Your car has brakes. The size of the brakes determine stopping power, the ventilation deters brake fade, and your brake components range far and wide. There’s a lot going on with stopping your car basically. Your brake pads are what make contact with your brake rotors.
This contact creates friction, which creates heat. The friction slows the car down, the heat breaks the pad down. Your disc brakes are designed to stop the car as needed, when needed. If you have drum brakes, they have shoes which accomplish the same thing.
When you press the brake pedal, you want the master cylinder forcing the brake fluid through the brake lines and the pad forcing the rotor to slow the wheel down. It sounds violent and rough, but due to the composition of the pad material, it’s quite smooth.
What are brake pads made out of?
Modern day brakes are made out of patented compositions. However for a more broad idea, there are generally metallic, organic and ceramic brake pads.
Metallic pads are made out of, you guessed it, metals. Their composition is a variety of metal alloys. These work well and have a decent lifespan. They may not offer the same aversion to brake fade as ceramic pads, but for the money they’re fantastic. As they are metal, and your rotor is metal, they can wear the rotors quicker than ceramic or organic pads.
Organic pads are made out of plants and free range eggs. Not really, sorry I had a bit of a crack at a ‘dad joke’ there. They’re actually made out of materials like kevlar and glass bonded to a resin. They wear quicker due to their inherent fragility, but they do less damage to the rotors. They are less averse to heat than metallic pads, due to their composition bonding better under higher temperatures.
Ceramic brake pads are the top dog. Stopping power-wise and price-wise. They work really well in sports and supercar applications. Their price tag reflects this. Composed of ceramic materials, they are extremely durable and very slow wearing. But boy oh boy, when they need replacing, you’ll feel it in the pocket.
Why do brake pads need replacing?
They are forced against the brake rotor to create the friction required to slow the wheels down. This means that not only do they wear into that annoying dust that coats your wheels, the heat breaks them down as well.
They are made to be a softer material than the brake rotors themselves. This means they don’t wear down the rotors as quickly. Most of the time your rotors will only need a slight machining and be ready for the new pads.
How do I tell that my brake pads need replacing?
Manufacturers have implemented a variety of measures to help you know when it’s time to replace them.
They insert a very soft metal at the bottom of the brake pad. When it gets worn down to the metal, it makes a loud screeching noise. This is really hard to miss and if you hear it then it’s time to replace your brake pads.
If you notice your stopping distance increasing, the brakes may be worn and need a check. We can help you diagnose any issues.
If you need your brakes serviced or you want your car serviced for its annual check up, look no further. We can help you with all your automotive needs.