Wayne's tip on replacing worn brake pads
Posted by Wayne Watson on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 @ 11:33 AM
The most important part of driving is having a vehicle that stops. Without a doubt brakes are the most important safety issues when driving your vehicle. Race car drivers will tell you it’s a lot more important stopping than to having a great amount of power or speed.
No vehicle will stop effectively with worn brake pads. Nobody wants to go through a stop sign or have an accident because they can’t stop. So it makes a lot more sense to be able to just touch the brakes lightly and the vehicle does exactly what it’s asked to do “stop”. At the end of the day, it’s the equipment, not the driver.
It is important to change your brake pads. The reason for this is because you need to get the maximum performance of your braking system by maintaining optimum friction pad depth
You can check the pad wear for yourself but when it comes to changing them, if you don’t know what you are doing it’s best left to a professional who does.
To check the brake pad wear you will need to view the pads from outside the front tire. With most vehicles now days it will be quite visible, and all you need to do is look through the outside of the wheel rims. That way it makes the pads very visible, unless of course they are worn. Sometimes it may be necessary to remove the wheel to be able to see the pads. If you are able to do all this, you will notice that the outside pad should be looking right at you and if you look at it from above, you will see that the pad will be pressed against the shiny metal rotor.
It’s important to note that there are two ways to determine whether or not the pads will need replacing:
The first is visually.
If you see that the depth of the pad is less that 1/4 inch. You need to replace it, and soon! If you see that it’s less than 1/8 inch, there isn’t any time to waste as you are getting really close on damaging the rotor. You need to then do it ASAP!
It’s not the same on every vehicle, but use it to help you along.
The second is by ear.
If you are hearing a screeching sound when you put your foot on the brake. Not good. You are overdue for a brake service. But, if it sounds more like scraping on metal, then I’m afraid you have damaged your rotors and you need to fix the brakes immediately otherwise you could cause major damage to the caliper.
Changing your brake pads too soon is much better than changing them too late. That way you will avoid more expensive repairs as well as unsafe driving. Prevent a problem before a problem occurs.
Qualtiy of brake pad;
Don’t cheat yourself here; brakes are true with many things you buy “you get what you pay for”. Buying cheap organic pads for a vehicle that requires metallic or ceramic pads will short pad life and lengthen stopping distance.
