Unusual Sound From Rear of Truck

Hard to describe but I’ll try. I have a 2009 DCLB v6 4x4 automatic. Mostly stock. 100,000 miles, well maintained. I had new rear brakes installed 4 weeks ago. Today for the first time when stopping, foot on the brakes, I heard this unusual sound. It happens as I’m slowing down and starts at about 15mph and continues intermittent until I stop. It’s coming from the rear and only when pressing on the brakes . It sounds kind of like when you have squeaky springs or suspension. It’s creak........creak.......Creak.........creak.......stop. I tried stopping using the emergency brake and it didn’t make the sound. I crawled under the truck but didn’t see anything that looked amiss. Again only when stepping on the brake 15 mph to stop.
I’m taking it back to the shop that did the brakes and have them check it out. Anyone have any suggestions what it may be?

 

Can you or a friend jack up the rear wheels one at a time , pull off the tire and drum, and have a look for yourself ? If you can get a friend to ride in the bed in a big parking lot and listen to see which side the noise is on, to narrow it down first.

 

Did they turn the drums? Cheap pads out of round (arced is the term for pads that are rounded properly)? No grease on the pad contact area with the backing plate?
Incorrect installation of springs and clips? Brake pad adjustment off? Possible rear bearings worn and slight wobble only noticeable when braking? That's a few.

 

Jack up the rear and hand spin the tire. Just simply needs a brake adjustment. I would even go further and pull the drum off to clean the hardware with brake cleaner.

 

I actually recently had this same issue come up. I got a new cat back exhaust and installed it a few months ago and a month or two ago I started getting that same "creak" noise you described, on my rear passenger side. I jacked it up and looked to see of the exhaust tip was making contact. Not that I could tell. I also removed the drum and took a look in there but didn't see anything loose or broken. The drum pads still look decent as the truck only has 25,000 miles. The noise is still there. Im starting to think it might be something inside the axle.

 

Did you check to see if your leaf springs were causing the noise....the weight of the truck on braking can cause the leaf springs to flex and make this noise. Try to lubricate the springs (in between as well) to see if this corrects the problem. If you can try to clean them out by washing or power washing them (let dry) before lubrication.

 

UPDATE - Friday I took the truck to the shop that did the brakes and does all maintenance and repair on my vehicles. That morning it of course wasn’t making the sounds. Explained the prob to the shop and they took the rear wheels and drums off, inspected, cleaned and adjusted the brakes. Half way home it started making a scritch....scritch....scratch... when braking under 15 mph to stop. Brought the truck back and the mechanic drove it and reproduced the sound. Said he didn’t know for sure what was causing it and to leave the truck and they would check it out. I’m dropping it off again tomorrow Monday.
Drove it again today and no sound this morning. Drove it 50 miles with lots of stops and braking and finally started doing it again. I’m thinking in the mornings when it’s damp out and heavy dew the moisture is acting like a lubricant stopping the noise. After I drive and use the brakes for a while the moisture drys up and it starts making the noise.
Again to me the noise sounds like an intermittent suspension creak but only happens when I am braking. I took it on a rough pot holed bouncy dirt road today (I was rocking and rolling the hell out of it) there was no noise from the suspension. Only when I brake. I’m wondering if there is something wrong with or some flaw in the brake pads. I think the shop is going to have a tough time isolating the problem/noise.

 

Did they turn your drums or replace them? If they turned them, they might not have done the machine work properly. Even a new drum could have been machined off center. I would also check for a separated brake shoe.