Stop and Check Your Brakes

Your brakes are a vital part of your car, and having them in good condition is essential to your safety. Read on to discover more about why you should stop and check your brakes and other advice about this essential component.

Why is it important to check your brakes?

As you drive your car most days, it's easy to forget about the routine maintenance you should be performing in order to keep yourself, your passengers, and other road users safe. Your brakes are one of the most important checks to make. They naturally have wear and tear caused by daily use and will need to be replaced periodically in order to make sure they work effectively.

How often should brakes be checked?

As standard, it is important to remember to get your brakes checked every six months by a professional. This can be done more frequently if you are often in a lot of traffic or tend to brake frequently - this can cause your brake pads to wear out more quickly. Your brakes will also be impacted more if you often brake suddenly. The lifespan of your brake pads will also differ depending on what they are constructed from, but as a loose rule they can last for 50,000 miles of normal driving.

What can you do to check them?

It's possible to perform visual checks yourself. You can sometimes look through your wheel spokes and view the brake pads to see if they are still at the required thickness. You can also see if the brake rotors are smooth or uneven. It is also important to check to see if your brake fluid is low, or if it appears to be dark in colour. These are both signs that your brakes could be functioning poorly.

When driving, listen to your brakes and if there is a grinding sound, or if you feel vibrations, when applying the brakes then this can be an indication that you need to get your brake pads replaced, and could even point to more serious issues.

What would a garage typically look at when checking your brakes?

When checking your brakes, a garage will check to see how hard you need to push on your brakes and ask whether your car has been pulling to one side when brakes are used. During the inspection itself, the mechanic will look at your brake fluid and your brake assemblies. They will also check the brake pedal and your brake lines to get a full picture, as well as parking brakes.

Trust Autozone

Ensuring that your brakes work well is highly important and will keep you safer when driving. If you're looking for a car with excellent brakes and amazing drivability, then check out your options with Autozone.