Tips on Maintaining and Changing the Brakes on Your Vehicle

Performing a brake job on your own vehicle is not as hard as you may think. But when you chance your own brake pads there is some other aspects that should be checked also to ensure that your brake pads are safe and dependable. If the brake pads or brake shoes are worn and need to be replaced, chances are other components in the brake system may require attention too. The most obvious ones would be the brake rotors or drums and brake calipers or wheel cylinders. Both the front and rear brakes should be inspected.

A quality brake job should cover everything from the brake master cylinder (where you add the brake fluid), to the calipers and wheel cylinders. This includes:

1) Inspecting all the mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical components in both the front and rear brakes.

2) Replacing the front and rear brake pads ( IF NECCASSARY)

3) Inspecting or replacing brake rotors or disks. Brake rotors require a clean, smooth, flat surface on the rotors, otherwise your brake performance will suffer. A rough surface will accelerate pad wear and increase the risk of noise. An uneven surface or variations in rotor thickness can cause vibrations, noise and annoying brake pedal pulsations. Brake drums that have grooves or any kind of damage should be replace immediately. Your local auto parts store can also turn the rotors giving them extra life so you do not have to buy new. I have had mine turned 3 times on a vehicle before I had to replace them.

4) Check the level and condition of your brake fluid (changing the fluid is recommended to get rid of moisture contamination). Always follow vehicle manufactures recommendations. "There is no reason to void a car warranty cause they call for a different kind of brake fluid."

Now on to the next section that will help guide you through changing your break pads. Remember that there are books at your local auto parts store, on ebay, and at any bookstore that you can also buy that will give you step by step instructions along with picture illustrations.