Bicycle Mechanics - Screaming Brake!!

How do I shut my screaming ........:p

toe in the pads, maybe?

Make sure there is no crap on the pads also.

Perhaps take them off and clean them or sand them a little bit to make sure. The screaming (which is vague description) could be a piece of metal lodged in the brake pad rubbing against the braking surface on the rim.

I've not found anything that works 100% of the time.

Were they ever quiet?

If so, I assume the pad alignment is OK and go to work on other issues. My first shot is to dress up the pads using a fingernail emery board. It has the right grit and a nice flat surface. If that doesn't work, I go to work on the rim with something like lacquer thinner.

If the brakes were never quiet, I start with the pad alignment with the rim. I adjust the toe in on road calipers by snugging a 6" adjustable wrench onto the arm and slightly bending the arm.

I have the same problem (check my post dated 5-7-03 "Yet another squealing brake problem"). I have tried everything and it still squeals. Only weird thing is that it squeals the loudest on cold mornings and goes away by the afternoon. If I ride the brakes down a hill to warm 'em up the squeals goes away until they cool off. Read my post for ideas and good luck.......you'll need it.

Park makes a tool for toeing caliper brakes. It is a slotted lever, that you use to twist the arm.

Oh Great Rev. Chuck ---- If brake pads have the concave/convex washers to adjust toe/tilt wouldn't twisting the arms result in the same thing as "adjusting" toe-in at the pads? Also, wouldn't twisting the arms also throw off the noodle alignment with the clinch bolt?

Thanks George.....Now it makes sense. But bending the arms sure sounds risky but I guess there's no other way. Too bad that somebody doesn't make some kind of tapered pads so that it'll have toe-in automatically when it's installed. Maybe a little thicker so that they can be shaped by a file or sanding block. Just a thought......

Jim, sometimes you just gotta bend stuff. You can file or grind a bevel into the pads but if you tweek the arms, on a caliper you only have to do it once.
Road pads are not as bad for squealing as MTB pads, so this is not somethingthat happens a lot, on newer stuff any way.

Screaming brake pads, huh?

Same thing was happening on my bike, one time after taking the wheel off and readjusting the brake caliper and pads. It turned out that I put the pad the oooposite way to which it used to be directed and as soon as I reversed it, the scream disappeared.

If caliper bolt is not tightened well, caliper will be loose which will result in "grabbing" brakes - very dangerous.

So, if those particular pads didn't make the noise before, try to change positions few times.

Give the pads a sand with an emory board. Clean the rim. You may have to use a 3M pad if it has pad material ground into it.