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There is probably no other area of vehicle repair more critical to your safety than proper brake maintenance and repair. Unfortunately, it is frequently overlooked. Many do-it-yourselfers will spend countless hours and expense upgrading their vehicle’s engine, interior, and body, while neglecting the safety of their vehicle. The guidelines and instructions in this article will help keep you from making the same mistake.
How often you need to check/service/replace your brakes depends on several factors. These include your driving habits and the type of miles you put on your vehicle, the quality of replacement parts used, proper installation, etc. This article provides an overview of the basics of vehicle brake maintenance and replacement.
The brake system is extremely critical to your personal safety. Additionally, brake systems vary greatly between vehicle makes and models. For these reasons, it is strongly recommended that you refer to an appropriate service/repair manual for your vehicle (such as those published by “Chilton” or “Haynes”) whenever checking, servicing and/or replacing brakes.
These manuals are easily available online, through major book retailers, or from some vehicle dealership parts departments. They may also be available for checkout from your local library if you do not wish to purchase one.
There are two types of brake systems in use today: Disc brakes and Drum brakes. A vehicle may use one type of brakes exclusively, or a combination of both. Disc brakes, being superior and significantly more “user-friendly”, have become increasingly popular. They are standard equipment on the front wheels of most vehicles, and are appearing on the rear of more vehicles every year.
Drum brakes, when maintained correctly, are nearly as good as disc brakes, and are still used on the rear of most vehicles. Unfortunately, drum systems are generally more complex than disc brakes and often require special tools for removal an installation.
Conversely, disc brake systems are typically simple, have little or no maintenance required between changes, and are easy to maintain and repair. Since the front brakes of a vehicle are responsible for the majority of the braking action (up to 80% on some applications), this articles deals primarily with the components and maintenance of disc brake systems.
One benefit of disc brakes is that they typically include a built-in “low” brake pad material indicator. This indicator is a simple piece of metal that extends from the side of the brake pad. This indicator operates similar to a tuning fork. When the brake pad wears to a pre-determined point, the indicator nears the spinning rotor, and begins to vibrate.
This vibration generates a sound similar to screeching, and typically occurs at low speeds when the brakes are NOT being applied. Any noise emitted from the brakes while they are being activated is an indication of a serious problem, and the brake system should be checked IMMEDIATELY.
A typical disc brake system consists of the following components:
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Once installed, you should “break in” the brake pads to ensure long life and proper function. The most common way to accomplish this is typically referred to as the “4 – 40 – 40” method. To do this, accelerate the vehicle to 40 MPH, then activate the brakes and attempt to stop in 40 feet. By doing this correctly four times, your brake pads should be properly broken in.
Maintenance and repair of drum brake applications will require use of the vehicle’s service manual. This is due primarily to the higher number of moving parts in these systems, particularly springs that must be inspected and installed correctly in order to ensure proper operation.
One other recommendation when working with drum brakes is to remove both wheels, but only repair/replace brakes for one side at a time. This way, if you become confused as to the proper configuration of the springs and associated hardware, you can view the other side in its complete form as a reference.
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