truck has a really annoying chirping sound that comes on once the truck gets over 40-45 mph. hit the brakes, they emit a slight squeal and then everything is silent. let off the brakes, it squeals a little and then goes back to chirping....

so, my question is: has anyone ever had the wheel bearings on the front of your truck fail, WITHOUT being able to wobble the wheels around??

had the truck up on a lift monday, checking for bearing movement. wheels feel tight with no hint of play. however, the idler, pitman, and tierods appear to be worn and in bad need of replacement. with that in mind, i got it back up lift wednesday, pulled wheels to check the brakes. all the pads have lots of material left, enough to appear almost new. the rotors had a slight glazing as if they had gotten hot a few times, but they too had a lot of material left, not appearing to be worn too bad in any way. pulled the calipers and pads, cleaned everything, lubed up the caliper hardware. this took care of the initial squeal when i hit the brakes and released them, but the chirping is still there.

couple more questions to go with this.

are the tolerances on our rotor to pad distances tight enough that a slight rotor warp could cause it to touch the pads at high speeds???

also, could the pit and idler being worn so bad cause enough front wheel movent that the rotor taps the pads at high speeds??

any of this sound right or does this sound like something else??

sorry for the long post, but this is driving me nuts. i dont know where else to look for this...

Take out the brake pads and bevel the leading and trailing edges of the pad with a file. And perhaps the noise is a bad U-joint.

And, when you say you lubed the sliders, did you make the pads slip fit, or did you have to force them in?

I've never had that on factory pads. Noise, that is. Are they Delco pads?

Take out the brake pads and bevel the leading and trailing edges of the pad with a file. And perhaps the noise is a bad U-joint.

how much bevel?? why would this noise only appear at freeway speeds??
thats what confuses me...

And, when you say you lubed the sliders, did you make the pads slip fit, or did you have to force them in?

I've never had that on factory pads. Noise, that is. Are they Delco pads?


they slipped right in. i read your thread about the catches gettin rusty. mine were dried out so i pulled em off and wire brushed em, greased everything and put em on. took care of the squeal but no the chirping.


not sure which brand of pads they are...