noise from front end

[jlk2.5gt]

whats going on eberyone. on my 97 legacy gt I am getting a clicling noise coming from what sounds like the drivers side wheel area. the car has never been wrecked. It only starts to make this noise after the car has been driven for awhile, and when the brakes are hot from stop and go traffic. Also the noise seems to come quicker when it is warm to hot outside (i dont drive this car in the winter). in the fall it takes longer to happen than in spring time. It happens when coming to a stop, at slower speeds, right before the vehicle completly stops, like wiith a very miminal brake pressure. If i stop real quick there is no noise. I have been battling this noise for a year and a half with no avail. It started when I had all stock parts in the frt. end. since then I have replaced the stock rotors with brembo slotted and ebc green pads (the noise was still there). I did not like the ebc green pads, they were too hard. i swithched those pads for hawk carbon tech and the noise was still there. replaced the frt. calipe and mounting bracket, all new brake hardware. (and the noise was still there) I have an all new subaru rack, and tie rod ends, whiteline frt. sway bar links. brand new kyb g2 struts, new h&r lowerspring, new lower ball joints. (noise still there). I have just installed a new drivers side axle, and i thought I did not hear the noise anymore, but it started again today. I replace and flush my brake fluid at regular intrevals. my frt. diff fluid is pretty new, and full. So if anyone has any ideas, or experienced this with there car I could use the help. I am a tech. by day, I have asked some subaru techs, they seem to think its the pads walking in the calipers. i dont see how because it did it with stock brakes and rotors, with ebc pads and stock rotor, with hawk pads, new brembo rotors, along with new calipers and brake hardware. I know I cannot be the only one who experienced this problem

[Plays_with_Toys]

I think I read that the front wheel bearings can make clicking noises as they begin to fail. Might be that.

All the bolts are in place with the braking system correct? I remember having a car at my driving school that had a loose caliper bracket bolt that allowed the calipers to swing and knock around inside the wheel itself.

[jlk2.5gt]

thanks for reminding me. I also replaced both frt. wheel bearing in the last 5 months with new subaru one's. and when i replaced the axle a few weeks ago, i went over the front end bolts and checked to make sure they were torqued properly and they were all good. I was thinking about maybe chamferring the edges of the frt. pads. also, i do have a whiteline upper front strut brace. the problem does not happen when the car is cold, and it is only there when slowly braking to a stop below 15 mph.

[Manarius]

I think I read that the front wheel bearings can make clicking noises as they begin to fail. Might be that.
Bearings roar. They don't click. Trust me, I've had two go on me.

I think it's another axle. Clicking is tell tale of axle problems. We'd have to hear it for sure to pinpoint exactly where the clicking is coming from.

[jlk2.5gt]

i just replaced that axle, you think the same one is damaged again? it was a re-man, and at first gfor about 2 weeks, i thought the noise was gone. i have not really ever had a problem with the axles this place has done for me before on other vehicles. is there a possibility that the edges of the pads contact the slots in the rotors and slow speed and make them walk in the caliper brackets?

[jlk2.5gt]

...... wouldn't an axle make noise all the time???? this noise comes after the vehicle has been driven through stop and go traffic. it sounds to me like when the pads "walk" in the caliper bracket(s). i have seen it before when i was a tech at honda and nissan. but i have replaced all the brake parts and hardware. in the morning I am going to try so thicker lube that gm dealer use for the "ears" on there pads to correct pad "walk". but, i have an open mind to everyones opinion. thanks so far.

[legacy92ej22t]

Is the clicking kinda like a groan noise, like reeeeet. Or is it a straight click-click-click.

It might be caliper noise or pad noise. Under very light braking, when your brakes are hot, you're pads can click from hitting a minor rough spot on the rotor and shifting in the caliper.

[jlk2.5gt]

its a clic, click type noise. it only happens after the brakes are HOT... it is a rythmic/rotational type noise. with my header, high flow cat, and muffler I really only hear it at slow speeds when braking normally to a stop. i am going to go and re-lube the ears and sliders of the pads and calipers

[mr_choung]

is it the shims and the metal clips? when installing my brake pads, i forgot about those...made a clicking sound for 2 months :evil:

[losdiosdeverde86]

yeah, wheel bearings are often confused with a "tire noise".

try getting some cheapie "El Rotors" that aren't slotted and see if for smoe crazy reason the slots are causing a clicking on the pads.

never really heard of that before, but it sounds kinda plausible i guess

[jlk2.5gt]

re-lubing the slides and clips (which were new ones) with tht gm brake kube worked perfect. no more noise

[mr_choung]

did i get the question right? :P