How to Extend the Life of Your Brakes
The brakes are necessary for your safety on the road. Imagine yourself driving at high speed with brakes suddenly failing and the consequences can be serious.
Fortunately, such situations may not happen more often. Instead, you are more likely to wear down your brakes and the response time to avoid obstacles increases. The damage may cause to your rotors or other car parts, leading to hefty repair bills.
Before you find yourself in an unwanted situation, you should step up to protect your brakes and prolong their life. Here are a few tips you can follow to extend the life of your brakes.
Allow Plenty of Stopping Distance
It is a common reason behind the fast wear out of brakes. Fast and hard braking puts a great deal of strain on the brake pads and wears away the rubber and metal.
You cannot stop yourself from braking when a car stops in front of you too quickly or any animal accidentally comes your way. However, you should avoid tailgating other cars and drive carefully to avoid last-minute turns.
Give yourself as much stopping distance as you can. Look carefully at the roads and anticipate any stopping needs. The less force you have to apply to break, the better.
Slow Down
Driving at high speeds will not put your brakes under pressure, but it will make it harder to stop the vehicle if any unexpected obstacle comes your way.
Slowing down will not only reduce the risks but will also put less burden on the brakes when you do have to stop.
In addition to slowing down, you should also practice allowing the car to coast a short distance and allowing it to slow down naturally before you apply the brakes. The more slowly the car is traveling when you break, the less brake wear it will suffer.
Avoid Unnecessary Brake Taps
Crowded traffic can be hard on your brakes. It causes you to stay in a long line of cars, slowly moving forward and tapping the brakes more often. Even if the traffic is going freely, you will have to apply brakes when the road is crowded.
You can avoid unnecessary brake taps by looking at the traffic ahead of you when you drive to anticipate conditions. Many people tap their brakes just because the person in front did also. In case, the traffic is not moving quickly, you can adjust your speed so you do not have to tap the brakes so often.
Lighten Your Load
Overweighting your car can reduce its performance. The heavier your vehicle is the more momentum it will attain while driving and the greater the force will be required to stop it. You will likely notice the strain put up by the heavy load when you will have to press harder to stop within the same distance to which you are accustomed.
Do not put more loads on your vehicle. In addition to cargo, be mindful of the aftermarket parts, such as wheels and muffler systems.
Flush the Brake Fluid
Your car requires many oils or fluids which makes its parts run smoothly. However, like other fluids brake can become contaminated or oxidized, causing it to become less effective. Poor quality brake fluid can cause the parts of your brakes to break down and fail.
Get your brake fluid flushed out regularly. It will make your brake components last longer and improve their performance.
Inspect Brakes Regularly
You must change your brakes before they get worn out and it may lead to even more expensive and serious damage if you brake to replace. Some signs which indicate wear out include squealing sounds or when the vehicle takes more time to stop. However, you first need to check your brakes to know what is going on with them.
Contact a professional mechanic and ask him to inspect your brakes. You can get you brakes replaced if they might cause further damage to other parts.
