Issues wiith my driver side rear brakes

ASSISTANCE Suspension, Brakes & Wheels
1

Hey guys,

I’ve been having this issue where some of my brakes just completely shit brake pad and dust. The worst offender is the rear driver’s side.

I’ve noticed this before I replaced a bunch of parts recently

Replaced Rotor with Brembo blank
Replaced pads with hawkeye cheapos
Replaced caliper with Rockauto’s (Centrix I believe)
Replaced brake line with stainless steel goodyears.

Since I noticed the problem before the replacements, I’m assuming it’s something else. I also upgraded the blown suspension to new Tein Super Streets.

I originally thought the caliper was just sticking but I don’t think that’s the case. The only thing I can think of is the wheel hub ( correct me if I’m wrong but the bearings are part of the complete hub assembly).

So, I was thinking of replacing it but I wanted to hear your guys’ ideas. The car has rythmic chirping/ squealing when brakes are not applied. when brakes are first applied the sound goes away…

I don’t want to throw money at it so I’m thinking of just replacing the pad for now, however I’d like to get to the root cause.

2

Hmm… I was looking at the shop manual and the hub will need to be pulled and pressed. I am not into that and will need more tools… So I’m assuming the easiest route would be to find an aftermarket knuckle assembly?

3

From your post it’s hard to understand exactly what the problem is - sounds like you’re wearing out your right rear pad very quickly and experiencing a lot of brake dust buildup?

You should not need a press to remove/install the rear hub/bearing. The bearing comes pre-installed into the hub and it should be able to be removed simply by taking off the large 32mm nut holding the hub in place (exactly like your 32mm axle nut up front). Assuming nothing is seized, damaged…etc you should just be able to unbolt it and bolt on a new one.

I’d try to check the rear bearings. Put the rear of the car in the air with the wheels installed. Spin each rear wheel and see if they sound different or if one is more difficult to spin. If one or both are making noise or do not spin freely and easily then it could be a bearing problem. Then grab onto the tires and try to tug on or wobble the whole assembly. There should be very little movement. If you’re able to wobble the wheel then this is likely a bearing that needs to be replaced.

4

[QUOTE=Colin;2325068]From your post it’s hard to understand exactly what the problem is - sounds like you’re wearing out your right rear pad very quickly and experiencing a lot of brake dust buildup?

You should not need a press to remove/install the rear hub/bearing. The bearing comes pre-installed into the hub and it should be able to be removed simply by taking off the large 32mm nut holding the hub in place (exactly like your 32mm axle nut up front). Assuming nothing is seized, damaged…etc you should just be able to unbolt it and bolt on a new one.

I’d try to check the rear bearings. Put the rear of the car in the air with the wheels installed. Spin each rear wheel and see if they sound different or if one is more difficult to spin. If one or both are making noise or do not spin freely and easily then it could be a bearing problem. Then grab onto the tires and try to tug on or wobble the whole assembly. There should be very little movement. If you’re able to wobble the wheel then this is likely a bearing that needs to be replaced.[/QUOTE]

Hey Colin, thanks so much for your fast and detailed reply.

You are correct in what my issue is, however not that it makes any difference, but it’s the left side (driver side).

When I had installed the rotors ( before the calipers were installed), I had issues with the area in question, as the wheel would not spin as freely.

I noticed this with the wheel on and off ( I would spin the hub and felt resistance in comparison to the opposite side rear).

Originally, I thought it was something with the caliper pinching the pads too tightly on the rotor, however this is, as you said, probably not the case.

So the next question would be what to do next. I am thinking of purchasing a new hub for both sides of the rear just to get it out of the way. Regardless I will definitly need to replace the side in question…

So I was wondering how to go about that? I try to get OEM possibilities as much as I can, or something with the best build quality. What would this be? Also, since I have blown bushings, should I just replace the whole steering knuckle while I’m at it?

Thanks!

