Brakes make a "creaking" sound

crushNchowda · November 27, 2018

FWIW I did a complete brake job @ 50-55k miles or so (pads/rotors/fluid/lube) - all sounds disappeared.

hbpastry · December 26, 2018

Thanks for all the responses. The advice pretty much worked. I proba ly could have used better grease...but the pins were indeed needing maintenance. The noise has been 99% eliminated.

alvocado · May 23, 2019

The brakes on fullsize GM trucks last a long time which is great with one downside: you don't regularly service the components since you aren't changing out pads very often. Here's a picture of my rear caliper guide pins showing the factory lube is mostly gone and what remains is hard and worthless. I pulled these today to clean and lube with correct caliper guide pin grease (used Permatex green brake lube).

When swapping my front setup to a PowerStop z36 kit yesterday, one of the front guide pins was rusted near the head and had no grease remaining. That was likely an issue with the guide pin boot letting in moisture combined with no lube so all were replaced with the new boots from the PowerStop kit.

It takes about 30 mins to maintain the guide pins per axle and inspect the boots and I recommend doing it at least every couple of years if you aren't changing brakes. This resolved my rear squeak issue.

Don Lindsey · August 3, 2019

Hey guys. I’ve had the same problem.

no one has addressed their parking brake.

Car stopped wheels not rolling. Pressing brake hard causes the creaking. I thought it was the caliper pins or the pad backing plates where they ride on the caliper mount. Removed and luned all moving parts on service brake. No improvement. It isnt the friction material because it happens when not moving. The other day a guy parked next to me in his suburban, doing the same thing. It made a louder creak when setting his PARKING brake. Eureka!! I pulled the calipers off, and removed the rotor. I lubricated the parking shoes backing plate, and all the retaining springs holding shoes together. That fixed it. Pressing the brake causes the rotor to flex just enough to cause the rotor to move the parking brake shoes. Good luck.

LoneStar87 · September 29, 2019

Have a '14 Silverado Crew Cab. For the last couple years, my brakes have seemed to be squeaking at low speeds (5-10mph). So I figured it needed new brake pads and rotors. Took it to the dealer a couple times. The first time they resurfaced the rotors claiming that they were still good but had small amounts of rust on the edges. Seemed to have solved the issue, then a few months later the noise returned. Took it back to dealership and they greasing some parts and checked the pads. Same thing, solved the problem but it eventually returned. The dealers says, well since everything is cheaply made, the pads and rotors don't last as long as they used to. And because of the NE climate you're going to have moisture and moisture can lead to rust causing the squeaking noise.

So I replaced the pads and rotors. Noise went away and sure enough it's back. I'm ready to shit can this truck already and say screw it. Nobody seems to know or can fix this issue. I have seen other posts here about the break peddle and maybe that being the underlying issue. Any body have any thoughts on this??

300 Blackout · October 13, 2019

Have a '14 Silverado Crew Cab. For the last couple years, my brakes have seemed to be squeaking at low speeds (5-10mph). So I figured it needed new brake pads and rotors. Took it to the dealer a couple times. The first time they resurfaced the rotors claiming that they were still good but had small amounts of rust on the edges. Seemed to have solved the issue, then a few months later the noise returned. Took it back to dealership and they greasing some parts and checked the pads. Same thing, solved the problem but it eventually returned. The dealers says, well since everything is cheaply made, the pads and rotors don't last as long as they used to. And because of the NE climate you're going to have moisture and moisture can lead to rust causing the squeaking noise.
So I replaced the pads and rotors. Noise went away and sure enough it's back. I'm ready to shit can this truck already and say screw it. Nobody seems to know or can fix this issue. I have seen other posts here about the break peddle and maybe that being the underlying issue. Any body have any thoughts on this??

I had about 70k miles on my original pads and rotors. Rusted to crap from Canadian and Michigan winters. They creaked and squealed at about 68k and I decided to replace them with raybestos police rotors and their Element 3 pads.

It’s very important to properly break-in the new rotors and pads. Raybestos outlines the procedure online. I overheated them when I broke them in and glazed the rotors. Soon after, they squeaked too. I was able to scrape the rotors enough with a scotch-brite pad to remove the glaze and haven’t had any noise since.

I also cleaned and lubed my parking brake components to address the issues described in the post above yours and it solved my creaking problem. Brakes are quiet now and have been for a year.

Also, even my raybestos rotors are beginning to rust. I was really impressed with the OEM rotors after 68k miles in the rust belt. Yeah, they were rusted, but the contact surface was even and had a lot of life left if I wanted to salvage them. The OEM pads were dead.

