Posts made in March 2019

The need for brake repairs or replacements is based on the degree of wear your brake system experiences, which depends on your driving style, weather conditions, and many other things.

Depending on what’s needed brake service can be a number of different things. Brake service is a performance-based type of maintenance, so the timing is individual for each vehicle. Certain components of brakes get serviced more than others. The most common kinds of brake service in Lake Stevens, WA, at Stryker Brothers Automotive include the following:

• Brake Pad & Shoe Replacements from 20-60,000 miles
• Brake Rotor Machine-Polishing or Replacement Done with Brake Pad Replacement
• Replacing the Brake Caliper or Caliper Pin as Needed
• Brake Fluid Flush Performed Every 2 years or 30,000 miles

In order to determine the need for brake service, it pays to get your brake system inspected regularly. You can always ask your mechanic to check your brakes at every oil change. Some of the ways that cause brakes to wear fast include:

• Driving on Lots of Hills
• Riding the Brakes
• City Stop-and-Go Driving
• The use of Cheap Brake Pads

The more you do any of the above, the more often you will need to replace your vehicle’s brake pads and shoes. The opposite is also true: The less stress you put on your brakes, the longer you can go without brake service.

Everyone knows the safety value of working brakes. However, they are one of your vehicle’s components that are designed to wear out. So, how do you know when you might need a brake replacement? Stop by Stryker Brothers Automotive and our experts on brake service in Lake Stevens, WA, can tell you everything you need to know.

How Do Your Brakes Work?
Brakes are a system, and there is no single component in a car you can call a “brake” except maybe your emergency brake. Vehicles have two types of brakes—rear and front ones. Front brakes use rotors (big metal disks) as braking mechanisms while rear brakes are typically drums that expand. Pressing your brake pedal engages the brake fluid and pushes it under pressure through a series of tubes. When the brake fluid reaches the front wheels, it activates a caliper that pushes your brake pads against both sides of the rotor and creates friction that causes the vehicle to slow down. In the back wheels of your vehicle, the brake fluid moves to the wheel cylinder inside the drum and causes the brake shoes to move toward a rotating drum, which makes the brake drum slow down and stop.

Many of the parts inside a brake system are subject to wear. Brake pads and shoes are the most likely components that need replacement. Once they are significantly worn, the next system components to suffer damage are rotors and drums. It’s far less expensive to replace brake pads and shoes than it is to replace your whole brake system.