I am new to the Corvette Forum and I have an issue with squeaky breaks. My '04 C5 has less than 12.000 miles on it and the breaks have squeaked since the first month I got it. I have had it back to the dealer several times and even had the break pads replaced, but the breaks will not stop squeaking. The dealer tells me this is normal, but for the life of me this doesn't seem normal! Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

have they done anything with the rotors? the only thing i can suggest is buying a high end performance pad...

Thanks Patrick, the rotors were my next step. It will take a bit more complaining to get the dealer to work on the rotors. It just makes me crazy when the dealer tells me it is normal for my corvette to have squeaky breaks.

ive not heard that before...and for what the vette costs, i would think that issues like that would be ironed out in the testing stages

Russel....this is easy to solve. Get ceramic pads. with no noise and no dusting. Stop as well as stock but NOT FOR RACING. You can get them quickly at gmpartsdirect.com or any auto parts store.[sm=hiya.gif]

Thanks Gorillavette I will have to try the ceramic pads. I will let you know how they work out.

i had assumed that the vette came with ceramic pads!

[sm=exactly.gif] correct the vette comes factory with ceramic pads, just make sure they havent been replaced with non ceramic ones. the factory rotors are prone to rusting and glazing, if its under warranty, tell them to be sure and score the rotors and pads, after resurfacing. a far more expensive was of solving this but increasing your braking power is to upgrade to larger slotted rotors[sm=bling.gif] a litte over a grand for the set but well worth it plus they look better.

My 04 has done the same thing since new. Is there a tsb or anything on this? I avoid the dealer when possible so what would I have to do? Have the rotors turned or could I rough them up with sand paper to remove the glazing?

Chris

You can just score them up yourself, just remove the calipers and pads, sandpaper works well on the pads. i found that a scribe works better on the rotors, just make angled scribes starting from the middle out, angled towards the front of the vehicle. if you dont have a scribe the corner of a stright slotted ( flat head) screwdriver works well.



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Thanks.

Chris

if you have a z06 then the squeaking is normal because it's purposely a very aggressive brake pad. it is composed of metallic material
which causes squeak at times. if you have non z06 then you should compare with most other vets. regarding scoring a disc, if you look at your disc with a magnifying glass you will see all the micro scoring you will ever need. do not score discs purposely. they
get all the scoring they need by typical usage. (the 2001 z06 did not have the same brake pads as 02 and later and they were not as
aggressive and therefore did not squeak)

by the way all this squeaking should only happen at say less than 10 mph., or so. if it occurs at higher speeds you do have a problem
no matter what type of car you drive.

good luck

Corvette brakes will squeak a little. My zo6 squeaks a little at under 5 mph before stopping sometimes. not always. Now dont forget corvettes have peformance brakes that need to be used hard once in a while to socall clean them up. If you drive your vette soft all the time your brakes will glaze. use your brakes hard once in a while like when your getting of the freeway on a long exit gas it and brake hard at the end. My dad drives soft all the time and we had to change his pads once allready and turn rotors. before 10 grand on his o4 LS1. I have him braking hard once in a while and his brakes arnt squeaking. I read that somewhere cant remember where but it was in a peformance mag. Try it might help out norlund1;)

most high performance pads will squeak. the ones on my m3 squeal pretty bad after a good thrashing, the ones on my viper hiss even after just mild driving, and the ones on the only vette ive driven were pretty bad too (i plan to be getting a z06 soon, but need to do some research before jumping right in)

here in australia we use brake pads made by a european company called LUCAS. they have a temperature rating of 650 celcius which is about 1200 fahrenheit and they dont' squeak or squeal, they are a non asbestos formula so they will produce some dust