I finally got my brakes, bled and got my carb rebuild on my '76. I keep getting a squeak from the front wheel when the car is in motion. I thought it needed wheel bearings, so I replaced inner and outer on both sides. The car does ride better, but the squeak is still there. It only squeaks when the car is in motion. Can someone point my in the right direction?

 

Bearing too tight or not greased enough?

 

Does it go away when you step on the brakes?

 

If the brake pads on your car have "wear warning" scrapers on them, they will squeak/squall until you touch the brakes...then no sound. It could be telling you that your pads are getting thin. If the pads don't have the scrapers on them....something's rubbing.

 

You may think this is stupid but spray your shocks (the shinny shaft) With WD go for A ride if the noise goes away buy a set of new front shocks .This has driven me crazy before.

 

If the run-out of your front rotors is excessive the pads will move back and forth on the retainer pin producing a squeak sometimes when under-way. Brake application will quiet this squeak.

 

The squeak is there as long as the wheel is moving. Applying the brakes doesn't make the squeak go away. When braking, the squeak continues (slowing down as the car does) until the car is not moving. It's driving me nuts!!!

 

Probably the brake pad steel base rubbing on the retaining pin, as mentioned above. You should be able to spray some kind of lubricant (like spray moly, or spray lithium grease...NOT WD-40) on the pad retaining pin of both front rotors. Try not to get the spray on the pad material itself. Dirve it around and see if the squeak goes away. If it does, you know where the noise is coming from. Also, you will need to address the runout in your front rotors....or you wouldn't be getting the amount of movement that could cause the squeak.

 

check runout on rotors and shim it up

had same issue on mine --drove me nuts ...

 

I'm not familiar with checking and adjusting the runnout on the rotors. Can someone please explain that?

 

You need a dial guage and blah blah blah!!! Better left to a qualified tech.
How are your dust shields, bent possibly?!?!?!?!?!?!!
Tires rubbing????????

 

Anyone who isn't hopelessly mechanically disinclined can check runout with a dial gauge and magnetic base from Harbor Freight - about $25 worth of stuff.

 

And No one has mentioned tha A-frame bushings . They are notorious for squeaking . Spray them with penetrating oil . Your sqeak may not even be coming from your brakes .

 

I know this will offend a lot of people out there but ……
I am old ,so that makes me STUPID .In my day if you had a squeak you would look for the simple things first .loose bolt ,something rubbing,. something not lubed correctly,ect.
Then we would bounce the car a little ,move the car a little with and without the brake peddle ,in and out of gear .If we had no luck then we would consider other problems and solutions, Never would we start with the more difficult functions first.
Now my question to these “mail order mechanics’ is do you change the motor in your car if it is misfiring.
Personally I see a lot of good advice going around on this forum .But there also seems to be a few members that are from another planet.
Anyway as I say I am old and stupid. Tomorrow I will be older and stupider I’m sure.. Silence is the best substitute for brains.
RANT OVER.

 

Just to clarify the above rant ,a few posts asked questions ,a few went drew their own immediate conclusions .IMHO I would go with the question guys ..

 

Do you know if you have semi-metallic or ceramic pads?

 

i would start with jacking the front end on jack stands. next i would spin both tires to confirm noise. if noise is present i would remove wheel. next spin rotor if noise is still present remove caliper. Spin rotor if noise is gone then caliper pads or runout is at fault. if noise is still present most likely bearings.

 

similar situation: when pushing my car (not driving yet) i have a terrible squeal from the front left...mostly when going backwards. Could this be runout? If so, please tell me what runout means.

 

bad bearing or brake pads are rubbing the rotor