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squeal when cornering, what is it


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I have squealing sound coming from the front left tire when i'm turning right, fast or slow. The break being lightly applied doesn't seem to matter. I can't feel any play in the bearing when i grab the top and bottom of the tire and push and pull. The sound is there, but quieter, when i slowly rotate the tire by hand.

 

Any ideas are appreciated.

Edited by sario
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I remember something similar. I had kind of a rubbing squeal, while turning, even some when going straight. Braking seemed to reduce it.

 

I fixed it by removing the road wheel, and using a flat blade screw driver, I pried back the dust plate surrounding the rotor. The dust plate was slightly rubbing on the rotor to cause the noise.

 

With the road wheel off, check to see if the slides and pins for the brake pads are lubbed well. I had one pin freeze up, so the pad was cocked at an angle, and dragging against the rotor. It is possible that this too could be your problem, if the steel edge of the brake pad is rubbing against the rotor.

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Thanks for the advice. The noise is gone!

 

I took the brakes apart thoroughly cleaned everything, re-lubed the slide pins, and put fresh anti squeal on the back of the pads. Everything looked good, but there was a lot of dust packed in everywhere. I'm guessing the pads were just not sliding freely from the dust build up.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Alright sario! Glad you got yours fixed! Hope you don't mind if I hijack your thread... :)

 

My squeal is all the time, it goes away when I touch the brake even lightly.

 

I think it's coming from the LR- I have a very stupid question...

 

Where is an acceptable jacking point for the rear of an 01 Legacy Outback???

I checked my owners manual, shows the little arrows pointing to an area in front of the rear wheel- however, there is only a sloping 1/2 inch of space there (directly next to the body crimp) and a plastic shield thingy.

 

I spent a lot of time laying under there looking for the best spot...

 

I have a floor jack...

Is it OK to jack up the whole rear of car on what looks like a crossmember-type-thingy directly behind the rear diff.??? (the rear diff mounts to this thing w/2 bolts) Or is there a better location?

 

Also... Did some research on pad removal- said to remove parking brake cable first- Can someone tell me how this is done??? (01 Legacy Outback) Thanks.

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Is there not an arrow on the splash shield pointing to a spot along the seam?

You can lift the car by the rear cross member, but the jack may not lift the car all the way off the ground from that point.

There should be a notch or something in the pinch seam where the jack should go.

 

Worst case, you can lift the car by the outrigger for the diff mount where it bolts to the chassis near the trailing arm.

In this pic, the large bolt with the circled number 2. http://static.opposedforces.com/epc_img/366495020101.png

You can lift from there with a floor jack. But you should still find the correct place on the pinch seam to place a jack stand while you work.

Edited by Fairtax4me
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Thanks!! I'm gonna go out there now and see if I can identify that #2 spot...

there is no notch in that pinch seam by the arrow on the "splash shield".

But if thats where I should put the jack stand- OK- just seems like a scary spot for a floor jack- (I am extra cautious)

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Thank you Thank you Thank you! My car seems to be a little diffrent than the pic. but, I located #2 area-

 

Also, did locate 2 notches in the pinch weld by the arrow- I didn't see them before, because they were covered by that plastic body moulding. So it's OK to put a floor jack there too...?... [Reminds me of the time a friend jacked my floor pan up 5" in my 80 Mustang :( ]

 

Do you know anything about the parking brake cable??? the online manual I saw said it needed to be removed before moving the caliper... but, from what I can see (what I think is the cable) it looks to go into the backing plate in the front lower section, and the caliper is in the rear upper section of the rotor... They seem to be nowhere near each other (from what I can tell in the dark, with the wheel still on) Do you know if I have to mess with it???

 

Thank you for your help!!! -K

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As far as I know the parking brake is separate from the caliper on those. It uses a separate set of shoes inside the inner drum of the rotor.

It's not until later years (05 maybe?) that the park brake is part of the caliper, and even then you shouldn't have to remove the cable to get the caliper loose.

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I lift both my cars by the rear diff. (if my floor jack didn't have a rubber pad, I'd probably use a 1/2" piece of wood - just to help distribute the force across the bottom of the diff a little) and place the jack stands at the pinch welds (as indicated for the emerg. scissor jack.)

 

To service the pads and caliper, there's no reason to do anything to the e-brake cable. If you plan to remove the rear rotor, that procedure will involve some manipulation of e-brake components as well as caliper bracket removal. (I think)

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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KaraK,

Squeal may just be the brake "squealer", the metal depth indicator tab that rubs on the disc and tells you hurry up, you've only got a coupla thousand miles left on the pads. See A below. Just removed the squealer on my car today. The pads I had on hand as spec'd by Autozone didn't fit. For some reason my 05 OBi takes pads that are spec'd for the gt. The ones in their system have tabs that are too wide. At least I won't be listening to a screaming banshee until I get back in there.

