Brake Service Tips

There’s a gold mine of great service information available on the Internet for all kinds of light vehicle service. Here are some tips described by Honeywell’s Bendix brake brand at www.bendixbrakes.com/techcorner.

• Clean, replace and lubricate hardware. Pay especial attention to caliper abutments, since loose pads can create noise-related comebacks. Use lubes formulated specifically for brakes.

• Check run out at the hub, with the rotor off. Worn bearings must be corrected to keep rotor run out within spec … there’s no use shimming a worn hub to chase run out.

• Index the rotor with a mark to allow reinstallation on the hub in the same orientation to minimize the amount of material that must be cut by the lathe. • An easy check for smoothness when turning rotors is to write across it with a ball point pen. If the lines are interrupted, it’s not smooth enough. Finish by sanding for a non-directional finish and clean with brake cleaner or soap and water before installation. Less than 3 thousandths of an inch run out is the goal. Cut, shim and/or index to achieve this.

• Burnish (break in) new pads during the post-install test drive. Make 30 stops from 50 km/h lightly and cool for 30 seconds between stops.

There is plenty of interesting information for even experienced techs at manufacturers’ sites … according to Bendix, the best binders for brake friction material is a combination of cashew nut oil and resin … who knew?