Dragging Coupe ? Coupe in Drag ??

[Peter_C_Schulz@ccmail.ed.ray.com]

Fellow Wizened Quattro List members :

Help!

I'm hearing sounds coming from my coupe Q which make me think that one of the 
disk brake calipers on the right side of the car is dragging.  BTW the car has 
66,666 miles on it and these ar the original, wicked soft and dusty brake pads.  
They appear to still have sufficient thickness, however.  

The sound is a short prounced metal to metal growl which seems to occur after 
"soft" braking only.  Definitely not after "hard" braking.  After I accelerate 
the sound happens.  Sometimes a while afterwards, especially in the curves. It's 
definitely NOT the wheel bearings ( I KNOW what those sound like. CV joints , 
too) 

I took the car to my mechanic.  Of course the sound did not present itself while 
he drove it.  

It seems to have not distinct pattern of occurrence:  whether the car is cold or 
hot, amount of driving, weather.

I fear that I have a caliper on its way out... Is there anything I can do to 
prevent this, and is there any way to figure out whether the front or rear 
brakes are affected ? I can't isolate the noise when it happens.  I figured that 
if the front caliper was dragging or not completely releasing, that the car 
would wander or pull towards the right, but this is not the case.

As usual many thanks to your words of wisdom and Audi enlightenment...

Peter Schulz
1990 Coupe Q with 66,666 miles (Yeh, I need to do pads & rotors within the next 
few months.  Any recommendations including prices?  The current pads put out 
dust the way a cat spits out hairballs.  Messy and everywhere.) 

My appoligies, Bart.