JefftourCT...

[LUCA]

what's going on with your car?
I tried to PM you but it's not sending.

[Goonz SVT]

wait..whats wrong with it?

[LUCA]

Jeff saw Steph's BF and said he was having a problem with his brakes or something.
Since the PM wouldn't send I figured that I would post and see if we could help get this issue resolved for him.

[JEFFtourCT]

lol.. i was looking and i saw my name and was like "wtf?"

um.. yea the front brakes.. rotors... calipers.. what ever.. suck

when i drive there is a constant grinding sound, and it feels like the car doesnt want to go anywhere. it still goes. but when im just city driving it feel the "friction" grinding feeling in the front endand in the pedals.

i hope its just rotors. i haven't had time to get them checked out yet

[CSVT1214]

Why do you think it's the rotors?

Sounds more like a wheel bearing failure to me.

[rouar]

Had the exact same problem when my Contour's front rotors broke (both of them, just by stopping too hard!) in 2001. Does the noise go away when you apply the brake?

[JEFFtourCT]

uh huh. noise goes away.. and there's no vibration when stopping either. dude, i hope its not wheel bearings ( unless its cheaper)

[rouar]

Here's a bit of the invoice from that repair at the dealer:
"TIE ROD REPLACED TUESDAY. THUMPING-GRINDING FORM THE RIGHT FRONT"

"FRONT ROTOR REPLACE
TECH NOTED FRONT ROTORS CRACKED
REPLACE ROTORS"

This was done under "warranty" (I feel they may have possibly caused this when they did the tie rods two days earlier!) but they did charge us parts and labor to replace the front pads at the same time. 33K on the car at the time.

Really sounds like it's just a rotor based on my experience, though Tony's definitely more knowledgeable here.

EDIT: I forgot one other symptom: we lost all use of the front brakes when this happened. Like I almost hit the car in front of me the first time I went to stop because only the rear drums were working.

[jd2-98s]

uh huh. noise goes away.. and there's no vibration when stopping either. dude, i hope its not wheel bearings ( unless its cheaper)

I don't think it would be your wheel bearing seeing you say the noise goes away. The noise would slow as the car slowed down. Caliper could be hung up. Does the rim feel hot after driving?

[Goonz SVT]

I don't think it would be your wheel bearing seeing you say the noise goes away. The noise would slow as the car slowed down. Caliper could be hung up. Does the rim feel hot after driving?

oh believe me, this was the result of my rear caliper being shut! note all the brake dust on the rims!