Posts tagged with "brake service Lake Stevens WA"

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.

The ability to stop your vehicle is critical to your safety and the safety of others. A vehicle’s brakes are its most used safety feature. It helps to stay informed so that you can take care of your brakes on a regular basis. There are two kinds of service brakes, disc and drum, which are the brakes that stop your vehicle while driving. Also, almost all vehicles come with emergency brakes and anti-lock brakes. The four kinds of brakes below are an overview of those within most vehicles.

Disc Brakes

Disc brakes consist of a brake rotor that is attached directly to the wheel. The hydraulic pressure from the master cylinder causes a caliper to squeeze the brake pads on either side of the rotor.  It is the friction between the pads and the rotor that causes the vehicle to stop.

Drum Brakes

Drum brakes are made up of a brake drum attached to the inside of the wheel. When the brake pedal contracts, hydraulic pressure presses two brake shoes against the brake drum, which creates friction and causes the vehicle to stop.

Emergency Brakes

Emergency brakes or parking brakes are a secondary braking system that works independently of your service brakes. There are a number of different kinds of emergency brakes, but most of them are powered by cables that mechanically apply pressure to the wheels. Emergency brakes are used to keep a vehicle in place while it is parked.

Anti-Lock Brakes

Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are on most new vehicles. They are meant to prevent the wheels from locking up, which causes the tires to skid, especially on wet roads.

Make sure your brakes are in the proper working order by taking your vehicle to Stryker Bros, a reputable auto shop for brake service near Lake Stevens, WA.