Rear drum brakes squeal when brakes not applied

[robr]

My mother has been complaining about her Liberty's rear brakes squealing for quite some time now. Since I just got settled in up here I decided to look at them this past weekend. Here's the scoop:

Squeal is there under any/all conditions when NOT braking. It's not constant - it is deff rotational. Started doing it just making a sharp left turn, but now it does it going straight as well. It's not always there, but usually. Any speed, any temp, etc. But the randomness of it is what is killing me.

What I checked thus far:
I pulled all four wheels. The fronts were replaced at 28k miles (44k now) and are just about half worn. The rotors aren't terrible, but will be replaced again next pad change (I replace them everytime I do pads regardless), The rear shoes are what they should be for the mileage - practically brand new. The drums aren't too shabby themselves. There is that tiny lip of rust like all drums have, but I scuffed it up a tad to get it more level than it was. I cleaned everything with brake clean and adjusted the rears. Noise went away for a few days, now it's back.

I've told my mom it's a jeep thing, forget it until she *needs* new brakes. She wants nothing to do with that - nobody else's brakes make noise. I told her prices to replace everything front and rear and she's ok with that. BUT I'm not - I went through this with my gf's neon. Dodge/Plymouth had replacement backing plates made to end the squeal (which puts the liberty's to shame btw) to the tune of about $70 each + drum, shoes, etc. So I did that, but the squeal was still there...so I'm afraid the same thing will happen to my mom's liberty.

Sorry for the lnog post, but I'm at my wits end here. I want to make the woman happy, but if it's a pointless goal I'm not about to take her money when I don't need to. Thanks in advance

 

[JeepJeepster]

Ive never heard of this. I would just replace the rear pads and see if that fixes it, no biggie.

What do you mean when you say it puts the libby to shame? The neon does? :-s

 

[Eddo]

Try some ceramic pads and shoes. Supposedly they are suppose to be quieter than the metallic pads and shoes, without showing brake dust either and have just as good stopping power. Metallic pads are notoriously noisy. The more metallic the better they stop, but are noisier. Just listen to a garbage truck or a bus sometime. That is why sometimes quality or preformance brake pads and shoes can be quite noisy.

 

[robr]

I put ceramics on the front when I did them - that is what's supposed to be on there from the factory. That's what all my books at my old shop said anyway (yes, I'm ASE certified, which makes this whole thing bother me more). I have yet to find a place that carries ceramic rear shoes for this truck, dealer included. Well, nobody says they do - whether they actually are and the people don't know or not, I don't know.

I think her issue is that she remembers the fronts squealing when the wear indicators starting touching. Since I didn't live in this state at the time, and my father knows nothing about cars, she just kept driving. Then they started grinding and the dealer raked her over the coals. So she equates any noise with needing brakes. No matter what I tell/show her, she still has in the back of her mind that a noise means something isn't safe. But if there was a known issue with the drum brakes maknig noise, maybe that would have helped. But of course it's only for the rear disc brakes

I know metalics make noise and told her it's normal. I even went a step farther and threw the race pads back in my miata and took her for a ride. At that point she even said she's happy hers aren't nearly that loud. But she still thinks that no other Liberty has any noises whatsoever.

Jeepjeepster - There are certain years of neon that have a TSB out for the rear drum brakes squealing. Of course my gf's were part of those years. The squeal those things put out even put my miata to shame, street and race pads. I felt bad for the poor girl. Only that was when applying the brakes, not when just driving.

Anyway, thanks for replying. I'll update whenever/ifever I figure something out.

 

[SarahSmile]

2004 Jeep Liberty back brakes squealing

Mine just started making this same noise last night. I had just driven through some pretty icy water, so I assumed that was the problem. However, this morning the noise is still there. It has never made any noises at all before this. Do you think that I should just go get my brake pads replaced, or is it something else?

 

[sleeve]

I'm at 77K miles on my 2002 and have never noticed a single squeak (other than when backing up) on the rears. There has to be some issue causing the squeal... Could lack of mileage be playing a part here? [not sure, just asking]