Why are my (new) front brakes chattering so much?

We all know that our brakes can clank around, for example when I go over speed bumps I apply a light amount of brake pressure to keep the noise away....

But I just replaced the front rotors and pads for the 5th time in 15 years. The driver's side is making noise, especially when stopping and then going in reverse. The caliper bolts are tight, the new pads aren't loose when pulling them by hand.

I did not lube the pad shim, the edges of the caliper, or the pins.

I am using the Pep Boys / Advance premium Pro-stop pads & rotors.

Sometimes the brake kits come with new springs, sometimes they don't. If I replace my old spring, will this help with the chatter?

 

Is that bottom rattle clip in the right orientation?

Never done 2nd Gen but isn’t that what stops them from rattling?

 

Low quality pads usually have slop in the pad and it will shift.

The only thing that works is to gnurl the pad edge, which means bash the ends of the pad until it has more interference with the caliper.

Also those are far from new and the spreading clip isnt installed correctly.

 

Your caliper piston seals look jacked!

 

I tried to install the clip the other way during re-assembly, but it didn't fit - at all. The pointy part would then go into the rotor. Maybe it's jacked?

 

hey wait a minute - this spring has been installed wrong for years! I didn't put it back this way, the pin goes through the loop. This thing must be messed up.

Does anyone know the part number, either Autozone or Genuine Toyota?

 

Those are well worn pads and both outside seals are torn.

Why would you not lube the pins, or at least clean them to smooth or even replace?

5th time in 15 yrs is 3yr average. So are you running about 25k a year or just hard on brakes?

 

Yes, the seals are a little jacked, they don't leak (yet). And yes, for some strange reason my front brakes don't last very long, regardless of brand. I don't tow anything. There's a lot of stop-n-go traffic here in La La Land. I guess I get about 50K per set and I've never had luck re-surfacing rotors.

 

Those are not even close too being new pads and rotors.

 

My mechanic said the rotors looked fine and didn’t need resurfacing. That was 60k ago and I don’t drive an empty truck.

 

my above photo is the BEFORE photo. I took it for reference to re-install the spring. looks like the spring was installed incorrectly. It makes sense because the clatter going over speed bumps seems to be from the driver's side only.

I ordered brand new springs and hopefully it will solve the problem.

 

OEM pads, rotors and hardware, done.

 

Part of life is what you don’t do and not doing what you’re not supposed to do.

like failing to clean and lubricate brakes. Or using auto part store parts.

and addressing first known issues then re evaluating. Like that.

It has long been known that OEM rotors are garbage. Toyota technicians are well aware of this reality.

 

Some people will actually use 2 springs as well....