You must have routine brake maintenance done to stay safe on the road. Once you realize the procedure and the necessary needs to be accomplished, you will know when and how to take your car for brake services. 

Your brake system needs maintenance on every part. The master cylinder, lines, calipers, rotors, and pads are the five things to consider. You must understand each of these components to maintain your brake system properly.

To maintain your car's safety, control, and performance, your braking system must be kept in good condition. Every driver wants to feel at ease knowing their car's brakes won't fail when they need them. You should test your brakes routinely to ensure they are in good shape.

Which brake pad is the best fit for your car? Choosing the proper brake pad might be challenging. You are aware that this is an important choice because it affects your safety and your passengers' safety. To make the best decision for you, continue reading this article.

Important Factors 

The best brake pad for your vehicle depends on various factors, including your driving style and vehicle type. You can choose the best brake pad by taking the time to consider your driving style and the weather where you drive. 

Some factors to think about:

Vehicle

What type of vehicle are you operating? The braking requirements of an emergency vehicle, a towing or hauling vehicle, and a vehicle used for commuting around town are very different. 

Climate

In what kind of weather do you drive? Is it cold, hot, or mountainous? All of these circumstances may influence the type of brake pad you choose. 

Traffic

Do you spend more time on the highway or in stop-and-go traffic in the city?

Hauling or Towing

Do you tow or haul a massive load with your car? Your brakes are stressed when you tow a trailer, pull a boat, or load your truck's bed. 

Noise

Do you appreciate having quiet brakes? Or can you bear a little noise?

Rust

How essential are clean wheels to you? Or can you handle some brake dust? 

Technology

Do you primarily want to restore OE braking performance, or do you also want the newest features and technologies? 

Price

Are you just wanting to keep your car on the road, or are you willing to spend more money on expensive features?

The Best Way to Choose Brake Pads

Your brakes, specifically the brake pads or shoes, are essential to your safety. The good thing is that many options are available for brake pads and brake shoes, so it should be effortless to pick some that work for your vehicle, budget, and driving habits.

Picking Between Riveted and Bonded Friction Materials

Every brake's more substantial metal backing plate must be linked to a softer friction material. The friction material is attached to the backing plate by either bonding with an adhesive or riveting with high-strength rivets, according to brake manufacturers.

  • The friction material can be attached anyway. Still, bonding extends the lifespan of the brakes a little bit because as the friction material deteriorates, the rivets make contact with the brake rotors or drums and squeal slightly as they're almost worn out. It's time to change the brakes when you hear the squeal of rivets making contact with the rotors or drums while braking.

  • If bonded brakes are not replaced so quickly as the metal-to-metal grinding sound is heard when applying them, they will eventually wear down to the backing plate, ruining your rotors or drums.

Consider Your Driving Needs

You will have to decide the material the replacement brake pads or shoes are made of. At this point, you must decide how urgently you need to brake. Among the factors to think about are:

  • How much driving is in the mountains? 

  • How hot is the weather where you live? 

  • What types of traffic do you typically engage in? 

  • How forgiving are you of brakes that make a little noise? 

  • Are you towing a trailer behind your car? 

  • Are there any particularly deep puddles during the winter or rainy season?

Different Brake Pad Materials

Organic

Some automobiles have brakes made of organic materials. While this extends the life of the other brake parts, it doesn't provide for better braking on long downhills or when towing a trailer. Furthermore, organic brake materials significantly lose their stopping power when wet.

Semi-Metallic

This improved braking material has a composite of soft metals integrated into the friction compound to increase braking. However, compared to organic materials, this does cause the rotors or drums to wear out more quickly.

Fully Metallic

Fully metallic brakes are the next level up in cost, quality, and braking effectiveness. These brakes provide excellent braking in any circumstance, but they cause the rotors and drums to wear out more quickly.

Ceramic

Although more expensive than the other three options, ceramic offers the most outstanding warranty and extended life. Ceramic brakes withstand very high temperatures with minimal fade or braking loss when wet.

Select Semi-Metallic Brake Pads if Driving Frequently

Semi-metallic brake pads are typically a very cost-effective option for commuter cars overall.

  • Most recent automobiles are equipped with semi-metallic pads or shoes because this is what the auto industry recommends. Semi-metallic pads are very well handled by all vehicles, even those with rotors comprised of more rigid metals.

  • However, if you regularly drive your car for more demanding jobs, you could be better off choosing more expensive, totally metallic, or ceramic brake pads, like towing a trailer up a steep hill.

  • In other words, when selecting suitable brake pad material, you must carefully evaluate your typical driving conditions. How much stress will be exerted on the brakes – it's an issue of safety.

When Replacing Brake Pads, Examine the Whole Brake System

It's usually advisable to consider the entire brake system while performing a repair by yourself or having a service center handle it.

  • The quality of the rotors they contact and the master/slave cylinders that move the brake pads in and out to carry out their duties determine how effective the brake pads can be.

  • If a car or truck is more than eight years old, it's also a good idea to flush the old brake fluid out of the hydraulic system to keep the moisture levels low, and the brakes are operating at their best.

When To Replace the Brake Rotor?

Several criteria can be used to determine when it is the best time  to replace the rotor:

Rotor Thickness

Brake pads and rotors both deteriorate over time with use. Some factors, such as excessive runout caused by improperly tightened lug nuts, might accelerate rotor wear. Brake pads may need to "stretch" further to clamp on rotors with extreme wear. This could put too much pressure on the caliper piston and lead to new problems. A caliper piston that has been overextended may leak braking fluid or perhaps struggle to return to the caliper assembly's natural position.

