Wheel noise from hard brake pads?

plaine

Hello,

I just had my cart serviced by professionals, but I still have an issue with a mild squeak or squeal from one of my wheels. What happens is when I'm approaching a stop, I can hear a mild squeal as the wheel rotates, whether I'm pressing the brake or not. Even when I'm doing a very slight acceleration, from say 0 to 4mph, I hear this squeak. The cart is 3 years old and maybe 400 miles on it tops.

The shop told me that because I have hard brake pads, they create lines as they wear down causing that noise and to correct that squeak, I'd need to replace the drums and pads. But my brakes should last up to 12,000 miles.

So am I really left with the option of replacing brakes long before I need to to get rid of this squeak? It only started maybe a month ago, but drives me nuts. They just cleaned the brakes for me, so I know that's not an issue. But the thought of having this squeak anytime I go really slow as I approach a stop for the next few years is a bit disgusting.

I always like to get second opinions on things, so that's why I'm posting. To be sure that's my only option for getting rid of the squeal. Thanks for any insights.

BGW

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mutley

The groves do make the shoes vibrate, but the noise is *usually* generated from where the shoe meets the adjusters. Those points can be greased and will usually stop the noise.

There are 2 (or 3) points on each shoe that should be greased, ONLY USE COPPER GREASE. (or a brake sequeak grease). In that diagram it's the red circles. Top & Bottom and where the retaining pin holds the shoe.
Sometimes (not often) the shoe can also vibrate on the back plate, there are shown in green on the diagram. If you have worn spots here, then a little grease in those spots will help, but be careful, you don;t want grease on the shoe surface.
You should also make sure the adjuster pin is greased, part #2 in the diagram.


If that doesn't work, you can usually fix it with a sanding pad on a drill, but that's a lot more work.

Attached Images

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plaine

Hey thanks. I'm going to have a look at this tonight and track down some of the grease you recommended and see what happens.

cgtech

Where did the 12000 MI figure come from? I don't think golf cart rear-only brakes last that long.

Golf cart guy

A simpler fix is to scuff the drums. I know you said you had professionals look at the brakes, but I still find that they still adjust them wrong. Id say this is still the case.
Properly adjust the brakes, scuff the brake drums good to go.

plaine

The 12K is something they told me, dunno their source.
Scuff the drums - I'm a novice, but am pretty good with such things and want to do more if not all care long term. Is that something I could safely tackle armed with perhaps some YouTube videos? Eager to learn, but wondering if that's something I can tackle or if I'll be in over my head without more prior experience. In any case, thank you all for these responses and comments.

cgtech

I just use a air powered 90° die grinder with a sandpaper disc. Other methods include a drill & sandpaper flapper bit, or Manual sanding. Very do-able by you. Not really trying to remove material, just scuff the surface.

Golf cart guy

I use a cut off wheel to scuff the drums, works great.

plaine

I'm hoping to give this a go this weekend. Any pointers for a new scuffer? Just going for a scuff, no material removal, I understand. Probably go the cut off wheel route since I have one already. Never worked on brakes, but the above diagram was a big help. Also looked at a few videos on brake repair just to see what I'll be looking at, though couldn't find one specifically on scuffing. Is there a particular spot to scuff? Maybe that'll be obvious once I'm in there. Thanks, all.

Golf cart guy

Just "color" it up. Your not going to find any videos on something like this, Besides, you don't want to follow any of the utube videos on golf cart brake adjustment anyway, they are all terrible.