Easy Brake Repair
Brake repair is one of the easiest repair projects that the car owner can perform at home. However, it is extremely important to perform brake repair correctly, since top performing car brakes are one of the most vital safety components of your vehicle. The following instructions are designed to demystify the process and reassure the car owner that brake repair can be done properly at home. They assume that the car owner already has a basic concept of brake components.
Brakes work by pressing together two pads that rest on either side of a rotating metal disk in your wheel mechanism. Each wheel is equipped with two brake pads that close up when you press on the brake pedal of your car. Naturally, these pads wear down over time. You will know that you need brake repair when you begin hearing a metal scraping sound when pressing on the brake pedal. Ignoring that sound will not stop the pads from eventually wearing completely away. The scraping and grinding of metal on metal will eventually completely ruin the wheel mechanism. Pay me now or pay me later. Brake repair now saves money later on.
Brake pads can easily be purchased from any auto parts store, but be sure to give the store the exact make and model of your car as the pads may vary. Once home, the next step is to jack up your car and pull off the wheel. These two tasks, buying the pads and jacking up the car, comprise the majority of your brake repair. If you still are not sure that brake repair is necessary, you can eyeball the pads through the brake housing view port before removing the wheel. If you determine that brake repair really is necessary, then your next step is to remove the wheel and the bolt or bolts holding the brake housing in place and swing the unit out of the way. Now you can begin the actual brake repair.
The brake pads will be visible with the housing out of the way. Sitting loosely on the side of the disk without anything to hold them in place, they are easily removed. You then take them off and replace them with the new brake pads and swing the housing back down. Adjust the caliper accordingly to allow for the width of the new pads so that it securely holds them in place, just touching the disk, and slide the piston back into its housing.It may seem daunting at first to perform your own brake repair, but the ease of the process should be reassuring once you get started.
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