Left rear brake caliper getting moved out of alignment. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

andym1978 · 12-24-2011, 04:35 PM

I thought I had fixed this issue last year, but it just came back... Ugh...

Last Spring, my 2007 Camry Hybrid (54k miles back then, now at 62k) developed an obnoxious squeal coming out of the left rear wheel while driving at highway speeds. It takes several minutes at this speed to make the sound, so I believe wheel temperature triggers the sound. Touching the brake would temporarily silence it. After parking the car, I discovered that the left rear wheel was very warm, while the others were cool. I also saw excessive brake dust on the wheel.

I pulled the wheel to inspect. and saw that the track of the brake pad had moved a millimeter or two up the disk, so now part of the pad was over the "rusty" portion of the disk. The rusty, unworn part of the disc was thicker, so the part of the pad that was now over it was rubbing. At higher speeds, the rubbing would heat up the wheel and I'd gradually get the loud squeal.

I dismantled the pad, cleaned it, tightened the mounting brackets (via slight bending) and put it all back together. This solved the problem for 8 months. It just came back to haunt me on a recent highway trip...

I wanted to know if anyone has any knowledge of this issue and could give me some advice. It's a pain to take it all apart, especially if I am only temporarily fixing the issue. The pads still have over 85% live (including the rubbing one) and the disks look great on all wheels with no vibrations.

Thanks for the help!

Frodo65 · 12-24-2011, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andym1978

I thought I had fixed this issue last year, but it just came back... Ugh...

Last Spring, my 2007 Camry Hybrid (54k miles back then, now at 62k) developed an obnoxious squeal coming out of the left rear wheel while driving at highway speeds. It takes several minutes at this speed to make the sound, so I believe wheel temperature triggers the sound. Touching the brake would temporarily silence it. After parking the car, I discovered that the left rear wheel was very warm, while the others were cool. I also saw excessive brake dust on the wheel.

I pulled the wheel to inspect. and saw that the track of the brake pad had moved a millimeter or two up the disk, so now part of the pad was over the "rusty" portion of the disk. The rusty, unworn part of the disc was thicker, so the part of the pad that was now over it was rubbing. At higher speeds, the rubbing would heat up the wheel and I'd gradually get the loud squeal.

I dismantled the pad, cleaned it, tightened the mounting brackets (via slight bending) and put it all back together. This solved the problem for 8 months. It just came back to haunt me on a recent highway trip...

I wanted to know if anyone has any knowledge of this issue and could give me some advice. It's a pain to take it all apart, especially if I am only temporarily fixing the issue. The pads still have over 85% live (including the rubbing one) and the disks look great on all wheels with no vibrations.

Thanks for the help!

You have an issue with the caliper, pins, or the pad. There is no good reason why the thing should 'move' - other than parts being out of spec. I'd take a REAL close look at the pins or the caliper that allow excessive movement of the pad. Could also be that the caliper is 'sticky' causing heat to build up.

There's an outside chance that the rotor has excessive radial runout - measuring the runout would confirm that.

HotRod53 · 12-25-2011, 08:50 AM

Are you still running the OEM pads or have they been changed? Not on my Camry, but I had a similar problem on an '89 Camaro. I replaced the pads and the width of the contact patch was different. Mine did something similar to yours, it had a specific area on the rotor that it liked and it left a rusty high spot around the outside.

I'm thinking at 54K, concidering that you are having a problem already, you may be ahead to get a brake hardware kit, new pads, and new rotors and be done with it. Make sure the boots for the slider pins are good and the pins are nice and clean with some lube on them. There is probably some life left in those pads, but in my mind it would be worth it to replace everything and have it hopefully fixed.

