My 03 VIII has Hawk HPS pads in the rear, and dealer installed Brembo's up front. I've been getting some squealing from the fronts, though they seem to have a decent amount of pad life left in them. I bought some Hawk HPS for the front but haven't put them in yet.

I beaded the brakes (to the tune of some awfully nasty things my brakes said to me while doing it) again, and the noise went away - for a few days. Once the brakes get hot, most of the noise goes away, they make the most noise under light - medium braking before it gets hot. Even hot I get some noise here and there. The beading did sort out some high speed braking vibration.

Is it possible I have been getting some pad contamination? I have had to go through a construction zone to get to work. Perhaps some of the paving crap has gotten onto my rotors?

 

Did you make sure copper grease was applied on the brake pad and shim and caliper piston interface? My brake noise was gone after I applied these high temp grease

 

Lots of it, on the back brakes that I did. Dealer did the fronts. My noise problem is growing worse, the fronts seem to get hot fast. I re-beaded the fronts yesterday, and it didn't seem to help. I pulled up to the gate at work this morning, and the brakes squeeled loudly.

I have a new set of Hawk pads to put in, but the outter pads I can see are no where near the squeelers. I guess I should take a look at the inner pads. I still have lots of the high temp lube left over from the back brakes, perhaps I should just try re-lubing the fronts?

 

i would double check that the dealer put enough copper grease on the front pad a shim

 

i have the hps pads and have the same problem. i called hawk to explain the problem and they said its something about the shape of the pad for the evo with the compound used. The vibrations are at a different frequency that squeels like crazy. I had them on the type r too and they were fine, i guess its because the shape is different. Anyways they said there was nothing i could do and they wont give me new ones. so much for loyal customers i guess.

 

Aftermarket pads have always been known to squeal some.

 

I'm still trying to make time to re-lube / change out the front pads. Another noise bearing (I HOPE not "bearing") issue I have been recently encountering is a scraping noise on turn in, usually at slow to medium speeds, like parking lot maneuvering.

I'm wondering if this is a related noise, or the wheel bearings? My daily driver has 56k miles on it, seeing at least 60 miles of highway a day.

 

That copper grease works well but most people forget to put it on the front and rear edges of the backing plates where it touches the pad abuttment plates in the calipers. Make sure to put a thin film there as well.

Martin

 

Are these semi-mettalic pads? If so then you will get used to the noise because thats normal. Brake squeal is typically caused by vibration between the brake pads, rotors, and brake calipers. Otherwise check these:

Lack of friction material (brakes need to be replaced)
Loose fitting brake in the caliper
Loose fitting or missing brake hardware (i.e. shims, anti-rattle clips)
Loose lug nuts or caliper hardware
Debris caught between the rotor and the surface of the brake pad
Heat cracked or worn rotors
Uneven finish on resurfaced rotors