A couple of years ago, right after I got my 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, I had to rebuild both rear brakes as the emergency brake did not work at all - a very common problem on these cars btw. After the rebuild everything worked fine, but eventually I noticed a clunk whenever I drove the car over a road bump or railroad track. If I just lightly taped the brakes, it would not make any noise at all. So I was sure that the noise came from the brakes and that the new brake pads would be the reason for the problem somehow. Finally today it was time to fix the problem…
Rebuild kits do come without anti rattle clips for some reason. When I took the brakes apart today, I found out that the inner and outer pads had some radial play and I think this caused the rattle.

The outer shoes are held in place with ears you have to clinch in place. You have to use a heavy plier to bend them until there is no more play. The inner linings originally did not use any clips and the shop manual does not mention any anti rattle clips. When the car was built a holding spring for the inner linings was used to hold them to the original piston. This design is no longer available though. If you have to replace your original piston or calliper you will get one with a groove for anti rattle clips. These clips are not included in any rebuilding kits though and you have to order them seperately… So they were missing on my car as well - and this is what probably caused the noise on my car.
I took the calliper off the car and installed the clips today and put everything back together. The test drive confirmed that the noise is gone.

My right rear brake before the repair.
This is how the anti rattle clips look like.
Clinching of the loop eared outboard shoe
The anti rattle clip installed
The only tools I needed to take the brakes apart.

Tags:Brakes, Rear brakes, Disc Brakes, Rattle, Anti Rattle Clips, 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1978 Cadillac Repair Tip