5

Eh, delray has OEM ones for 200.00 USD a piece, and only for ABS. Guess I’ll get Ebay ones, if there are any that anyone would recommend I’d appreciate it.

6

Rockauto.com

7

Thanks for your reply. Do you think it would matter to get the cheapest? Thanks!

8

I’m typically as big of an OEM fanboy as the best of em… But I vote aftermarket. They are WAY cheaper. And I recently had a bad oem when bearing. I replaced all 4 wheel bearings and the first track day out afterward had me limping it into the pits when the bearing failed and I snapped a lug stud. I can’t say without a doubt it wasn’t user error as I’m typically very meticulous, but it does seem to me that it was basically bad right out of the box. I replaced it with a cheap one from Autozone (only thing I could get to get the car back out on track on short notice) and it’s been fine since.

9

Thanks Collin. I’m just very hesitant about the ones that go for 20$ and no name brand versus the Moog 80$. I would feel more comfortable with the moog… Whatcha think? (as the Moog is still significantly cheaper)

10

Actually, I’ve just decided on ordering from Autozone. If it’s bad I’ll just replace it. I forget the hassle of returning things with rock auto.

11

I think that’s a good bet. Moog is fairly well regarded, but something for $20 doesn’t seem like a good idea. I think mine were around $50 and no idea what brand - it was the only one they had in stock and I needed it regardless. There’s definitely something to be said for having a warranty that you can redeem locally, even if that means you need to warranty it more often.

12

Thanks for the help collin, I’ll post a video later of the swap.

I realized however that either both the driver side rear and the driver side front, or just the front has been making noise.

Either way, I definitely isolated it to the front. The rear end had a horrible knocking sound when I spun the rotor on the old hub, so maybe it was defect after all. But after a test drive I could still hear noise (this time only from the front).

So since I had an ok time with the install, and the autozone stuff isn’t bad, I ordered another set for the front.

My only questions are these:

  1. I don’t have a torque wrench, I just tightened it down (the spindle nut) as wrench tight as possible. Is this bad? I know this is one of the few things people actually recomend torquing, but I don’t have a T wrench.

  2. the old hubs I replaced actually looked fresh, the spindle nut was still golden. Should I be worried about something making these hubs go bad? I do know that the dust cover will keep the nut and stuff clean, it’s just my thought.

  3. The old hubs had a significant amount of grease on them. I didn’t grease mine since autozone says they are pregreased and I didn’t have the same type of grease that the last guys used (from what I can tell as it was lighter); all I had was some thick ass molybdenum. So next time, should I get some grease?

Thanks to any help you guys can give.

13

[QUOTE=Titan_Killer;2325420]

My only questions are these:

  1. I don’t have a torque wrench, I just tightened it down (the spindle nut) as wrench tight as possible. Is this bad? I know this is one of the few things people actually recomend torquing, but I don’t have a T wrench.

  2. the old hubs I replaced actually looked fresh, the spindle nut was still golden. Should I be worried about something making these hubs go bad? I do know that the dust cover will keep the nut and stuff clean, it’s just my thought.

  3. The old hubs had a significant amount of grease on them. I didn’t grease mine since autozone says they are pregreased and I didn’t have the same type of grease that the last guys used (from what I can tell as it was lighter); all I had was some thick ass molybdenum. So next time, should I get some grease?

Thanks to any help you guys can give.[/QUOTE]

  1. See if you can borrow a toque wrench, or hit up Harbor Freight. The HF ones are super super cheap but from what I’ve read they are actually pretty accurate. These can definitely be done without one - if you know what you’re doing and can “estimate” the torque by feeling it. Unless you’ve done this a lot before with this specific nut I wouldn’t bother. “As tight as possible” is relative as it does not factor in your weight/strength, length of breaker bar, or a host of other variables.

  2. The rear nuts always look near new unless the dust caps have been removed or the nut has been removed a bunch of times. Generally the rears never get messed with so they look great. This should not be an indicator of whether the bearing is OK or not.

