Brakes are the components of your car that you need the most. A Brake system is the critical safety system that you think about every day. By knowing the basic things about the brakes and keeping an eye on the warning signs, you will never find yourself in danger. Here are the top 5 things that are important for you to know about the brake system of your car.
How do Brakes work?
If you will know everything about the brake scenario, it will be easy for you to figure out any problem that can occur to your brake system. Your brake system consists of brake pads, rotor, caliper, brake hose, and brake fluid. When you press your foot on the brake pedal, the cylinder holding brake fluid is activated and is delivered through hoses to the callipers, that engage the brake pads. Once they are engaged, the brake pads pressurise the rotors attached to the tires creating friction that will stop the wheels from spinning. This applied pressure decelerates the moving vehicle and stops it. You will need to get car brakes repair service, in case of noticing any warning signs.
What is Brake Fluid?
Brake fluid is the most important element that is needed for the successful operation of your brakes. For stopping the car, the energy is distributed to the brake parts of the brake system. And this happens because of the applied pressure generated in the brake fluid lines. If your car has a brake fluid leak, it would be harder for your car to stop, in the worst case, your car won’t stop at all. Your brake won’t operate without the brake fluid.
What are the Signs of Brake Problems?
In case of any critical problem in the brake system, you may notice that it is taking much longer to stop the car than it used to. The warning signs other than delayed stopping time, that you may notice in case of any braking problem are:
- Worn brake pads
- Screeching noise, brake squealing, and grinding
- The car is pulling left or right as you are trying to use brake that can be because of worn tires, uneven brake pads, or bad alignment.
- Vibration in your car
- Mushy or oversensitive pedal
What is included in Brake Inspection?
The brake inspection provides you an assessment of each brake component. The parts included in brake inspection are Brake pads, calipers, rotors, wheel cylinders, and brake hardware such as springs, adjusters, hoses, wheel bearings, grease seals. It also involves the inspection of the condition of the brake fluid which is responsible for the distribution of energy to the other components to work.
How Often Brakes Should be Inspected?
In case, you are experiencing any warning signs, it would be better for you to get your brake system inspected immediately. If the sensors are alerting you with screeching and squealing noises when applying pressure on brakes, it’s time for the replacement. A car that covers 20,000 miles a year will need to have brake pads replaced. The Brake pads replacement should be done once a year if you use your brakes a lot.
Knowing these basic and important things about the brake system can surely help you keep your brake system maintained and in good working condition.