9 Causes of Grinding Noise & Vibration When Braking



Brakes are extremely important components of any vehicle for save driving, while it is necessary to solve any issue related to the engine but breaks are even more important parts of the vehicle because brakes control the speed of your vehicle and aid vehicles to slow down. In the modern vehicle, the hydraulic brake system is installed in the vehicle to manage the brake of each tire. Some vehicles have front tires with disc brake and rear with drum, but in new models of vehicles mostly all tires have disc brakes. When you press down the pedal, the front breaks play an important role in slowing down the vehicle as compared to the rear brakes because when you apply for brakes the weight of the vehicle pushes it forward.

Common Causes of Noise and Vibration When Braking:

When you drive your vehicle and apply breaks or even before applying brakes you may hear strange noises like rubbing, metal scrapping or grinding, it indicates that your brake system may have a serious issue that you needed to address. Sometimes without having any problem with the brake system, you might hear some noise but go away on its own. But if the sound remains persistent and become even worse with the passage of time, it gives a clear sign that your brakes have some sort of issue. We will discuss here are the 9 most common reasons for noise produced from the brakes.

(1) Worn Brake Pads:

When you step on the brake pedal and you start hearing grinding noise loudly then it indicates that your vehicle brake pads are worn out. It happens when the material on the backing plate losses and the metal surface of the brake pads come in contact with the metal on the rotor, it could heavily damage the brakes of your vehicle if you don’t replace the pads and continue driving in a condition like this. The backing plate of the brake pads will destroy the rotor as a result of grooves in the surface of rotor forms and also make the surface of the rotor uneven.

(2) Bad Quality Brake Pads:

Always use brake pads which are recommended by your vehicle manufacturer, don’t try to save money by purchasing low quality of brake pads. Using low quality of brake pads gives a poor performance at high speed which can cause a serious accident that further leads to fatal injuries. Cheap brake pads have metal chunks in their material and are poorly manufactured; these metal chunks scrape with the surface of the rotor as a result damage the surface of the rotor and make the surface of the rotor uneven.

(3) Worn Shims:

When you replace the brakes of your vehicle by yourself or get a job done by a mechanic, never forget to replace the shims. Mostly mechanic doesn’t replace the shims because they try to save time as they wanted to deal with more customers that’s why make sure that the mechanic replaces shims each time you replace the brakes of your vehicle. If you won’t replace the shims they will wear out with age, worn shims make contact with the surface of the rotor or other parts of the brake system. Due to the contact of the shims with the brake system, you will hear sounds when you apply brakes to slow down your vehicle. So make sure that you replace shims each time when you replace the brake pads.

(4) Debris Stuck in Brakes:

If you ever drive your vehicle off-road, it might be possible that debris gets stuck in your vehicle brake system. The debris could be gravel or a piece of stone that stuck between the rotor and caliper, and causing the grinding or scraping noises to occur. The noise will not stop and you will continue to hear even if you are not applying brakes to slow down the vehicle, if you didn’t remove the debris and continue driving like this it could damage the surface of the rotor, as a result, you need to resurface the rotor or possibly required to be replaced. Sometimes if debris stuck in your vehicle it causes misalignment of the brake pads which cause poor performance of the brake pads and then it will be necessary to replace the brake pads sooner than normal.

(5) Infrequent Driving:

Brake pads usually last from 30,000 to 70,000 miles driving normal, but it also depends on the driving style of vehicle and type of vehicle. If your vehicle brakes having issues sooner then it simply means that you are not driving your vehicle enough. For example, if you stored your vehicle for the winter and your vehicle brake rotors don’t get used for a long time it will eventually start rusting and get even slightly corroded with a rough surface. Other components of the brake system will also get corroded therefore you may also have an issue to calipers sticking in your vehicle. You can avoid this issue by driving your vehicle little on a daily basis so that the surface of the rotor will not get rusty.

(6) Caliper Bolts:

Caliper bolts of the brake can require lubrication for smoothly working if they get dry and their slides create sounds. It is a very rare scenario less likely to occur, but it is also a factor that can cause noises in your brake system. A good reputable repair shop must lubricate the bolts and even replaced them if they get too rusty.

(7) Faulty Wheel Bearings:

This is the least likely issue that occurs for having brake noises if you feel the vibration with the grinding noise from your wheels and you experience sound from loud to quiet then it indicates that you are having a bad wheel bearing which is needed to be replaced as soon as possible. With the noise, you will also experience vibration in your steering wheel while driving the vehicle at high speed.

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