Pebble in front brake

["John R. Boyce" <nbec@tic.bisman.com>]

I thought I would share an annoying problem with my 1991 Coupe Quattro.
>From time to time (and twice last night), a small pebble will become lodged
between the front brake disk and the backing plate/shield.  The resulting
rubbing/grinding sound is quite alarming.  The first time it happened, I
thought I had major brake or bearing failure, but when I got home and
removed the tire, all it was was about a 4mm pebble lodged in there.  Now,
I have learned to reach around behind the tire and flex the backing
plate/shield to dislodge the offending stone, but I end up with road grime
and brake dust on my hand and arm in the process.

This is, to my knowledge, the only car of the many I have owned that has
had this problem.  I think it's worse here because we live on a gravel
road, and in addition, the local highway departments are really into the
"chip and seal" form of road maintenance, where they put down a coating of
hot tar and then a layer of small diameter gravel, letting the passing
traffic work the stones into the tar to make a new driving surface.  I
suppose it works, but it's an awful mess to get caught in, like we did last
night.

I was wondering if any one else has experienced this problem.

John R. Boyce
Bismarck, North Dakota