Help with '99 new body style silverado

chevyman992002 · August 9, 2003

There is some sort of grinding noise coming from my front wheels. It sounds like the pads are sitting against the rotor while i'm driving. Well, last Saturday I changed the pads and had the rotors turned. I took the truck out Sat. night, and there was no noise. But, the noise returned by Sunday and has become just as bad as it initially was. I have no clue what it could be. I don't think the pads are sitting on the rotor, because the wheel is never hot when I touch it, and the pads I took off still looked brand new after almost 50k miles. Would the front end being out of alignment cause a grinding noise? I just had my truck bagged about 2 weeks ago and have not gotten it aligned yet. BUT...the noise was there before I got the bags installed. I wanted to wait and get it aligned when I get my new tires, so i havent taken it in yet. My only other theory is the wheel bearings. On the new body style silverado, are the bearings sealed inside the spindle? Because that's the way it looks from looking at my Hayne's manual.

So if anyone has any feedback on what could be causing the problems, I would really really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

T. J.

mark w · August 9, 2003

The wheel bearings are a sealed unit. My 2000's driver side bearing went out at 48k miles. It is a dealer part only and cost upward of 250.00. Easy to change though. Try jacking the front off the ground and put a hand on the top and bottome of your tire. If you can move it your bearings are most likely shot. When mine went out there was about 1/2 inch of play from top to bottom when I pushed and pulled.

Good luck

chevyman992002 · August 9, 2003

Naw, we tried shaking the wheel when it was jacked up. It didn't move at all. I wonder if maybe the caliper could be bad causing the pads to hit the rotor. The only reason I don't think it is the calper is the fact that my OEM pads still were in great shape when I changed them. And if it had been sitting on the rotor, it should have been worn down quite a bit more.

Shaners · August 9, 2003

Does the noise go away when the brakes are applied?

I'm guessing your truck is 2wd since it has front and rear air bags... so I doubt it is a 4wd problem...

chevyman992002 · August 9, 2003

yes, the noise goes away when the brakes are applied. and yes, it is a 2wd.

toddgotfish · August 9, 2003

can you hear it through the windows

or only when their down

there are 2 shims (upper lower) that hold the pads in place pretty wel

could they be missing or not grabbing as tight as they should

mine still has a slight noise and the brake job has been done about

a month ago

Todd

asepgrad98 · August 9, 2003

drive 25mph and weave down the road briskly, if it its the wheel bearing the noise will get louder or softer in left or right turns,

Shaners · August 9, 2003

yes, the noise goes away when the brakes are applied. and yes, it is a 2wd.

If the noise goes away when the brakes are applied then it is most likely a brake problem. Did you clean the slides on the calipers when you changed the pads?

chevyman992002 · August 10, 2003

Ok, I was wrong. The noise is still there when the brakes are applied. And I noticed that when I apply to brakes, the truck gives a slight jerking motion. Anyone have anymore ideas on what this could be?

chevyman992002 · August 13, 2003

Anyone?

frdfandc · August 14, 2003

Your so called "jerking" motion means that the rotors are warped and need to be either resurfaced or replaced, depending on how thick they are.

As far as the griding noise, have to checked to see if the backing plates are rubbing the rotors. Also, did you check your rear brakes to make sure they aren't the ones that are making the noise. Sometimes its hard to determine where a noise is coming from. (trust me I know this too well)

chevyman992002 · August 14, 2003

I hope the rotors arent warped. I just had them turned a little over a week ago. I may just go ahead and replace the pads on the rear also just to see if that does the trick. This noise is driving me CRAZY.

Dihappy · August 15, 2003

Sorry to hear about that. Who did the brake work, besides the turning?

Sounds crappy whatever it is.

Id take everything off and inspect it all, but then if you knew what to look for you wouldnt be asking

You could try taking off the wheel and turning the rotor by hand see if you hear or see anything wrong.

Bish · August 15, 2003

Couple questions.

Did you clean and grease the caliper slides and rubber orings when you changed pads? If not, the caliper may be binding a bit. Also on the rotors, I have found that after turning them, often the rotor looses too much mass and can no longer handle the heat and warp quickly. I noticed a friend warped his 2K after a brake job that included turning rotors. He had gone 40K with no warpage prior to that.

I also like the suggestion of jacking it up and hand spinning the tire and then the rotor to see if you can identify the noise.

Good Luck.

Lester · September 22, 2003

Checking the rear brakes is a good idea, GM has had problems with the rear brakes on the new BDYSTYLE I had an inside pad on my passenger side rear that was steel on steel, the others looked fine, my uncle is a mechanic and said it was a common problem.