What part is this?

[22229stingray81]

Sorry to bother you all but I'm worried again. Now that the engine is working excellently its time for something else to break. Anyways I've noticed that my steering wheel seems to vibrate a bit much... I dont know if I am being overly causious and paranoid but when I turn the wheel slightly to either direction the wheel vibrats a bit (at anywhere form 45-75mph), and when I let the steering wheel go when I am going straight it seems to vibrate too... is this just normal road feel? The big problem I have though is my brakes have been squeeking since I had them replaced (last summer) and I thought maybe this was the problem.. so I look at the front left caliper and I see what looks like my brake pad hanging out!! I imediately take off the wheel.. and with further inspection I see that its not my pad.. but some sort of thin metal plate, the same size as the pad, between the pad and the brake pistons themselves...I could push it back into the caliper and pull it out again, it had plenty of play.. my question is what is this??? It is only on the outter brake pad.. and its on both front brakes, not the rear.. and both were sliding out of the caliper.. should I worry about this?? Ive had no trouble with the braking itself, only squeeking at low speeds... Are these suppose to be in here? should I not have pushed them back in? They seemed to fit right in when I did push them... I appologize for the long post.. Im just worried.. if its not one thing its another...


-Tatortot

 

[vette-dude]

I suspect it might be what is called a brake anti rattle spring. It hold the brake pad in position to the caliper and prevent it from rattling. These should have been replaced when you did the brake job. The other thing it could be is a brake shim. These are sometime glued on the back of the pads to quiet the brake pads from squealing. They are not usually metal but normally a plastic piece. I still think it is the anti-rattle spring clip though. Just a guess maybe someone else has a better idea.

Randy

 

[22229stingray81]

Randy,

Ahh thank you for that reply.. it made me feel better.. at least its not unheard of... its just odd how this anti-squeak piece isnt helping at all... I hear sort of a rubbing sound, that increases with speed.. then when I brake it down right squeals at slow speeds.. so it must be the brakes... wonder if the little metal piece is the culprit? Thanks for your reply again.

-Tatortot