Brakes are far and away the most important safety component of your car. Unfortunately, many avoidable accidents are caused by people who don't know how to recognize the signs that their automobile brakes are wearing out. If you would like to increase your knowledge of car safety, read on. This article will introduce two signs that it's time to invest in new brakes.
The brake pedal goes into convulsions each time you press it down.
In most cases, a shuddering brake pedal is caused by a brake rotor that has become warped. To understand why this happens, it helps to know a bit more about the make-up of your brake pads. You see, in order to provide reliable stopping power, brake pads are made out of five different categories of material:
All you really need to know is that resin is one of the most common types of binding material. Each time you brake, the pad heats up and a small amount of that resin is transferred to the brake rotor. Over time, this build-up results in a rotor that is less than perfectly round--and thus to an uneven, shuddering feeling each time you brake.
A warped rotor isn't as serious as some brake problems--yet it's still best to do something about it before it gets too bad. Eventually, this condition will make your car's braking less than safe. Not only that, but it may necessitate replacing the rotor entirely, rather than just removing the excess resin.
The car pulls toward the side each time you apply the brakes.
There are many things that can cause your car to pull slightly when you're driving. Many of these--poor balance, or uneven tire pressure, for example--have nothing to do with the brakes, and are relatively harmless. But if you've been noticing that your car pulls to the side each time you brake, you may have a more serious problem on your hands.
In fact, such pulling may be caused by one or more of the following issues:
There's no reason to bother trying to determine which of these is the cause of your problem--just get your car to a mechanic as quickly as possible. Even if the problem doesn't seem that bad, the underlying issue may be something that could quickly escalate out of control. For more information, talk to a professional like those at Doc Able's Auto Clinic Inc.
Share6 October 2015
When is the last time you had your brakes checked? Are you waiting until you hear the brake pads grinding into the rotors before you do anything to replace them? Does your car pull to one side when you press on the brakes? Do you feel a shimmying in your steering wheel and brake pedal as you press the pedal to stop? If you have any of these issues, it is time for you to learn how to care for the brakes on your car effectively. Taking preventative measures and getting repair work done before serious problems arise will save you money over the years.
