Are your brakes making a squeaking or grinding noise that has you less than impressed? Are you worried that a few more kilometres will have you rolling through a stop sign, or worse? Or are you thinking that your car (or the brakes) are too new to need replacing? How can you tell when you need to replace squeaky brakes?
Types Of Brakes
There are two types of brakes, and squeaking noises can mean different things for each type.
- Disc brakes. Most cars these days have disc brakes. Disc brakes have a rotor which is attached to the wheel, and a caliper, which holds the pads. When pressure from the master cylinder forces the caliper piston to clamp the disc brake rotor, it gets locked between the pads. This is what causes your car to stop.
- Drum brakes. Drum brakes have a brake drum attached to the wheel, a cylinder, brake shoes, and return springs. With drum brakes, pressure from the master cylinder forces the wheel cylinder to press the shoes against the drum, which causes your car to stop.
The squeak sound you’re hearing could mean different things depending on the brakes you have.
Why Brakes Squeak
You brakes are pretty intuitive. They’ve got metal bits on them that come into contact with your brake pads to let you know when those pads are wearing thin. And when we say thin, we mean THIN.
There are actually 4 common reasons your brakes might squeak.
Disc Brakes
- Lots of cars, especially our Canadian cars that are exposed to moisture all the time, will squeak in the morning. After time, a layer of rust forms on the rotor, and that squeak will get worse.
- Worn brake pads. This happens when your brakes have seen better days and the regular wear and tear causes the squeaking.
- Lower end brakes squeak more often, after fewer kilometres, because they have a higher metal content.
Drum Brakes
- If you have drum brakes, that squeaking sound is probably an indication that some lubrication is needed. The squeaking’s likely caused by contact friction between the shoe and the brake pads.
The first issue can often be avoided by parking your car in the garage overnight to protect it from the moisture.
The other three need a little more attention.
So, Is It Time To Replace Those Squeaky Brakes?
Once you hear that squeaking sound, unless it’s just something you hear in the morning, chances are you need new brakes. If you leave them too long, your brakes may just conk out on you. Also, you could be looking at additional repairs if the metal tabs that are telling you it’s time to replace starts to scratch up the rotor.
Don’t stress. Replacing squeaky brakes is just one of the regular vehicle maintenance tasks you’ll always have to do. That is, until car manufacturers come up with a new system.
We won’t hold our breath for that just yet.
Want to find out if your brakes need a little TLC? We can run a full diagnostic and send you the results. Give us a call today at (705) 796-1796.
