Hello all! I've been lurking here for a few months and just now created an account for assistance with an issue. Going to give warning up top, this will be a long one because I want to give as much detail as possible.

I have a 2010 Chevy Suburban LT 1500 2WD with 89,000 miles. I've had it about 3 months now and up until about 2 weeks ago everything was perfect, then the wife noticed upon slowing down that there was a metal on metal grinding sound coming from the passenger front. I drove the car to try and diagnosis and when slowing down to a stop there is a metal on metal grinding sound, also when accelerating and coasting to low speed there is a grinding sound that you would associate with a warped rotor. It felt a bit like the brakes were dragging but only on a certain spot on the rotor, which makes the sound speed dependent. We were getting ready for a road trip so I didn't have time to make repairs, but I did jack the car up, pull off the wheel and inspect everything to ensure the pads weren't worn down to the backing plate and to make sure there wasn't any serious damage. And, I found nothing. Didn't seem like anything was wrong. Rotors didn't appear to have any crazy marks on them, and the pads had maybe 50-60% life on them. I couldn't find anything wrong so I just lubed up the guides the brake pads rode on and bolted everything back together. The problem persisted the entire trip.

Once we returned and I had time, I took everything apart and took the rotor to be resurfaced. My guess was that the rotor was warped causing the rotor to drag on the pad. The braking feel hadn't noticeably changed, I didn't feel like stopping distances were affected, this was more of just an annoying sound that made it sound like I was driving a hooptie. Oreilly's was able to resurface the rotor. When they measured it, they did say the rotor was thinner closed to the hub and thicker towards the outside of the rotor and they had to make 2 passes on it to get it to an even thickness. I took the rotor home, installed it and put in the pads. With the caliper still unbolted, but the pads in the caliper bracket, I pushed the pads all the way in and gave the rotor a spin and could still tell there was an issue. The rotor would catch on the pad in certain spots. So now I'm thinking, well duh, the pad wore irregularly and warped the rotor, so the root cause is the pad. I put everything back together and drove the car, and the sound was still there. So at this point, I figure I'll just replace everything so I won't have to do this again anytime soon. So I ordered new pads and rotors. I ordered Power Stop rotors and MONROE FX1363 Semi Metallic pads along with new front sway bar end link bushings. Installed everything, lubed up the new brake pad guides, installed the new pads, and spun the rotor. Still, it catches the brake pad in certain spots on the rotor. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I reinstalled everything and took the car for a drive.

The grinding persists. New pads, new rotors and the sound persists on the same side. I took everything apart after driving a few miles and noticed a really rough patch on the new brake pad on the bottom edge and a little on the middle of the pad. I'm assuming this is the cause of the grinding, but I am not sure why the pads appear to be dragging mostly on the lower edge of the brake pads when the brakes are disengaged. I have been wracking my brain trying to troubleshoot this issue. I checked to ensure that there weren't any rocks in the backing plate. I did spray brake cleaner on the brake rotors to remove any oils before installation. I used plenty of lube for the pads, also ensuring none ended up on the rotor. I also checked to ensure this wasn't a wheel bearing issue. Bare hub no rotors, pads or caliper brackets, there is no noise, add the rotor, no noise. Add the caliper bracket and brake pads, there is the noise.

Keep in mind I haven't even installed the caliper yet. When I say I just installed the pads, all I do is put the pads in by hand and press them up against the rotor, then spin the rotor by grabbing a wheel stud and I can hear the pad grabbing the rotor in certain spots. I've watched multiple youtube videos to ensure there isn't some Suburban specific brake changing process that I am missing but no, changing brakes is pretty straight forward with this truck. Just out of my own personal curiosity to make sure I wasn't going crazy and rule out that the new pad and/or rotor weren't defective or warped from the factory, I put the old pads and rotor from the drivers side that wasn't making the noise on to the passenger side. The noise persists. Is it possible that the caliper bracket could somehow be warped? I've never heard of this happening before and can't find anything on google were this has happened. I also am having a hard time finding anyone with these same symptoms. The caliper also appears to be in fine working order. As far as the rough patches on the new pads, should I just use sand paper to try and knock those spots down and see if that makes a difference?

Thoughts, suggestions, and clarification questions are greatly appreciated. I will be adding videos to this post to try and clarify anything that seems vague shortly. Also, I want to add, this is a southern truck, meaning zero rust on anything. I did check for that. Also, I did use a wire brush and brake cleaner on the hub to ensure there wouldn't be anything affecting how the rotor sat on the hub. There wasn't any serious corrosion but I still went at it just to rule everything out. Thanks in advance.

Pics of the new pads and where they are rubbing.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

theres a few of us that are willing to help but a few paragraphs make reading this so much easier. its late and my patience are really small this early in the morning. i am sorry and not bashing you

 

Also, as mentioned in a different thread, by admin, when rotors get warped, the brake pedal will fluctuate.

 

Noted, I'll edit it for readability.

 

Yea, I understand what a warped rotor feels like. The problem is that it's a brand new rotor and pad. How common is it that new rotors are warped? I have read online that it happens but I'm confused as to how a rotor that wasn't making noise on the drivers side could suddenly start making noise when transferred to the passenger side? That makes me think the problem is else where. Also, I had the original rotor turned and the noise persisted. Still, that's a valid suggestion and I think I'll take the rotor to get checked out just to rule that out.

 

ok in a better mood now with some sleep and sipping a cup of coffee. sounds like something is twerked a little, since it comes and goes i would say its something in the hub bearing. i know its some work and might not be worth it but you can swap that from one side to the other. also see if when you rotate the wheel if the grinding noise happens multiple times for one revolution or just once or twice

 

I appreciate the suggestion, but I really don't think its the hub bearing. The sounds I am hearing are only present when the pads and rotors are installed. With the pads and rotor removed, I can spin the hub with no issues. No grinding or weird spots anywhere. I also tried checking for bad wheel bearings by wiggling the wheel when everything was bolted together and it was solid.

 

if the hub was slightly tweaked a little it might not affect the bearings but an alignment issue with the rotor making it rotate out of square. this would in turn cause it to rub the brake pads once or twice per rotation. its the only other thing that i can think of that might cause it to happen. might not even be your problem but might be worth checking out.

a quote that helps diagnose not so obvious issues
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth ~Sherlock Holmes

 

Hmm that actually does sound pretty plausible. Thanks for the suggestion. Wife didnt mention hitting anything but I suppose a bad pothole could cause something like that. Maybe even normal wear? Interesting theory.