only person who remembers anti-squeal shims being part of the replacement pads kits in the last millennium?

[vwchico1,6i]

Not all pads need shims have Ebc on mine all is good.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[daveh_rav4]

Yup, I have anti-squeal shims with my pads, fitted with the appropriate high melting point grease; never had brake squeal.  Used to be standard practice years ago.  We also used to cross cut the pads to stop glazing/squeal... sometimes manufactuered ones were like that as well.  Might pay to contact the pad manufactuers for any suggestions.  Carrying out unaurthorised mods on brake pads is probably frowned on these days.

[Steve 2017]

Thank for you replies.  I will post again if I get any other info.

[Mike169]

Hi Steve, I have fitted 1000's of pads and i'm not exaggerating and OEM's are the safest way of avoiding brake squeal and usually stop more quickly as well. Cheap pads are often too rock solid causing the squeal. Original pads may be a tad dearer than some but in this case Toyota spend £millions getting the pad material right and I personally only fit OEM's and this way reduce/stop any braking problems. Everyone has their own opinion of course but this is mine. Mike.

[Parts-King]

Sometimes we are asked to fit non genuine pads on grounds of cost, we very reluctantly do this, and would explain that they very often squeal, for which we will not mess about trying to cure if this happens. With genuine pads and the correct anti squeal grease (NOT copper grease) we get very few squeal issues

Kingo

 

[Steve 2017]

7 hours ago, Mike169 said:

Hi Steve, I have fitted 1000's of pads and i'm not exaggerating and OEM's are the safest way of avoiding brake squeal and usually stop more quickly as well. Cheap pads are often too rock solid causing the squeal. Original pads may be a tad dearer than some but in this case Toyota spend £millions getting the pad material right and I personally only fit OEM's and this way reduce/stop any braking problems. Everyone has their own opinion of course but this is mine. Mike.

Thanks Mike for your info.  As the front brakes are still squealing after changing to OEM, could it be that the Pagid discs also need to be replaced with OEM to resolve the problem?  

And thanks Parts-King...  This is a lesson learned - 'Buy once, cry once".

 

 

[Mike169]

Hi Steve.

Pagid brakes are a good make but I thank you for your positive attitude to OEM parts. If you do intend changing the discs may I suggest you change them ASAP as the pads will 'shape' themselves into the discs they are rubbing on now which may cause squealing problems if left too long against rubbing against the new disc's.

Keep us all informed mate and 'good luck', oh and don't forget the grease the Parts-King mentioned, Mike.

[daveh_rav4]

Yup, I concur with the above posters, I always pay the extra and get my Toyota parts from Parts-King... hey, you get a bit of TOC discount so its not all pain LOL

Most people probably fit pads and discs at the same time these days... but years ago discs would well last a hundred thousand miles; then, if we were just fitting pads onto old discs we would 'rough up' the old discs by using emery cloth across the disc surface (both sides of disc) to remove some of the imprint of the original pads... you might try that if the discs are not too deeply scoured.  Obviously if the discs are deeply scoured you might be looking at new discs.  Years ago you could also get discs 'skimmed' to put a new surface on them... as long as you did not go below the minimum recommended thickness.

I can only think that modern discs are made of softer material these days as they don't seem to last as long as they did from years back; or modern pads are ripping them up quicker!  But as the previous poster stated... Toyota have probably matched their pads and discs to work together.  My Toyota pads and discs work well and no sign of squealing ^ 

[Parts-King]

14 hours ago, daveh_rav4 said:

 

I can only think that modern discs are made of softer material these days as they don't seem to last as long as they did from years back; or modern pads are ripping them up quicker!  But as the previous poster stated... Toyota have probably matched their pads and discs to work together.  My Toyota pads and discs work well and no sign of squealing ^ 

It's a combination of things really, no asbestos these days, so pads are put together with various fibres and resins, which can be very hard on discs. We also have ABS and all sorts electronic wizzardry so brakes take much more hammer than they ever did in years gone by. ALL the brake manufacturers make pads to fit into a market sector, in other words, they make cheap pads for a sector, intermediate and top range, so you do get what you pay for. Manufacturer pads will always be at the top end as OE quality is NOT the same as OE manufacturer which you see all over packaging these days, components are made to a price, and that price is usually for the aftermarket/factor 

[Steve 2017]

Hi all.  Got my local Toyota dealership to fit OEM parts and they discovered that the independent garage had removed the shims.  That had to be at least a contributory factor!

Thanks for all your input.

Steve (squeal-free RAV owner)