Brake Squeak

[Ron Hickey]

Unfortunately, squeaky brakes is an undocumented Viper "feature." Once you get the brakes bedded in, the squeaking should diminish, but not disappear completely. The metallic compound pads are the culprits. I have a 2001 GTS on which I finally completed the 1000-mile break-in, and the front brakes still squeal as I come to a stop. I tried doing a couple of heavy stops, in hopes of bedding in the pads, but that hasn't worked so far. I believe you also can chamfer (bevel) the edges of the pads to help eliminate the problem -- that was a TSB for earlier model Vipers.

My solution is buying a set of front pads from GreatBrakes.com, who sell a carbon-kelvar pad made by EBC which is quiet, has little or no dust, and provides better stopping power. And is less than $100 for the front set! (I know, it sounds too good to be true. But longtime VCAer Kingman Hitz (aka WingKing) is one of the principals of GreatBrakes, and he's a pretty credible guy. So I don't expect to be disappointed.) I should receive my order this week, but I'm not sure when I'll get to try them out, since the weather here in northern Virginia is less than optimum for Vipers.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

I was going to do a separate post (and probably still will) on Wing Kings AWESOME brakes ! I had a set put on mine (front and rear) and they are GREAT! Stop beautifully and NO noise at all. Not even a chirp. I agree the squealing is embarassing. I would compare it to something like Claudia Schiffer walking up to you on a beach and ripping a fart. Ruins the image.

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Anyway, these brakes from Kingman are superb, with ZERO noise so far. They do generate a bit of dust, but less than half of what I have experienced with stock brakes. It could also be because they are new and I was "burning" them in. No matter, my goal was to avoid blushing at stop signs and these brake pads did it. I believe it was around $150 for all four pads. Great deal from Great Brakes !

Chris