Caliper sticking, help.

[IndyHummers]

Okay, starting today we began experiencing a very harsh metal on metal sound and at first I thought it was my front diff being low on fluid however after topping it off and backing out of the garage I quickly realized that wasn't the problem. I now think that my left front caliper is sticking. The brake pads were replaced about a month ago and all of this started today. Also when approaching a stop the brake pedal is extremely squishy and when applying the brake a second time the brakes are much stiffer however the hummer pulses to a stop. The brake fluid is right at the middle seam of the reservoir so it's not low, just seems odd that this happened this morning. Help, suggestions, advice?

Update:
Wife got in this morning to drive to work and the truck started fish tailing she said and then the ABS fault and traction failed messages came on. My brother in law things it's a wheel bearing so were going to look at everything tonight.

 

[ArtHummer]

Did you checked your rear brake pads? Maybe your rear ones are done. Check if the calipers are sticking - lift the wheel of the ground and try to spin it, it should move freely. Also, remove a wheel, take a flat screwdriver carefully jam it between rotor and brake pad and then torque it on the side, that way you will push the caliper in so you will have a gap, then press on the brake pedal and the caliper supposed to push the brake pad back on the rotor. If caliper doesn't move, you have a problem.
The squishy pedal can be from having air in the brake lines. But this will not cause any noise, just poor brake performance.

Do you hear the noise only when you step on the brake? or is every time it moves?

Also, you want to check if you parking brake is released. Sometime the cable or something inside can get jammed from dirt and when you pull on the release it's not releasing all the way.

 

[MTUH3]

I would second the wheel bearing / hub assembly. Sounds like what happened to me. The tone ring and sensor get out of whack when the bearing wheres out. The ABS goes nuts cause it is reading that the truck is rolling over / having problems. The metal on metal / roaring noise is also an indication. This is a pretty straight forward repair if you have done a halfshaft swap. 3 bolts hold the hub to the knuckle. You will probably have to pull the whole knuckle assembly. Be gentle, with the ball joints, you don't want to have to replace them. That part sucks.

Hopefully the slide pins were replaced when the pads were replaced.

 

[Bigunit]

Try bleeding the break lines- might have air in the lines.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapataint

 

[IndyHummers]

Yeah the wheel bearing was toast. Bought a new assembly to the tune of 350 bucks! I'm pissed because there's no way the guy who did the brakes couldn't have noticed how bad it was. I was maybe a day from having the wheel flying off. Glad it didn't happen cause the wife's been driving it lately. Thanks.

 

[mkmcgreg]

I have a hub sitting in my garage ready to go in. Did you have any symptoms prior to the all out failure? The Chevy dealer said mine needs replaced.. When I turn right it squeals and sounds loose over bumps. Didn't know if you experienced any of these. They quoted $800 but I found an ac delco for $200

 

[IndyHummers]

We'll I have meaty offroad tires so the hum covered any noise building up to the all out failure. I had a rhythmic pulsing hum once it got really bad and the catastrophic failure consisted of a constant grinding of the brakes and the truck not moving under normal idle with my feet off the pedals. If you can jack up the truck and wiggle the wheel side to side or wobble it at all it's bad. I wouldn't recommend waiting long. Once it totally gives out the only thing holding it to the truck is your brake lines, once those go the only thing stopping your truck is the truck dragging on the pavement and at 70 mph on the highway that won't end well. Seeing as how my wife and unborn son have been in the truck more than me lately, I'm saying a couple extra prayers tonight.

 

[06 H3]

That's insane! Glad no one was hurt. Good thing you found it before any major crash

 

[MTUH3]

Are you replacing both? You can check if it is going bad ahead of time buy putting your hands at 12 and 6, and again at 9 and 3. You should be able to feel the play in the hub assembly. When they get bad enough, you can feel the play with the wheel, rotor off on the hub face

 

[ArtHummer]

Damn. Good thing you found it in time. I would replace both sides, just to be safe.

 

[backcountryislife]

Really stinks that people can't be a bit more conscientious in what they do anymore. I find it hard to believe that he was working right there & shouldn't have noticed a wheel bearing that close to dead.

At least it didn't end bad... and $350 isn't too bad either really.