LoneStar87 · October 13, 2019

Dealer scrapped the “excessive” rust off my rotors and greased all the proper fittings. As of now there’s no noise. I’m no mechanic but YouTube is a beautiful thing. I’ve watched a ton of videos on brakes and replacing different components. I think if the noise decides to return that I’m going to replace everything myself. I’ve heard good things about Wagner rotors and brakes. Maybe I’ll give them a go.

Glad to hear your problem is solved

durandetto · October 19, 2019

Check for seized slide pins. I was getting this noise as well and while rotating my tires one day I noticed the outboard pad wasn't touching the rotor. I pulled the caliper off and the lower pin was sticking. Pulled it out, cleaned and lubed it all is good now.

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durandetto · October 19, 2019

So this is normal? Front inside pads were destroyed, just turned 35K? Very little towing (maybe 1K miles towing camper and 1k towing landscape trailer - no brakes at 3K #s), but swapped to mud tires at 28K miles. So I am guessing the heavier tires and the towing had something to do with it, but the brake squeelers never made a noise, and the rotors were toast.

Unfortunately with the crappy recycled steel they use for rotors they tend to rust badly and brake pads don't like stopping on rust. Most ceramic brakes will last 100k if the rotors don't rot out first. Don't get me wrong, I make a lot of money replacing these crappy rotors and the pads they destroy. With the price these trucks cost they should maybe spend a little more on some quality rotors.

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durandetto · October 19, 2019

Dealer scrapped the “excessive” rust off my rotors and greased all the proper fittings. As of now there’s no noise. I’m no mechanic but YouTube is a beautiful thing. I’ve watched a ton of videos on brakes and replacing different components. I think if the noise decides to return that I’m going to replace everything myself. I’ve heard good things about Wagner rotors and brakes. Maybe I’ll give them a go.
Glad to hear your problem is solved

If you go with Wagner make sure they're the oex ones. The lesser grade are known to squeal. In the industry they're known as thermo-louds. Maybe look into akebono or Napa adv's with Napa reactive one rotors. I've had really good luck with Napa high end rotors and pads. I personally run the reactive one slotted rotors and they helped with stopping power on my 04.

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alvocado · October 19, 2019

To clarify, the "creaking" noise from the original post is not from the pads or rotors as it happens while parked and depressing the brake pedal.

Brake squeal when applying the brakes to stop or slow down is a result of the pads vibrating which does not necessarily indicate the brakes aren't working correctly. If your brakes are in good working order and you get squealing when applying, it's either due to the material (harder pad composites), product design (no or inadequate backing material on the pads), or shims (caliper surface not properly cleaned and lubricated when installed).

vegeta6176 · December 18, 2019

Ok folks, we've had the same issue on a 2015 Silverado LS. There was a creaking noise from the left rear caliper when applying the brakes with the vehicle in park and stationary. We found that the noise is coming from the caliper piston seal area. What we did was remove the left rear brake caliper off of the pads and bracket assembly. We placed a caliper piston depressor tool to keep the piston from coming all the way out, and pressed on the brake pedal ever so slowly so that the piston was sticking out quite a bit. We then turned it with a large pliers careful not to damage the piston surface. We only turned it about 1/4 turn, but this will free it up from sticking to the surrounding seal and possibly remove any debris stuck to it. We then re-installed everything, and the noise is completely gone. Hope this helps all.

lotexigeus · March 7, 2021

On 8/3/2019 at 12:53 AM, Don Lindsey said:

Hey guys. I’ve had the same problem.

no one has addressed their parking brake.

Car stopped wheels not rolling. Pressing brake hard causes the creaking. I thought it was the caliper pins or the pad backing plates where they ride on the caliper mount. Removed and luned all moving parts on service brake. No improvement. It isnt the friction material because it happens when not moving. The other day a guy parked next to me in his suburban, doing the same thing. It made a louder creak when setting his PARKING brake. Eureka!! I pulled the calipers off, and removed the rotor. I lubricated the parking shoes backing plate, and all the retaining springs holding shoes together. That fixed it. Pressing the brake causes the rotor to flex just enough to cause the rotor to move the parking brake shoes. Good luck.

This is the correct answer. Fixed mine (2018 Sierra Denali 1500) today. Take caliper off, take rotor off, clean and lube (CRC silaramic) all the springs on the Parking break. Put back together. No more creaking while stopped.

Edited March 10, 2021 by lotexigeus

Brian Rowland · October 29, 2021

For those that have not found a resolution, give this a read. I just noticed a creak from my left rear and will try this first. 2019 suburban, 40k miles

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10163253-9999.pdf

JimCost2014 · November 1, 2021

On 10/29/2021 at 3:09 AM, Brian Rowland said:

For those that have not found a resolution, give this a read. I just noticed a creak from my left rear and will try this first. 2019 suburban, 40k miles

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10163253-9999.pdf

Welcome to the site

Great info, I have a "creak" now on my drivers side rear. This helps a lot.