Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes Brake Issues, possibly rotors

For a while now, when I step on the brakes a bit, or really at all, my brakes, mainly the rear ones, make this chirping sound. Gradual kind of chirping, it slows down when I slow down, so it's like there's something on my rotors or it's got a bump in it or something along those lines, I really haven't had a chance to take off my wheels and closely inspect. Any ideas?

Pads or shoes worn out??

It shouldn't be the pads, they were replaced not too incredibly long ago. I'm not really sure about the shoes. Something to look into. I just assumed the rotors because they're old, they look like [censored] and are beginning to get all nasty and discolored. Anything I can do to check the shoes, w/o goin' through a TON of trouble. Any symptoms or anything I should look for/listen for?

Shoes are only for rear drums and it sounds like you have disks, (with pads) right? The face of the rotor should be clean steel with some very mild concentric grooves. If your disk surfaces are rusty or uneven, the pads and rotors will need to be replaced and you may have caliper problems because your pads may not contacting the disks.

The rear pads are easy to inspect and replace. Just remove the wheel, pull the pin out of the caliper and it will pivot open to allow the pads to be removed and checked out. Turning or replacing the rotors is generally done when ever the pads are replaced.