Remedy for squeaky brakes??

Bluemeanie wrote:

I can't explain the physics but the squeel is basically a high speed vibration. At work I put a thin layer of high temp grease on the back of brake pads, this grease absorbs the vibration thus eliminating the squeel. Might work on bike brakes too?

Grease will run off when the pad gets hot. There is a specific product which is a blue "goo" you put on the back of the pad when installing. You let it dry, it has the texture of rubber. That dampens the vibration and stops the squal. It also doesn't last that long as the pressure of the piston cuts through it eventually.

you can buy the brake squeel eliminator form just about any parts store, I suspect that the pads have got glazed over and is causing the noise, not much to do but replace them, either ones OEM or aftermarket work just fine for me, also scuff the rotor up with some coarse sand paper, this will help the new pads seat in

The brake squeel stuff never made one bit of difference when I tried it some years back. Sanding the pads and rotor always "fixed" the problem, however the fix would only last a day or two then back to squeeling. This was a long time ago though. Tried Ferodo, EBC and Vesra and they all were worthless because of the unacceptable noise. Maybe compounds have changed since then for all I know because this has been 20 yrs ago. I know Vesra rear shoes work OK on a KZ650B with no squeel as I did put a set of them in last year. Only problem with them is the pads are pretty much the exact OD as space they take up in the hub so starting with 1/4" of brake pedal travel was really not my favorite setup. A year later now they have worn in enough for 1" or so travel.

Re:Remedy for squeaky brakes?? 6 Hours, 47 Minutes ago
there's one thing you can try doing. Take a small piece of thin sheet metal and cut it to the size of the back of the brake pad with tabs that you'll bend to clamp the sheet metal to the pad (make sure the metal sits flush with the back of the pad. Use the anti-squeal grease in between the pad and metal piece and then put the brakes back together


This is what I did on my 77 KZ650 and it worked great. No grease ever leaked out. I used a VERY thin layer.

BSKZ650 wrote:

also scuff the rotor up with some coarse sand paper, this will help the new pads seat in

This works great: I use a small block knife sharpening stone with cutting oil to polish the rotor face going around with small circular motions. If you work it long enough, you can level the ridges and get a nice roughed up face.

i've hear if you bevel the leading edge 45 deg it stops the squeel, never tried it though
some mfg make theirs this way