A customer's complaint about brake noise made me change my whole process

I had a guy come back to my shop three times last year with a grinding sound from his front brakes on a 2015 Ford Explorer. I kept checking the pads and rotors, but everything looked fine to me. On the third visit he asked if I actually cleaned the caliper slides with a wire brush or just sprayed them. That stopped me cold because I was just using brake cleaner and a rag. I went back and pulled the calipers off, cleaned the slides with a wire brush until they were shiny, and put antiseize on them. The noise never came back. Now I do that on every brake job I get, even if the customer doesn't complain. Has anyone else had a simple fix like that change how you do something for good?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse8415d ago

So I started torquing lug nuts in a star pattern on my own truck after a wheel fell off once.

ruby_grant15d ago

That star pattern is the right call for sure. @jesse84, one thing that helps me is doing a first pass to snug them all up, then a second pass with the torque wrench at the proper setting (usually around 100-120 ft-lbs for most trucks, but check your manual). A wheel coming off is a scary lesson, but now you've got it locked down.