It pays to know about your brakes when it comes to saving money. You may not think much of just a little squeal here or there as you bring your vehicle to a stop, but they can add up to a fantastic deal of money in repairs later if left unchecked. Knowing how disc brakes and drum brakes work is important for car owners, if for no other reason than to understand why they can quickly wear down if proper maintenance and driving techniques aren’t applied.
Brake basics – How brakes work
Brake basics really start with an understanding of it. When your foot depresses the brake pedal, a plunger within the master cylinder forces brake fluid through all of the tubes and to the braking unit attached to each of your car’s wheels. With common disc brakes, that fluid enters a caliper that is at the wheel and then applies pressure to a piston. That piston then squeezes the brake pads against the disc (rotor) that is attached to the side of the wheel. In drum brakes, the fluid enters the wheel cylinder and pushes brake shoes outward against the drum that is attached to the wheel. The result is the car slows and eventually stops. Repeated brake applications can sometimes cause a buildup of heat from friction, and these forces cause brake pads and other elements to wear down over time.
How worn out are your brakes?
Car breaks wearing is indicated by numerous signs. As there is typically no set number of miles over which a set of brakes is designed to function, a driver must remain observant and make a brake check part of their regular auto maintenance routine. Consult your owner’s manual for some data on suggested maintenance schedules, but in general, watch for cues and keep your service records. Some brakes may last for only a year if they’re cheap or you habitually stomp on your brakes instead of easing into stops. However, higher quality brakes mixed with gentle driving techniques can extend the life of a set of brakes by a lot.
Why not wait to fix brakes?
Living with speaks will ultimately lead to damaged rotors, drums and calipers. Replacing all of these parts can run a repair bill as high as $ 1,000 or more. Nevertheless, catching a brake problem early might require new brake shoes or even a simple resurfacing of the shoes you already have. That might come out to only a tenth of the cost for replacing every little thing.
Brakes will eventually fail. As Click and Clack of “Car Talk” so eloquently put it, do not make your mechanic’s next boat payment. Prevent it early in the game.
Brake basics of dysfunction and signs to recognize
Is there a flashing brake warning light? Hear squealing? These are warning signs. Be careful if the steering wheel or brake pedal shakes brake. If your car pulls one way or the other and calls for a lot more time to stop, you’ve just one more reason than ever to take your car in to a mechanic. You can save money and your life.
More info about this topic at these websites:
Car Talk
cars.cartalk.com/content/advice/brakes.html
Family Car Parts
familycar.com/brakes.htm
Do your brakes feel spongy when you stop? Time to bleed them!
youtube.com/watch?v=LgxMfQUMdJY
