Knocking front brakes

Apr 7, 2019
2
0
Hi.

Hoping someone can help.

I have a 17 plate Alhambra and when changing direction ie reverse to forward the front brakes knock. I have had this investigated and told this is normal. The garage have replaced the pads and it still makes the noise. The only way they can get rid of the noise is to grease them up but this only works for a couple of weeks at best.

The garage aren't helping anymore as they say it's normal movement. Even the technician has confirmed that the noise isn't normal.

You can move the pad up and down in the caliper by 3-5mm at least.

Has anyone else had this issue.

Will

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bigT's lcr

Delete. Beat. Repeat...
Feb 27, 2016
1,216
731
Leeds
Hi.

Hoping someone can help.

I have a 17 plate Alhambra and when changing direction ie reverse to forward the front brakes knock. I have had this investigated and told this is normal. The garage have replaced the pads and it still makes the noise. The only way they can get rid of the noise is to grease them up but this only works for a couple of weeks at best.

The garage aren't helping anymore as they say it's normal movement. Even the technician has confirmed that the noise isn't normal.

You can move the pad up and down in the caliper by 3-5mm at least.

Has anyone else had this issue.

Will

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
Try new carriers and shims
 

cannbilly

Active Member
Oct 25, 2015
4
0
Hi. My 2015 Alhambra has always done this. Nothing to worry about, just the pads moving slightly.


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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
Maybe this is due to VW Group changing from what some of us see as proper brake manufacturer's like TRW and ATE to Mando and the likes, which are "very nice (much cheapness)".
 
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baba_metca

Active Member
May 4, 2016
32
0
Why does this slide up, where is the problem. In the dimensions of the pad? Are the pads thinner, or the holding assembly is problematic. Can it be solved with different pads /different manufacturer/ with different dimensions or the assembly needs changing. Can you do something to the caliper so that movement stops or is limited to 1mm. When did it start, like immediately from new or after a while. You can check the components for abnormal wear marks, bending, etc. Just to be sure that everything is really normal.

Mine is 2016 and is doing the same thing occasionally, but not from new/not for the first year at least/. I cannot even replicated it. It happens very randomly. Sometimes it could happen twice a week, sometimes once a 4 months. The pads a TRW and are the one that came with the car /not changed/. Unfortunately different manufacturers have different tolerances for different components. And this is something that VW does. This happened on my Toyota Avensis too but not that much, like way less for the time used. I have a theory. I do believe that this happens when you change direction from front to reverse and depending on the force of the brake it could make the pad move. One thing to have in mind. The vehicle is heavy, and has a specific suspension and weight distribution. As the same components are used in different vehicles like Golf, Passat, Octavia, Superb, CC, but those vehicles have less mass overall. It's like you drive a Golf always loaded to the max just with an empty Alhambra. This might stress the brakes more especially on heavy braking. When we bought the car, on the first test drive the sales person pointed on the brakes. He asked what do we drive normally /Toyota Avensis/ and pointed straight away that this is a more heavy vehicle and to be very careful with the braking distances at first. Also increased brake wear is normal, comparing those vehicles, mainly because of the mass. And this is a 2010 year vehicle, so maybe when they designed the brake system they had different components in mind and then the manufacturers changed something. The new components could have some minor differences, but they probbably add up. May be the R&D of VW did a stretch putting those brakes on this heavy car, or they have overdone the lighter cars.

At the end I hope it's really normal for my safety too. Please keep us informed.
 

cannbilly

Active Member
Oct 25, 2015
4
0
Hi again
I’ve just changed the front discs and pads to some Brembo items (from AUTODOC) and the knocking has gone completely.


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