Braking Horsepower: How Much Does Your Car Have?
We all know brakes get hot, sometimes very hot. If you watch closely on race day, it’s not uncommon to see the rotor on a race car glowing bright orange. Iron is in the range of 1,700º F when orange. At the most basic level, a brake is an energy conversion device. Normally people will
Drum Brake Self Adjusters: Understanding These Ancient Devices
d bridge bolts. Opposing piston calipers are bolted to the knuckle and have pins to position the pads. Drum brakes have return springs to return the shoes to a rest position and hardware to hold the shoes to the backing plate. The shoes return to a fully retracted or rest position when the master cylinder
Good Good Vibrations
Wouldn’t it be great if various vibrations in the car were something that we could measure, sort through, select one, and assign numbers to it that can be used to find its source? Wouldn’t be even better if we could determine by the numbers whether the vibration was a balance issue or excessive runout with
Subaru Brake System Service
Over the last 25 years or so, Subaru has been the top- selling all-wheel-drive car here in the Pacific Northwest. For beachcombers and skiers alike, as well as rock hounds and hikers, having all-wheel drive is a big plus. Stop-and-go commuting, and difficult mountain driving take their toll on both drivers and vehicles. Of all
What Were They thinking?
hey pick the size of the parts? What prevented them from making them bigger? What kind of tests did the parts and the vehicle have to endure to be judged ready for the market? These are all questions that go into the design of the brake system for the vehicle. These decisions are the responsibility
Runout Report
Dial Indicator 101
Boosted!
Disc brakes are not “self-energizing” like drum brakes, so they require more pedal effort to apply. It’s the magic of power brakes that allows a 98-lb. little old lady to bring two tons of Lincoln Town Car to a screeching halt with little more than a light caress of her foot against the brake pedal.
Selecting the Right Friction Material
How do you select the right brake pad for a vehicle? And, how do you select the right friction line to stock at your shop or have as your first call? These are difficult questions to answer. Every time your shop installs a set of brake pads on a vehicle you are taking a gamble
Twin-Piston Calipers: Are Two Pistons Better than One?
generate more torque. More torque means more stopping power. Also, by using the floating caliper design instead of an opposing piston design, engineers are able to avoid wheel clearance issues and other robust design features of the floating caliper. With a single-piston caliper, the footprint of pad is limited in some ways to the diameter
High-Performance Brake Pads
Friction and Fiction “I would like a more aggressive or high-performance brake pad.” If you work at a typical shop you will hear this statement at least once a week. It is a complex request that requires a line of questioning to flush out what the customer wants, needs and expects. “Aggressive”, “high performance” and
Tech Update: A Refresher Course on Complete Brake Service, Brake & Suspension System Service
Whether you’re studying for an upcoming ASE brake certification test, expanding your knowledge or honing your brake repair skills, this course is for you. There are no grades and no pop quizzes or tests. It’s not even a pass-fail course. The only credit you’ll receive will be thanks and appreciation from your customers and employer