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Full Version: Brake Squeal...
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JW
On our mtb tandem. Brakes were howling, which clears pedestrian traffic great when on the road, but it is actually quite annoying and kind of embarrassing.
I cleaned the rims with contact cleaner, then lightly sanded the braking surface and the pads. The brakes were deathly silent and worked great, for about 10 hard uses, then the howling returned.
Anyone have any good fixes to help me out?
pjbaz
Softer pads maybe???
mgm810
toe brake pads in so the front of pad touches rim first, hope this helps
rimspoke2
+1 ^^^^^^^^^^ plus do a little more than a light sanding. get the pads braking surface to an even finish. Lets see your tandem.
hbr
quote:
toe brake pads in so the front of pad touches rim first, hope this helps
That's the answer. Put a flat screwdriver under the rear of the pads, causing the leading edge to touch first, and then tighten them up......squeal gone.
Elvis
What he said. In fact sometimes it weirds me out how much I have to toe-in pads to get them to quit howling.
mr coasterbrake
if it has cantis/V-brakes...

too much play between the boss and brake arm (or in the linkage of an XT/XTR style brake) will cause vibration, which in turn causes sqeal. over-toeing the pads will sometimes correct this problem, but may cause the brake to feel mushy, sometimes.
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