If your brakes are acting up, call us at 08056464658 for a free brake inspection today.
If you don’t know how brakes work, here’s a quick take on what happens when you press the brake pedal.
When you need to slow or stop your car and press the brake pedal, it pushes a plunger in the master cylinder that releases brake fluids. This fluid is forced into the caliper where it presses against a piston. The piston squeezes the brake pads down against the rotor which is attached to the wheel and causes the wheel to slow down or stop.
Tips on #BrakePads and Rotors Maintenance
1 Avoid lifetime #brakepads:#Brakepads come into direct contact with the rotors, the material your #brakepads are made of is important. Lifetime #brakepads are made of metal. Metallic and semi-metallic #brakepads are noisier and also increase the rate of rotor wear. By choosing ceramic or other non-metallic brake pads, you will have to replace your #brakepads more often but should reduce the need for more frequent rotor replacement. Rotors are a much more costly repair than #brakepad replacement.
2 Choose high quality rotors:You may be tempted to go for a cheaper rotor to save money, but this can cost you in the long run. Low cost imported rotors are usually much thinner than quality parts and can require more frequent replacement because of cracking and inability to properly dissipate heat.When you have #brakepads replaced, rotors are usually lathed and turned, but if they are thin to start with, this option will be limited. Ask for professional grade rotors and choose slotted or vented rotors to reduce heat damage.
3 Don’t ride your brakes:Overuse of your brakes can cause you to need more frequent brake pad and rotor replacements. If you routinely ride your brakes and/or make hard stops from higher speeds, you are likely putting excessive wear and tear on your brakes.Both of these actions force your rotors to heat up fast which encourages warping and faster wear-down. You should brake slowly, well in advance and, if you’re on an incline, gear down and let the engine slow your vehicle rather than riding your brakes.
4 Consider a non-standard rotor like a cryogenic:To further protect your brake system and reduce the frequency of rotor replacement, consider a high-tech option like a cryogenically treated rotor.Cryogenic treating slowly cools metal rotors to 300 degrees below zero, then returns them to room temperature, then treats them at high heat. This refines the metal at an atomic level and dramatically increases heat, fade and crack resistance, helps rotors last two to three times longer, reduces frequency #brakepad replacement and improves brake performance.
5 Drive gently after a #brakepad or rotor replacement: After any brake repair – whether it’s pad, rotor or caliper replacement – you should “bed” the brakes. This is a process that wears them in properly and increases the life of your replaced components, reduces brake noise, brake system vibration (called judder) and brake dust.After a brake job, your brakes won’t have as much power the first few times they are applied. After using them a few times at lower speeds and ensuring the brakes are working properly, do the following:
#1 Pick a strip of road and day/time with light traffic where you can get up to 60 mph and then brake without causing trouble for others on the road. Get up to 60 miles per hour and gently apply the brakes a few times to gradually increase the temperature on the brakes.
#2 Make about 10 stops that take you from about 60 mph down to about 20 mph. You want these to be hard stops but not so hard that you squeal to a stop or engage the ABS. Do not come to a complete stop, but after you get down to 20 mph, immediately increase speed back to 60. There may be some smoke or a strong smell from the brakes.
#3 After your last 60 to 20 mph slow down, drive for a few minutes without breaking so the brakes can cool down.
If you’ve got a brake warning light showing, come in for a free brake inspection without delay. Warning lights vary by vehicle manufacturer but may simply say BRAKE, ABS or be a circle with an exclamation point inside and with parentheses on either side of the circle.
Courtesy: Motomark Automobile Limited