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Self-help: brakes

Understand how it works and what are the main costs involved in maintaining the car's brakes.

Which is? What is it for? How it works?

It is a system that will stop or slow the car. It is a set of parts that is close to the wheels and consists, in total, of brake pedal, hand brake lever, brake servo, brake fluid, master cylinder, four wheel cylinders, hoses, connecting parts and discs or drums.

Self-help: Suspension

When the driver presses the brake pedal, the brake servo uses the engine vacuum to multiply the force the driver made by four. This impulse compresses the brake fluid that pushes the master cylinder. This, in turn, sends brake fluid to the wheel cylinders, which activates the four brake systems.

The brake system can be drum or disc. In disc brakes, there are brake calipers, which activate the pads against the discs, which generates friction and causes braking. In the drum system, the calipers are replaced by another type of brake cylinders, which move the linings against the drum and also cause braking.

The parking brake, known as the hand brake, has its own system, consisting of a steel cable responsible for locking the rear wheels. Tip: to make the brake last longer, do not pull the lever too hard or “until the end”.

What is the most common type of brake?

The most common brake types are the drum and the disc. Many cars use both systems: disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear wheels. The disk system is more modern and efficient, but lasts less, and can be divided between solid and ventilated.

The solid is a thick disc, for low performance, that is, usually present in popular low-power cars. The ventilated ones are the ones that allow better heat exchange. We can think of it as a double disc stuck between the two discs, which has a better performance for cars with higher power. If the car is very powerful, like a supercar, systems like carbon-ceramic brakes are normal and use special material that works perfectly even when extremely heated. They are also lighter, but the price is prohibitive,

When should it be changed? Which part should be changed most often?

The brake fluid is valid and must be changed every two years. If the driver does not make this change, some elements of the brake may oxidize. The brake pads last around 25,000 km. The brake linings, used in the drum system, have a duration of 50 thousand km. The brake disc, 25 thousand km. The brake drum lasts 50 thousand km.

The other parts must be replaced when damaged. Tip: always change the set of parts. Whenever you change a part of the front right wheel, also change the part of the front left wheel.

How much does it cost on average?

The brake fluid costs, on average, R $ 50. The pads have high variation: in a popular car it costs R $ 80 a pair, but it can reach R $ 500 in an imported one. The pair of brake linings costs R $ 80, the drum one R $ 180 and the disc R $ 250.

What are the most frequent problems? Can you fix it or just change? How long it takes?

The most frequent problem is when the driver stops changing the brake pad and the caliper hits the disc. “This is a simple maintenance, which ends up generating not only the replacement of the insert, but also that of the disc, in addition to generating a great risk of accident. Another frequent problem is when the hose breaks, which causes the fluid to leak.

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“Wild moments in the White Mountains“ by | Lewis Hackett

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