Front end brake/suspension squealing issue

[keith89]

So I ordered parts to overhaul my front end. Tie rod ends, inner tie rods, ball joints and wheel hubs.

This started out when making right turns, I hear metalic squeaking from the front left. It sounds like worn out brake pads. I checked the brakes and it seemed like the front brake wasnt doing anything. the rotor was barely worn(no grinding marks on either side) and the pads looked fairly new. I replaced the rotors and calipers with my old 03 cobra units along with stainless braided lines. The squeaking continues. While I was replacing the brakes, I noticed the ball joint, tie rod, and inner tie rod boots were all torn(100k mile originals) so i decided to replace them.

I did notice that when applying the brakes in a right hand turn, the noise goes away so I'm thinking it may be a wheel hub going out. Maybe its twisting enough to cause a caliper/rotor misalignment. Any ideas?

I also don't remember if this is normal, but when parked with the car running, if i press the brake and turn the wheel left or right, the pedal moves up against my foot. when i center the wheel, it goes back to the normal height. Is this normal or indicative of an issue?

 

[Blkkbgt]

Did the pedal move up and down like you described before? BTW no that is not normal.

I would jack the car up and check both hubs for play by pushing/pulling on the wheel at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. If you can feel it move the hub is shot. You can remove the wheel and brake rotor and check for play with a dial indicator as well.

Now your brake pedal issue may or may not be related. The way they could be related is if the hub is indeed shot. What would happen is as you turn the wheel you are forcing the hub to move around as well as the brake rotor. This is pushing back on the pistons and forcing the pedal into your foot.

Now the ways that the pedal movement could not be related is if the hydro boost pump is going out or really low on fluid or you have a kinked line. This would prevent the pump from maintaining pressure or the link is being kinked and un kinked as you turn the wheel.

I would start with the hub as it seems like the highest probability. If that doesn't pan out you could potentially swap calipers side to side and see if the problem follows. DO NOT drive it like this but I do believe you can swap them, just make sure the lines don't kink.

 

[keith89]

I'm thinking the wheel hub as well. I have all the parts inbound. I did try moving the wheel at 12/6 and 9/3 and it seemed ok but it might take more force than that. My thought was wheel hub as well. I'm thinking when i turn the wheel, the rotor connected to the hub will turn less than the caliper which is fixed to the knuckle and cause the brake pedal to push back. This would also explain the screetching metal sound when turning. It also seems the brake pads are knocked back after turning the wheel without the brakes applied.

 

[keith89]

I doubt anyone will have a similar issue because this was really a strange case. but i'm posting the resolution anyway.

My ball joints and tie rod ends were shot(already knew this). They weren't rattling but they could easily be moved by hand and the boots had tears. But that wasn't the issue. The wheel bearings were good though so i'm going to store the timkens i ordered. It turns out somehow the top mount on the knuckle for the caliper bracket was bent causing the caliper to be misaligned in relation to the rotor. So whenever i applied the brakes, the to piston had to press the pad more than the bottom and would retract quite a bit when released as a result. I ordered a used knuckle but for now put a washer to space the top of the bracket properly and problem solved. No more squealing or groaning of the brakes. The pedal also feels a lot more solid now as the pistons no longer need to move as far.

I have no idea what could have bent the knuckle there as its a pretty thick piece and there is no other damage to the front end, wheel, or caliper.