The safety of your car is very important, whatever model you have a Mercedes or a Mazda – the safest cars can also have a brake failure. And if the brakes of your car go down, the results might be extremely disastrous. The same issue with a conventional car will plague a homemade electric car also.
Obviously, brakes are the most crucial parts of your car. So acquaintances with a car brake system’s know how is always handy because you hardly know when your car brakes will let you down and it can happen when you are miles away from the nearest garage and who knows in midst of a dessert.
If you know how the brake system works you can:
– Inspect the brakes and find out what the problem is.
– Fully understand what will be required to repair the brakes.
– You can repair the brakes yourself if possible or explain exactly the situation to the person who is going to repair your car brakes.
To become proficient in performing the above functions, first of all you need a clear understanding regarding a car brake system.
A drum system uses a hydraulic pressure to push a pad against the brake drum to slow down and stop the car. The mechanism is like this:
– When brake pedals are pressed, the pistons in the master cylinder exert pressure through brake lines held by the brake shoe to the wheel cylinders inside the break drum.
– The brake shoe tightens against the drum and friction stops the wheel from moving. A brake drum is a flat-topped heavy cylinder generally placed in between the wheel rim and the drive wheel.
– When the brakes are pressed, the friction pad attached to the brake shoe is jammed against the brake drum. This slows down and stops the wheel.
– A wheel cylinder might have pistons that use hydraulic pressure from the master cylinder to exert tremendous pressure forcing the pad against the brake drum.
– The other system that’s called disk brake system uses the same hydraulic pressure to press the brake pads against the rotor to slow down the automobile.
The modes-operandi is as follows:
– When brake pedal is pressed, the master cylinder exerts pressure through break lines to the caliper forcing the friction pads to press against the rotor. The generated friction stops the vehicle.
– A rotor is just a circular plate attached to the wheel which is gripped by the brake pads.
– A brake pad is made with friction materials. When the brake pads are jammed against the rotor plate, the wheel stops turning.
– The brake pads are attached to the calipers and when pressed using hydraulic pressure these pads straddle the rotor.
– The brake pads are pressed using internal pistons to jam the rotor.
– To perform this process the braking system needs a brake fluid. The master cylinder is filled with such brake fluid and distributes the fluid under pressure to the braking system of the vehicle.
The above explanation provides a brief understanding regarding the two car braking systems. This is the basic knowledge you need to know for any troubleshooting and repair works for your car brake system.
Brake problem can occur in any model whether it’s a VW Beetle, a Ford pickup or the safest vehicle of the world. The internet is filled with huge resources that provide detailed explanation of all your needs regarding brake system problems in very vivid and systematic manner. I would advise you to go online and search for ‘car auto brake repair’. You will certainly be surprised by huge resources that will be displayed in no time.