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.
