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[Gerri]

Hi guys!

I've gotten some great advice here in the past and I'm hoping I can get
some more now.

My '87 Tbird (a.k.a. "Baby") just had front brake pads put on a week
ago. I was told the rotors will need replaced by next Spring and the
right one is warped. No problem.

I now get a vibration when applying the brakes; this is expected and
smooths out if I release and apply the brakes again. Yesterday on my
way home from the store, I had to brake hard for a red light.

About two miles later, I made a slow left turn onto another street. I
heard a noise under the car and thought I'd run over a rock with a tire
and the rock had popped out from under the tire.

But then, in the mile from there to home, whenever I hit a rough spot
on the road (and the whole road is rough!), it sounded as though
something was wrong. This car has almost 192,000 miles on her and has
some rattles and squeaks as should be expected. But this noise was
different.

It still handles the same. It still rides the same. It still 'feels'
the same. My friend and I looked underneath and could see nothing
obviously broken. We bounced it up and down at each corner and rocked
it from side to side. No unusual noise.

This morning I went out and got the Sunday papers and it sounded fine
on the new, and smooth road through town. On the other, older and
rougher road, it sounds as tho something is 'broke'. When I got home,
my friend check the tie-rods (?), and found no play in them. He
grabbed the top of each front tire and shook it back and forth and
noticed nothing different than before.

I know it is impossible to diagnose a problem like this without
actually seeing/driving the car, but does anybody have any ideas of
what this might be? As a woman who knows a little about cars and how
they work, I hate it when a mechanic says something to the effect,
"Well Baby, your framahammer has come discombobulated from the
doomajigger and it's gonna cost you $XXX.xx to get it fixed!"

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Gerri

[Jim Warman]

Well, I'm a mechanic... if I explain something and you don't understand what
I said, I would expect you to ask for a clarification rather than getting a
"deer in the headlights" look. If I can make you understand, we are both
further ahead....

Now... what sound does "something broken" make?

[David N Emmet]

Well, with new pads on warped rotors, I would think after heavy brakeing the
kiniifler pin on the upper pad retaining ring bushing sensor let go, hence
the thrown rock sound.
Have you car checked by a professional ASAP!

[Paul of Dayton]

I have a suspicion the noise may not be related to the new brake pads. I
suggest having whoever did the brakes look around just in case but that
sounds more like a bad bushing. My '84 Bird made some weird noises when the
rubber bushing tailpipe hangers broke.

Also, the parking brake cable under the car will sometimes hang in such a
way as to bang the underside on certain bumps. I finally put a spring on
the cable and pulled it to the side a bit. I stopped two odd noises that
way.

Enjoy your Bird, I miss mine. I hope this is helpful.

PoD

"David N Emmet" <dne7697@localnet.com> wrote in message
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