Yahoo Autos Why Do Brakes Squeal? Question Of The Day
Not all sounds coming off of your brakes mean the same thing.
Question: What makes brakes squeak? Why do some brakes give off so much dust on hubcaps and others do not?
Answer: The brakes on your car allow you to defy Newton’s First Law of Motion at every red light. A body in motion will remain in motion unless it has a good set of brakes.. They have also been squeaking since they were invented.
The component parts of a car’s braking system – things like the rotors, the brake pads, and the wheels—can vibrate and that vibration makes noise. The brake pads are designed to disintegrate slowly under pressure. If the noise becomes more squeal than an occasional squeak, it could be the warning system built into the brakes to let you know that the pads are nearing the end of their life cycle. There are small steel clips designed to make that noise to let you know it is time for maintenance. (Not sure if the noise your brakes are making is the helpful squeal or a more menacing grinding noise? Pep Boys has sample sounds on their website. The squeal is a higher pitch sound sort of like whistle. The grinding is lower in pitch and more like nails on a chalkboard.)