leakyseals · 12-25-2011, 09:05 AM

I have seen a caliper lock up and fail, its possible, but very uncommon. Temporary lockups can occur when the caliper had uneven pressure (use of pliers) to retract the piston replacing pads. This normally resolves itself. Unlikely the caliper is moving, only time I've seen that is when the the metal sleeves that surround the caliper bolts were forgotten during assy. Most likely is the pad hardware (clips, etc) need to be replaced or greased. If your taking the brake assy apart, cleaning and reassembling without grease it will squeal again. Grease is an essential part of a brake job. Ceramic brake pads typically don't squeal, they vibrate during braking. That makes the supporting pad hardware resonate on the metal caliper sounding like a squeal. The grease insulates, no squeal.

andym1978 · 12-25-2011, 09:47 PM

The pads are original. Thanks for the great info everyone. I think I will try to get a new brake pad hardware first and see how that works. I'm hoping it's not a rotor issue, but I guess I have to be prepared for that. All the other hardware (boots, etc) look to be in great shape.

andym1978 · 01-14-2012, 10:47 PM

I learned there was a TSB for the brake pads that indicated new pad part numbers to be used. Since I am out of warranty, I bought new Wagner premium ceramic pads for the rear and replaced them myself last week. It was amazingly easy to replace the pads. I was told that I didn't need to use any clips or shims for the pads, so I just dropped them in. There's no more squealing or warm wheels so far. I hear a slight click when breaking from reverse to forward, but I'm not too concerned. I'm glad I just replaced the pads instead of trying to bend the clips around again, especially after learning that Toyota confirmed the original pads don't feet right. . Thanks again for the tips.

DOHCammer · 01-16-2012, 06:32 PM

Whoa there big fella. You absolutely need those retaining clips and shims no matter what pad goes in there. You definitely got some bad advice. You need to head to a dealer and ask for a "fit kit" for the rear pads for your car. The new pads will wedge themselves in there and not release when they are supposed to. The clips are what help the pads move freely and prevent that noise you're hearing going from reverse to drive or vice versa. You will end up wearing out the pads and the carriers without those clips.

***JohnGD*** · 01-16-2012, 07:19 PM

Congrats on starting your own maintenance work. It's a lot easier than most people think. But DOHC is right, leave the caliper bracket clips on there. But as far as the shims go, I'd agree that you really don't need them, especially with Akebono. Some of the aftermarket shims can shift around and actually cause binding problems. I do recommend picking up a 3/8"-drive torque wrench from Harbor Freight. These are like $15 when on sale.

As far as the clicks go, it's the pad shifting a bit in the bracket because of some clearance. Maybe if you put the bracket clips back on it will reduce them. Some use a little brake lube (Permatex Ceramic Extreme or Silglyde brake lube) on the contact points, but even then an occasional click is normal. So I'd put back everything like in this $6.83 kit:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3053688

Yeah, I think Toyota went with a cheap pad material and it caused problems. In the future go with Akebono ProAct ceramic. It was OEM for a long time until more cost cutting came around.

But given only 1 rotor was heating up I'd definitely check the caliper piston or anchor pins for free movement. The anchor pins should move with 2-finge pressure. If you have to really push to get it to move then I'd clean them and replace the boots. Use Permatex Ceramic Extreme grease. Similarly with caliper piston movement, if it's difficult then consider rebuilding (not installing a rebuilt) with the help of a mechanically inclined friend.

Don't use brake cleaner on rubber parts if you want to reuse them. It's ok to spry the pin bores but allow to dry completely. Use alcohol on rubber parts to clean them.

I'd also bleed the brake fluids with a Low Moisture Activity formula like Valvoline synthetic or Castrol GT LMA.

See also:
Permanent solution for wavy/vibrating rotors?

Quote:

Originally Posted by andym1978

I learned there was a TSB for the brake pads that indicated new pad part numbers to be used. Since I am out of warranty, I bought new Wagner premium ceramic pads for the rear and replaced them myself last week. It was amazingly easy to replace the pads. I was told that I didn't need to use any clips or shims for the pads, so I just dropped them in. There's no more squealing or warm wheels so far. I hear a slight click when breaking from reverse to forward, but I'm not too concerned. I'm glad I just replaced the pads instead of trying to bend the clips around again, especially after learning that Toyota confirmed the original pads don't feet right. . Thanks again for the tips.