How important are brake pads?

The brake pad is one of the most important components in your motor vehicles braking system; it is the part responsible for stopping your car. However, brake pads are not built to last – that’s just the nature of their design. Therefore, it’s important to understand how brake pads work and when you should replace them.

Brake pads are a part of the disc braking system, which is standard for modern vehicles. In a disc braking system, a caliper is situated around the front wheels of your vehicle (most of a car’s stopping force comes from the front tires). The caliper is fitted with the brake pads. When you press the brake pedal, the caliper squeezes the brake pads against the wheel and the resulting friction then slows your vehicle to a stop.

Brake pads are soft, so that they don’t erode the disc while they are in use. Instead, the friction wears away at the brake pad, which is an easily replaceable part. Over time, the brake pads will erode away with use and must be periodically replaced. There are a number of variables that affect how often you need to replace your brake pads, but its basically down to the model of car you drive and how often and how hard you apply your brakes. Generally, brake pads may need to be replaced every 20,000 to 60,000 miles.

There is however one sure-fire indicator that you need new brake pads: squealing. Brake pads actually have a sort of built-in alarm system to alert you when they need to be replaced. There is a little bit of metal that sticks out of the brake pad. When the pad is worn down enough, this metal comes into contact with your wheel every time the brakes are applied. This creates a squealing or screeching noise every time you apply the brakes. Although waiting until you can hear your brakes screeching to replace your brake pads is not the best idea. The bit of metal is not exposed to the wheel until there is very little of the brake pad left. Once you can hear screeching, it generally means that your brake pads have only three or four weeks left before they are completely worn away.

Without the brake pad, you’ll be stopping your car with metal-on-metal friction, which can damage your wheel, damage your brake system and cause a very expensive repair. If you hear squealing or notice reduced stopping power you will need a new set of brake pads.

At CAM Auto Developments we stock Ferodo brake products for both front brake pads and rear brake pads. We believe Ferodo have created the high specification of brake pads today.

Visit our website to view our great range of Car brake pads