Heat from the sun or a hair dryer helps to dry the paste, but let it cool to room temperature before installing the pads. Should you need to clean or remove the dampening paste, use a degreaser or brake cleaner.
With aftermarket pads, sometimes the sizes can vary and cause the top of the pad to sit just slightly higher than the rotor. This will result in the brake pad wearing unevenly, leaving a lip or kind of a shelf of brake pad that rides over the tip of the rotor. This causes the brake pad to ride the edge of the rotor, causing a rotational brake noise. If your brake pads still have plenty of life left in them, you can sand the lip of the pad down (make sure you wear a mask to protect your lungs) to get more life out of the existing pads and eliminate the noise.
An organic pad (with or without asbestos) may be quieter, but may lack the performance and wear resistance of a semi-metallic or metallic pad. An organic pad may not tolerate heat as well, and may therefore be subject to more brake fade (reduction in braking effectiveness due to heat) than other pad materials. A semi-metallic pad, which has metal particles and organic material, tends to have the best of both worlds in braking ability without too much noise. It increases the pad life and decreases brake fade over organics, but it may wear the rotors slightly more. It will also tolerate repeated, hard stopping better without wearing as much as the organic pad. A “metallic pad” is just that. Different metals are used to provide the most friction against the rotor. It does a great job at stopping at repeated high speeds with minimum wear, but it will tend to make the most noise out of all the pads. Metallic pads will also cause the rotor to wear faster (grooves, ridges etc. ), especially with stock rotors not designed for use with metal pads. Look for lubricating materials built into brake pads. Brass, graphite, carbon, and other materials in the formula can help reduce noise. [2] X Research source Because these materials are built into the brake pad itself, they will continue to lubricate rather than wearing off upon use.
Check the surface smoothness visually against a comparator gauge or try writing on it with a ball point pen. If you don’t get a smooth line, the rotor is either too greasy or too rough. [3] X Research source
You may also need new rotors if the sound is not a squeal, but a metallic grind. If the brake pads are too worn, the rotors may be damaged.
