Hey guys,

Took my car in for inspection today. Mechanic said the front wheels are not rotating freely, which I'm guessing isn't normal. Said the brakes were pretty clamped on and need replacement but even when released the rim still wasn't rotating well. I have a squealing noise from the right front also.

This is both of the front rims. I'm guessing it might be bad wheel bearings? He also mentioned the master cylinder as a possibility.

TIA!

 

Sounds like failed front brake hoses as they collapse internally.This is a easy check too...have him pump the brake pedal a few times and then go and rotate the tires.If the tires are still hard to rotate have him unscrew the bleeder valve and see what happens if the wheel spins freely its the brake hoses if not its a sticking caliper.

 

Thanks. I'll have him do that. He did mention something that sounded somewhat similar but idk. He did mention the caliper were clamped fow pretty hard. If the caliper was sticking, would I need a new caliper or would just new rotors/brake pads work?

 

The caliper can stick 3 ways...either the caliper hardware has rusted up pretty bad,or the caliper slide pins are sticking or the piston in the caliper has locked up.

 

I've never heard of a brake hose failing internally... usually they just fail in general, meaning they leak or burst... and that's not even too common.

Chances are the problem is either a worn wheel bearing or a sticky caliper. Remove the brake caliper from the wheel and see if it then spins freely..... this way you know if it's the brake assembly or the wheel bearing that's the culprit. Also know that your brake calipers are not designed to automatically unload in the reverse direction once you let your foot off the brake. They pretty much stay somewhat close where they were when you last had your foot on the brake, but there should be very little pressure holding the pads against the wheel in this state. The pads will back off a bit when the wheel rotates (on a healthy brake assembly), since there should be no pressure on the brake pad when your foot is off the brake pedal. You might notice a little resistance from the pads when rotating the wheel as a result of this, but it shouldn't be too noticeable after a few rotations of the tire.

 

Could be master cylinder, caliper pistons, or rotors. Likely hood of both front caliper pistons or rotors going at the same time would be slim though.

 

To me it sounds brake related. I like the idea of removing the caliper and trying to rotate the caliper, I'd go that route first.