Hi everyone, I hope you had a great holiday season and a happy new year!
This month’s topic is your vehicle’s brakes. We often take for granted that our brakes will always work when we need them, and mostly ignore them until they start making noises or we feel the brake pedal start to pulsate.
Under normal driving conditions, the brakes in your car can easily get up to 650°F! Brakes also sit outside in the winter and can get to -30°C on some of our coldest Ontario days. With these massive temperature swings, there are things that can be done to help give your brakes the longest life possible.
Sometimes when you come in for service our technicians will suggest that you do a 4-wheel brake service. This is a labor intensive job because the technician will disassemble the complete brakes on each corner of your vehicle to remove all the corrosion, rust and built up brake dust.
Brake dust is the byproduct from the brake pads wearing against the brake rotor. This dust coats everything and you can see the buildup of it as a black film on the face of your aluminum wheels. Brake dust has metallic particles in it and when mixed with rain or snow, it creates rust on all the brake components. This rust and dust tends to get on the “slide” surfaces of the brake calipers and slowly stops them from moving freely, causing excess brake wear and sometimes seize up altogether.
Performing a routine brake service at the recommended intervals can save you premature brake wear. When you get brake services done on your vehicle, the brake pads, rotors and calipers can have a much longer life span and save you hundreds of dollars.
As always, if you have any questions please contact me directly at 905-561-1202 ext. 121 or email abalinsky@redhilltoyota.com.
Author: Alan Balinsky