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvSe4LAfpK4Ra5wYPwCsrkBnYFFUNDYRxbjJb8ylOcbGoS4HAAPXEWn0fk

Edited by brus brother
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Well, it took me a day+1/2 but I serviced all 4 brakes...

(Lubed pins exc...) and replaced the rear pads. The lower slide pin on the LR (the one w/the rubber tip) was stuck/real stiff.

Did a short test drive around the neighborhood, so far so good-no squealing.

 

Kinda knocking on wood here, cause it seemed there was some rubbing action going on w/the E-brake on that wheel while turning it by hand.

(I'm not confident enough to be ripping apart drums without supervision)

 

FYI- I didn't have to touch the e-brake cable.

 

Wondering- How important is it to have those "backing plates" intact? (in Wisconsin) [meaning the sheet metal ones, everyone says to bend back w/screwdriver cause they rub]

I was manipulating them away from rotor/knocking loose rust off, and found one to be about 1/4 gone, and other has a coin-size rust hole.

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Kara - dont worry so much about the backing plates (aka: dust shield) - they are going to slowly disintigrate here in Wisconsin - nothing that one can do about it.

 

Mine are about 3/4 gone - not a huge deal. I rarely ever get a pebble stuck in the brakes somewhere and I live on a gravel road!

 

just make sure that the calipers continue to move freely on the slide pins, and everything should be fine.

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Been driving around for a while now-the "Granny Wagon" is good to go- Gotta say, way easier than dealin w/the spouses' Focus!(Havin fun w/that lately!):rolleyes:

 

Thanks heartless! Sorry long time no "talk"! So- if they squeal- I just look for pebbles. Them there slides are lubed up, like...(I shouldn't say in polite company...) -K

 

Gonna ignore anything to do w/the E-brake(I don't use it anyway) for as long as possible- Focus drums scared me off of them....

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Subaru park brake drums are way simpler than POS ford focus rear drum brakes.

I know people don't use the park brake in cold climates because it freezes, I suppose if you're in a mostly flat area it probably doesn't need to be used very often either. Where I live if you don't use it you come out of the house and your car is buried halfway in someone else's trunk, or it's in the ditch at the bottom of the mountain. :-P

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KaraK,

Squeal may just be the brake "squealer", the metal depth indicator tab that rubs on the disc and tells you hurry up, you've only got a coupla thousand miles left on the pads. See A below. Just removed the squealer on my car today. The pads I had on hand as spec'd by Autozone didn't fit. For some reason my 05 OBi takes pads that are spec'd for the gt. The ones in their system have tabs that are too wide. At least I won't be listening to a screaming banshee until I get back in there.

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvSe4LAfpK4Ra5wYPwCsrkBnYFFUNDYRxbjJb8ylOcbGoS4HAAPXEWn0fk

 

Please-Correct me if I am mistaken... I "thought" the (squealers) were supposed to "squeal" when the brake was applied.(As in,the pad is closer to the rotor/therefore- so is the "squealer") Not the other way around- Just for the heck of it...(mine is (hopefully) fixed)... Kinda wondering (as an ignorant person) why the noise would go away when I touched the brakes?

 

Looking at your Pic. again brus brother, I'm thinking we should have a thread strictly about brakes. Not sure what you mean by "tabs too wide"(where they touch clips on caliper???) but holy shoot- This is just wrong!!! Maybe this is a good reason Not to buy auto parts anywhere they sell fuzzy pink steering wheel covers!

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Subaru park brake drums are way simpler than POS ford focus rear drum brakes.

I know people don't use the park brake in cold climates because it freezes, I suppose if you're in a mostly flat area it probably doesn't need to be used very often either. Where I live if you don't use it you come out of the house and your car is buried halfway in someone else's trunk, or it's in the ditch at the bottom of the mountain. :-P

 

I will totally agree w/you on Focus drums being POS!!!(spent 6 hrs w/them this past Sat.) I wouldn't mind keeping mine up, if I weren't such an ignorant &*%^, So- do you, or anyone- have an exploded view/instructions on e-brakes of this vintage?(2001) I have been having a hard time finding info. about this car online.(Apparently Hanes/Chilton do not make manuals for 'general consumption' either) Yes, Wisconsin is cold Nov.-March and, in the S.E. corner we are not parking on huge grades-Needless to say, I would prefer to keep everything on my car in operating condition... Who knows when I may want to take a trip to "mountain country"???

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