Noisy Brake Pads - Need Advice!

[luci5r]

Guys,

Need some advice here.

I bought a 2003 H2 in April this year; it's an old vehicle with over 134,000 miles on it. Got a good deal and knew it was going to need some work & investment over time.

One of the first things that I'm needing to look into fairly quickly is brakes. The brakes are sqealing like crazy. Every time I apply brakes - they squeal really loud. So I took it to my local GMC Service and basically what they said was that the previous owner had installed "Ceramic Brake Pads" which have a tendency to make all this noise. Apparently the brakes are at 70%+ so they aren't worn down by any means -- but the noise is killing me and the wife won't stand it. I have to do something about the noise.

GMC gave me the following quote for replacing the pads with the "Original" Hummer H2 brake pads - which are not ceramic and won't cause the noise...

$330 for the Front Brake Pads
$250 for the Rear Brake Pads

Does this quote sound about right?

I have a Les Schabb 5 minutes from my place who offer Free Brake Inspection; I was thinking about trying them just to see what Quote they give.

I'm a new Hummer owner and wanted to see what some of you vets have to say about all of this.

Thanks guys!

[Hellz]

buy some EBC yellow stuff pads for both ends.

do the brake job yourself.. prolly about 2 to 3 hours total.
buy a can of brake caliper lube (bout 6 bucks), dont buy the little packets.. not enough lube for everything, and about 1/2 the cost of a can that will last your whole life.

lube the bad of the brake pads
lube the pistons of the calipers
lube the rails the pads will sit on
lube the caliper bolts (smooth surface part)
lube the mating surface when the caliper bolts up the bracket.

you wont have any noise after that. may seem over kill, but its exactly what i did, and i am happy.

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by Hellz

buy some EBC yellow stuff pads for both ends.

do the brake job yourself.. prolly about 2 to 3 hours total.
buy a can of brake caliper lube (bout 6 bucks), dont buy the little packets.. not enough lube for everything, and about 1/2 the cost of a can that will last your whole life.

lube the bad of the brake pads
lube the pistons of the calipers
lube the rails the pads will sit on
lube the caliper bolts (smooth surface part)
lube the mating surface when the caliper bolts up the bracket.

you wont have any noise after that. may seem over kill, but its exactly what i did, and i am happy.

Sounds like a good deal - only problem is, I'm not really handy with stuff like this; and that's an understatement. Never replaced brake pads and not sure if I want to even attempt doing it on the H2.

The pads you mentioned run about $142 per pair ... so definitely not very expensive. But I'd have to get it done from someone. Not sure if any of these retail places would do it.
____

On a side note -- I was reading another thread here and they replaced their OE with Ceramic Brake Pads to get rid of the noise; so I'm even more confused now.

[guruerror]

Originally Posted by luci5r

Sounds like a good deal - only problem is, I'm not really handy with stuff like this; and that's an understatement. Never replaced brake pads and not sure if I want to even attempt doing it on the H2.

The pads you mentioned run about $142 per pair ... so definitely not very expensive. But I'd have to get it done from someone. Not sure if any of these retail places would do it.
____

On a side note -- I was reading another thread here and they replaced their OE with Ceramic Brake Pads to get rid of the noise; so I'm even more confused now.

I've always heard that ceramic pads REDUCE squeal...but, as far as disc brakes go, I only know what I hear. LOL!

I've been dealing with a squealing issue after getting new OEM pads and rotors put on...squealed since day one. I finally (19,000 miles later) took it back to the dealer and told them to bevel the edge of the pads, lubricate, shim, or whatever...just make them STOP squealing. They beveled the edges and applied 'anti-squeal' solution (whatever that is) to the pad and rotor...not a squeal since. Thank god... Best part? They didn't charge me a dime...whew!

My point is...before taking it to the shop, I was preparing to do all this work myself and started researching how difficult it was to change disc brakes. Check You Tube out for some instructional videos; it really doesn't look that hard...

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by guruerror

I've always heard that ceramic pads REDUCE squeal...but, as far as disc brakes go, I only know what I hear. LOL!

I've been dealing with a squealing issue after getting new OEM pads and rotors put on...squealed since day one. I finally (19,000 miles later) took it back to the dealer and told them to bevel the edge of the pads, lubricate, shim, or whatever...just make them STOP squealing. They beveled the edges and applied 'anti-squeal' solution (whatever that is) to the pad and rotor...not a squeal since. Thank god... Best part? They didn't charge me a dime...whew!

My point is...before taking it to the shop, I was preparing to do all this work myself and started researching how difficult it was to change disc brakes. Check You Tube out for some instructional videos; it really doesn't look that hard...

Hey - Thanks for replying.

