When You Change Your Brakes

Having a car that functions properly is vital. One of the most important systems you need to monitor for safety is your brakes. Here are the items you should look for to see if they need to be replaced.

Listening For Signs

Before you research for places that fix brakes, you need to determine if it is time to change them. Kneel down beside your car and look through your hub cap to your wheel well. Find your brake pad attached to your rotor. If there is less than a quarter inch remaining, you should replace it. Also, if you hear a high pitch squeal when you press on the brakes, it is also a great sign that you need to change your brakes. Be sure to address this right away to keep your expenses low.

Watch For Spots

If your brake pedal presses lower than it should, you will want to take it to a shop to have it looked at. Another indicator of issues would be a dark spot similar to oil on the ground where your car once was or brakes failing to work right away in the first place. There could be a brake leak or air may have gotten in the line. Both of these are dangerous and should be fixed.

Shaky Brake Pedal

When you have anti-lock brakes, your brake pedal with shudder if you hit a slick spot on the road. If the brakes do this when the surface is dry, you might have issues with your rotors. You can damage them when you ride the brakes for a long period of time as when you are descending from a mountain with a winding road. If this is happening, you will need to make an appointment to have your rotors looked at and potentially replaced. To prevent this from happening, try to ease up on the brake a little in situations that call for excessive braking.

Scraping the Metal

The sound on your brakes have gone from a screech to a deep scraping, one similar to metal on metal. This happens because the brake pad is gone and the holder is now rubbing directly against the rotor itself. You will want to avoid getting to this position because repairs can be expensive. If you do hear this noise, take your car in to be repaired. The rotors will most likely need to be replaced as well as the brake pad system.