Front end rattle

[saratoga]

There should be anti-rattle clips on them Grady. If you're still all factory though (I'm sure you are) there won't be any lube at all the contact points so that could very well be your problem.

Everything's factory. Funny though I have taken all four calipers off to clean the rust off of the pad ears and lube the caliper pins before. Maybe I got a little too carried away with the dremel when I cleaned and painted the pad ears.

 

[HoytBows]

I just replaced my pins a month or two ago and lubed them up so I'm guessing its not the pins. I was suspicous of rest of the pad and caliper area that might be something to play with...

 

[saratoga]

Dammit, that's what it is- the pads are rattling around.

I rode the brakes over some choppy bumps today- no rattle!!!

 

[btfarm]

Well you got it figured out at least.
BTW, buffed and painted brake parts... You've got WAY to much time on your hands pal!):h

 

[HoytBows]

Any ideas as to how we can fix it without binding anything up?

 

[dmaxx3500]

my customers truck had a rattle/clunk,i just did front brakes on it,now no more noise,,it was the pads/calipers

 

[saratoga]

This is so annoying, I just bought $350 worth of brake parts even though what's on there looks good.

New pads, rotors and caliper pins all the way around. The pads that are on there have a lot of material left, but I guess they're worn enough to rattle. Probably could have gone with only pads since there's no pulsing or anything and the rotors aren't rusted or gouged at all, but might as well replace everything while it's apart (again).

I do a lot of driving in heavy traffic which is evidently not conducive to long brake pad life on a 7,000# vehicle. Just under 77,000 miles.

I'll take pics of the process, too.

 

[treegump]

I don't understand. If the pads aren't worn down, why would they rattle? I've been waiting to check on things when I rotate my tires, but I haven't had the opportunity & will to do that since I've noticed the rattling. I'm nearing 30k miles on the existing shocks, and the road between my house and the interstate is nothing but pot holes, so I wouldn't be surprised if I needed new shocks either.

 

[dmaxx3500]

this is all because the pistons retract into the calipers,just clean everything up and grease ''litely''

 

[treegump]

this is all because the pistons retract into the calipers,just clean everything up and grease ''litely''

Are you recommending on rebuilding or cleaning the calipers? If I were to rebuild them, how do I remove the pistons, and if I were to clean them, how do I take it apart without damaging any seals or whatever.

 

[treegump]

Replaced my rotors, calipers, and pads in the front, and shoes, springs, and driver's side cylinder - all yesterday. I'm sure glad I put anti-seize on my wheel bearings because they slid right out after the bolts were removed from my front knuckles. Bad thing is - got the brakes bled at 12am, test drive at 1am, pinhole leak in main line at 1:30am, drove my g/f's car to work today. Sucks. (I was hitting my brakes hard when road testing it, seeing as I have a 30 mile commute on an interstate going through construction now.)

 

[treegump]

so...finally got the rear line replaced with the help of my g/f. Had to buy a new flex line too and use a recripicating saw AND grinder to get the old line off the bracket. Anyhow, I still have a rattle up front, but the truck brakes like its a new vehicle-what a GREAT feeling!! (minus the rattle of course). (truck has 185k miles on it. I grabbed hold of the shocks and tried shaking/moving them and they didn't budge. How many miles are shocks supposed to last on pot-holed filled roads? Could the rattle be coming from the A-arms?)

 

[Kshoemaker0222]

Had the same exact problem.. changed entire front suspension, wheel bearing, rotors, and calipers. Turned out that it was the bolts that kept the black dust cover under the bumper on