If the rotor is indeed thin or less, you should replace it since it can no longer dissipate heat from braking as effectively. Because the brakes can't cool down quickly enough, a thin, worn rotor will make your brakes more susceptible to brake fade. Additionally, if your vehicle receives a lot of hard use, such as frequent towing or mountain driving, and your rotors are nearly at the limit for replacement, you should consider replacing them.

Glazing Level

Like your brake pads, the brake rotor will eventually develop a "glaze" (a more rigid surface). Your rotor may only need to be deglazed if it is just glazed rather than being resurfaced.

The Intensity of Damage or Gouging

Rotor damage may take the form of gouging or rust pitting. If the rotor hasn't reached discard thickness, it can still be resurfaced with a brake lathe. Remember that using a brake lathe to turn rotors could be more expensive than purchasing a brand-new rotor with a warranty. As the brake pad friction material presses up against a rotor with a deep groove or gouge, the rotor can function as a shredder and harm the friction material.

Resurfacing will not be effective in fixing a severely gouged rotor; it must be replaced. The most common cause of severely gouged brake rotors is an old brake pad worn through and scratched the rotor surface. One of the causes of brake noise is scraping. The rotor should be replaced if it has severe rust and pitting since this kind of damage will cause the replacement brake pads to wear out prematurely and unevenly.

Weather Warping

Excessive use can cause the brake disc to warp; typically, this occurs if the discs become overheated and then cool down too quickly, as would happen if you drove through puddles on a hot day. When braking, vibrations from a warped rotor or brake disc may be felt through the brake pedal.

The Friction Material In Brake Pads

If the new brake pad friction material differs from the old one, rotor resurfacing is typically necessary. For instance, when switching from an older set of organic brake pads to ceramic brake pads.

Manufacturer's Guidelines

The manufacturer recommends avoiding replacing some rotors. These could be composites with an inside made of a different material than the exterior. Instead, they are made of a softer metal meant to deteriorate at the same rate as the brake pads, so both the rotors and pads should be replaced at the same time. 

There are many factors to consider when dealing with brake wear and the condition of your braking system. Therefore, it's considerably simpler and safer to consult your mechanic anytime you're doubtful.

Different Brake Rotor Materials

Blank

Blank rotors are the standard rotor that you probably think of. These are effectively smooth, solid rotors, and are both the standard choice for most cars that don’t have any performance requirements to meet as well as typically the most economical choice of rotor.

Slotted

The primary difference between blank and slotted rotors is the fact that slotted rotors have machined “slots” on the face of the rotor. The primary advantage of this style of rotor is that the slots create air channels that help with cooling and heat dissipation. The reduction in brake pad contact patch surface area does result in faster wear, however.

Drilled

Drilled rotors can be recognized very quickly by the fact that they have a set of holes drilled into the face of the rotor. Similarly to slotted rotors, drilled rotors tend to have better heat dissipation while also reducing the effects that debris or water may have on your brakes. The primary downside to using drilled rotors is that the drilled holes introduce stress concentration to the rotors, which can result in them cracking under high-intensity use.

Drilled and Slotted

Drilled and slotted rotors are commonly thought to take the best of both worlds from slotted rotors as well as drilled rotors. These benefits come at a sharper reduction to overall rotor life, but drilled and slotted rotors are typically the first choice when deciding what type of brake rotors to use on high-performance cars or cars that are going to be subjected to higher stresses at track days or other events where heavy braking is required.

Where to Apply Brake Grease

Every spot where parts slide or move in the brake system must be greased with brake grease. The caliper slides, pins, and bushings, the contact areas where the brake pads slide within the caliper housing, the self-adjuster mechanisms on rear disc brakes with locking calipers, and the parking brake cables and connection are all disc brake components that require lubrication.

Lubricant the face of the caliper piston where it makes contact with the pad and the BACK of the pads with a bit of grease. Apply a tiny amount of oil to the side of the metal noise control shim facing the caliper piston if one is used on the back of the pad. Don't slop the grease on; instead, use it sparingly.

When Should Brakes Get Bled?

Your braking system is the most important one in terms of essential parts. You must be able to stop at any time, no matter how quickly you're moving. Hydraulic braking systems for vehicles operate by pushing pressurized fluid. There will be less pressure, spongy-feeling brakes, and lengthier stops if there is an air bubble in the system. But that's only the start. The car might not stop at all if left unattended. There is a technique to avoid this in addition to fixing it. 

Let's examine when and how brakes should be bled.

Brake Bleeding Methods

In order to get started with bleeding your brakes, you will need various pieces of equipment. You'll need either a screwdriver for Torx screws (detectable by the six-pointed groove on their heads) or a wrench for your car’s bleed screw, as much fresh brake fluid as your car needs, and a container to catch the used fluid for all four methods of bleeding brakes.

Gravity

Put a container underneath the bleeder screw, and turn the screw to let the old fluid fall into the container by gravity. Afterward, there will be cleanup. The liquid won't fall in a straight line; instead, it will drip down components in the space between the container and the bleeder screw.

Manual

Place a container beneath the bleeder screw and open it as someone gently presses and releases the brake pedal, forcing the fluid and air out of the system. Smoothly use the brakes to prevent the formation of further air bubbles that could linger and contaminate the fresh fluid.

Pressure

Again place a container under the bleeder screw, then open it to provide pressure. The fluid and air should be forced through the system and into the container using a tank of pressurized brake fluid at the master cylinder.

Vacuum

Attach a vacuum bleeder to it after removing the bleeder screw. It extracts the liquid and air into a connected container.

Regardless of your method, bleeding your brakes when there is a problem or as part of routine maintenance ensures that your braking system operates as effectively as possible and keeps you and your passengers safe.