Why Your Vehicle Needs Its Brakes Inspected
You can't deny how important working brakes are for a vehicle. Not only are bad brakes a hazard for yourself, but you put other drivers at risk as well. That is why you must know the trouble signs that can indicate your brakes have a potential problem and take your vehicle to a mechanic to have the problem officially diagnosed.
Vibrating Steering Wheel
One way to identify a brake problem is through your vehicle's steering wheel. Have you ever put some pressure on your brakes and felt the steering wheel vibrates? This should be a good reason to have your car inspected. You are feeling this vibration because metal is rubbing against another piece of metal, which should not happen in a car that is functioning properly.
Your vehicle's brake pads are essentially a buffer and prevent the metal brakes and rotors from touching each other. Over time, these brake pads tend to wear away and expose the metal underneath. While this is unavoidable through daily use, certain behaviors can cause it to happen faster. For instance, sudden stops due to not giving your vehicle enough space to brake properly.
Without that brake pad barrier, the metal touches and vibration is felt throughout the car in places like your steering wheel. Your mechanic will hear your problem and first inspect those brake pads as a potential cause. Don't be surprised if they say the brake pads need replacement due to being worn down
Single Side Vehicle Drifting
Does your car drift to one side when applying pressure to the brakes? This can happen due to misaligned tires, but it's also caused by brake pads that have worn down unevenly. One side of your car is receiving more pressure when you press down on the brake pedal, which causes the drifting to occur. The side that the car drifts to will be the side with the brake pad problem.
Your mechanic will investigate this problem by looking for sticking calipers, which is the main cause of uneven brake pad wear.
Squeaking
Another side effect of a thin brake pad is squeaking. This doesn't always happen when metal is rubbing against another piece of metal since the metal must touch each other in a certain way for the sound to happen. Don't confuse squeaking with swishing or grinding when braking, which is common when brake pads are cold after not being used for awhile. That sound should go away after a little bit of use.
Contact a company like Jim Stephen's Foreign Car Repair for more information and assistance.