Hello I have a 2004 2500 Ram with 85,000 miles, brakes were redone at 55,000 with rotors and ceramic pads, I live on a dirt road and for about 3 months and it is been getting worse as time goes on but there is a loud rattle when hitting large or small bumps in the road I assume it has to do with the brakes because when i just tap the brakes or hold them on ever slightly it goes away, I dont know if anyone else has experienced this, I dont think any bolts are loose (I havent put a wrench on them but have looked under the truck and everything looks tight) I was thinking mambe the rubber bushings in the calipers are shot? or is it something else? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. its starting to drive me nuts!

 

Could be a lot of things besides a loose caliper. Pull a wheel off and take a look around.

 

The fact that the rattle goes away tells me a caliper or a pad is loose, and when the brakes apply, the friction is holding it tight.

Climb under the truck and give each caliper a little shake. A bit of movement is normal because the pins go through rubber, but there shouldn't be a rattle. If one rattles, it's possible the rubber slide bushing is worn away, or has fallen out.

The next possibility is that there may be a missing stainless steel slide missing on the rail that the pads ride on. You may have to take the wheels off to check this one, but you can get a small screwdriver and push each pad up and down to see if there's any excessive clearance. The pads shouldnt be able to move up/down a whole lot.

 

Been there, had the same frustration! Turns out the caliper bolts were bottoming out before they tightened all the way. Two grade 8 washers later and all was well again. No more noise for the last 18K miles.

 

just to let evryone know I found out the brake pad was rattling on the caliper mount, just sanded the spot with a disk sander and it did the trick. thanks for the help