I think the Ceramic vs. OEM is what's beginning to really confuse me now. The GMC Dealership I took it to explained to me in depth that I need OEM pads and that Ceramic will always sqeal and make ear-piercing noise.

Browsing through many threads here, I'm finding people claiming the exact opposite - that Ceramic pads are much quieter then OEM. I don't want to spend $500+ just to get the noise back after a few hundred or thousand miles, if not day one.

I'm also finding quite a few posts suggesting exactly what you did -- beveling or chafing the edge, lubricating, etc.

When you say "Dealership" that you took it back to - was this a GMC Dealership and their service center? I'm not sure if I'm the right guy for opening up brake pads and doing anything in that area, so I'd really like to get it done. I just don't know if a service "shop" would actually do the beveling/chafing/lubricating for me -- most shops always try to make the most they can and I have a feeling, whether I take it to Les Schwabb, Firestone or GMC Dealer, they will all recommend replacing the brakes.

I don't expect them to do it for free, so I'm probably going to give this a shot and see if any of them is willing to do this.

Thanks.

[guruerror]

Originally Posted by luci5r

Hey - Thanks for replying.

I think the Ceramic vs. OEM is what's beginning to really confuse me now. The GMC Dealership I took it to explained to me in depth that I need OEM pads and that Ceramic will always sqeal and make ear-piercing noise.

Browsing through many threads here, I'm finding people claiming the exact opposite - that Ceramic pads are much quieter then OEM. I don't want to spend $500+ just to get the noise back after a few hundred or thousand miles, if not day one.

I'm also finding quite a few posts suggesting exactly what you did -- beveling or chafing the edge, lubricating, etc.

When you say "Dealership" that you took it back to - was this a GMC Dealership and their service center? I'm not sure if I'm the right guy for opening up brake pads and doing anything in that area, so I'd really like to get it done. I just don't know if a service "shop" would actually do the beveling/chafing/lubricating for me -- most shops always try to make the most they can and I have a feeling, whether I take it to Les Schwabb, Firestone or GMC Dealer, they will all recommend replacing the brakes.

I don't expect them to do it for free, so I'm probably going to give this a shot and see if any of them is willing to do this.

Thanks.

By 'dealership' I mean my local GM service center. It used to be a GM 'Performance' dealership; where they only sold Corvettes, Camaros, and Hummers (and they also did commercial GMC trucks.) Now they're a straight-up Chevy dealer with an emphasis on Corvettes and Camaros, but they've maintained their Hummer 'crew'...so they know these trucks very well.

In my experience with this particular GM dealership, they will do whatever work you ask, with whatever parts you supply, and ask a fair price (actually cheaper then my old independent mechanic); plus I have the comfort of knowing that a GM mechanic is doing the work in a GM shop full of GM specific tools and GM electronic documentation and resources. That all increases my confidence in the quality of the work and usually decreases the labor hours need to complete the task. Every significant mechanical mod that I've done to my truck, whether with OEM or aftermarket parts, has been performed by my dealership. No questions asked...and not one problem, except for a bout of squeaky brake pads.

That said, 'your mileage may vary' with dealerships in your area...not all GM dealers are created equal. I just count myself lucky...

[luci5r]

Originally Posted by guruerror

By 'dealership' I mean my local GM service center. It used to be a GM 'Performance' dealership; where they only sold Corvettes, Camaros, and Hummers (and they also did commercial GMC trucks.) Now they're a straight-up Chevy dealer with an emphasis on Corvettes and Camaros, but they've maintained their Hummer 'crew'...so they know these trucks very well.

In my experience with this particular GM dealership, they will do whatever work you ask, with whatever parts you supply, and ask a fair price (actually cheaper then my old independent mechanic); plus I have the comfort of knowing that a GM mechanic is doing the work in a GM shop full of GM specific tools and GM electronic documentation and resources. That all increases my confidence in the quality of the work and usually decreases the labor hours need to complete the task. Every significant mechanical mod that I've done to my truck, whether with OEM or aftermarket parts, has been performed by my dealership. No questions asked...and not one problem, except for a bout of squeaky brake pads.

That said, 'your mileage may vary' with dealerships in your area...not all GM dealers are created equal. I just count myself lucky...

Thanks again for responding.

Yeah, I have to say you may have been lucky there. I'm not thoroughly impressed by my dealership. It's small - old - and I'm not sure how man, if any, Hummer 'crew' is there. I got some pretty large & surprising estimates on a couple of things I inquired about when I took my Hummer there; I haven't even touched any of them yet except for the brakes. I was going to do additional posts about the other issues one by one; right now the brake noise is my priority so I'm leaving the other issues be for now.

I'll give them a call and see what they say about doing a bevelling/lubricating to get rid of the noise. I do agree with you, I'd rather take it to GMC then other regular 'shops'. I just don't know about this particular dealer.

Thanks man - appreciate it.