  3. There’s no need to grease the bearing, it’s a sealed bearing.

14

[QUOTE=Colin;2325422]1) See if you can borrow a toque wrench, or hit up Harbor Freight. The HF ones are super super cheap but from what I’ve read they are actually pretty accurate. These can definitely be done without one - if you know what you’re doing and can “estimate” the torque by feeling it. Unless you’ve done this a lot before with this specific nut I wouldn’t bother. “As tight as possible” is relative as it does not factor in your weight/strength, length of breaker bar, or a host of other variables.

  1. The rear nuts always look near new unless the dust caps have been removed or the nut has been removed a bunch of times. Generally the rears never get messed with so they look great. This should not be an indicator of whether the bearing is OK or not.

  2. There’s no need to grease the bearing, it’s a sealed bearing.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the quick and thorough reply as usual. You Socal guys need to move up to the northwest.

1.) It’s interesting, because I just got a flier in the mail from HB for 1/4 1/2 3/8 torque wrenches for like 10 bucks; and they look good but I’m always cautious with cheap things.

2.) That’s what I was thinking, the rears actually had some kind of yellow paint marking to mark the alignment of the nut and spindle; I figured shop mechanics don’t do that.

3.) I was actually talking about the space and the area where the spindle and the hub contact each other (in that well) it just looked like there was more grease on there. The Autozone one was very thinly coated.

15

Just a heads up about the fronts. They are not nearly as easy as the rears. You will need to have them removed from the hub and the new ones pressed in. I did mine last summer and I was lucky enough to know someone with a press. I would also check out your lower ball joints. If you are changing your wheel bearings I would change those too if they look kinda beat up. I did both at the same time just because I had the whole knuckle removed. If you decide to go that route I have a extra set of knuckles you can replace the bearings and ball joints on and I can just take your old ones when you are done. It was easier for me to remove the knuckles to have everything changed. It’s just an idea if you daily your car.

16

Damn, Yeah I really need new lower ball joints. But I’m just going to be replacing the whole hub assembly. I’ll look at my manual but I don’t think I’ll need to press anything in.

It sounds like a good deal. I hate pressing in things as I have no experience, don’t know anyone who can and it’s my DD. So most things need to be done same day/ within a couple hours. But yeah, If I’m already taking something apart I like to do other stuff too if it’s right there.

17

If you can get the whole front hub assembly then that’s the way to go. I just got the bearing and had to remove the old ones and press in the new ones. I can tell you that it wasn’t fun but I’m glad I did it. It sucks when things need to be done and it’s your only car. It sounds like you can do most of the work by yourself but if you ever need help just let me know. I’m always down to lend a hand and I’m not too far from you.

18

Oh shit man, yeah Vancouver! We should get together and make fun of our cars. There’s supposedly a import meeting every sunday downtown here, I’ve heard 60+ cars show up and some DAs. I’ve been thinking about it since I feel I have the only DA in my town lol.

19

Now I see what you’re talking about. The wheel bearing is seperate from the wheel. Damn, I thought autozone just carried the rears because they were the same as the front.

The wheel bearing actually resides in the knuckle with some other things. I’ll try to read up on it more but I definitly won’t be trying to pull bearings on this guy. Maybe I will take you up on your offer.

20

[QUOTE=Titan_Killer;2325429]Now I see what you’re talking about. The wheel bearing is seperate from the wheel. Damn, I thought autozone just carried the rears because they were the same as the front.

The wheel bearing actually resides in the knuckle with some other things. I’ll try to read up on it more but I definitly won’t be trying to pull bearings on this guy. Maybe I will take you up on your offer.[/QUOTE]

Yup. I was thinking about it after and it didn’t really make sense. I was about to go out in the garage and check one out. If you need the knuckles just let me know. My email is fgo4@hotmail.com or you can text or call at 925 321 7927. And it would be cool to meet up anyways sometime, there are some DA’s around Portland but not too many nice ones.