Your brakes are highly essential when it comes to ensuring you and your passengers’ safety.
It functions by initiating force and friction to the wheels to stop the car from moving.
Because brakes are important and are used often, it is inevitable that they can wear from usage and time.
However, that’s not always the case as other factors may also contribute to brake wear. We have to remember that not all brakes have the same quality and wear at similar rates. In addition, not all drivers have the same driving skills.
You’re probably asking questions now like “Is there any way to prevent brake wear?” or
“How to drive to prevent brake wear?”
Well, keep on reading as we answer all your questions about brake wear in more detail.
Table of Contents
- Methods To Prevent Brake Wear
- Reasons Brake Wear Happens
- In Sum
Methods To Prevent Brake Wear
It is possible to prevent brake wear and there are ways you can put into practice that make your brakes last longer.
First of all, you have to adopt better driving skills. Your driving skills play a major role in maintaining the quality and condition of your car.
Better driving skills allow you to drive more safely as well as keep your brakes in their optimum condition.
Some driving skills you need to learn to prevent brake wear are speed control, coasting, minimizing your car’s load, and many more,
It will also help if you learn your car’s braking characteristics. Cars are all built differently. You should only focus on your car’s build and characteristics.
Familiarize yourself with your car’s braking system, its components, and its functionality.
Furthermore, you have to understand the different reasons why brake wear happens and what you can do to avoid these situations.
Reasons Brake Wear Happens
1. Not Going With The Flow Of Traffic
The Urban Dictionary defined the flow of traffic as “the speed that traffic is going at any given time.”
It is important to follow the flow of traffic to keep the traffic organized and running smoothly.
However, the flow of traffic can be very confusing sometimes as it may be way under or over the posted speed limit.
How It Causes Wear
Not going with the flow of traffic can result in a number of sudden and unnecessary heavy braking.
Whether the flow of traffic is fast or slow, when you go out of it, you may cause disorganization on the road and get in the way or get into close contact with other vehicles.
In that situation, you are very likely to hit the brakes heavily. Braking heavily can cause wear on your brakes because of the added force.
What you can do to improve
The best thing to do is to keep calm and follow the flow of traffic. But what if the flow of traffic is above the speed limit?
Well, in that situation, we encourage you to always stay within the posted speed limit. This is a safer thing to do and will also save you from getting fined with driving tickets.
2. Aggressive Driving
One common habit of many drivers is aggressive driving.
It is when drivers tend to accelerate very quickly from a stop, and because they are running at a high speed, they are more likely to hit the brakes hard.
Not only does this habit increase accident risks, but also results in serious wear and tear on your vehicle, especially your brakes.
How It Causes wear
Brakes turn the fuel energy to heat by friction. When the car is running at a moderate speed and the brakes were hit just the right time, then the amount of energy converted is less.
However, if you are running your vehicle at top speed and suddenly had to stop, then more heat will be converted.
More heat will also be applied to your brakes and other components of your car.
In simple words, hard acceleration and late stops put too much force and pressure on the brakes causing the brake and other components to wear over a short period of time.
The faster your car is going the more braking force you’ll need to stop.
What You Can Do To Improve
Gradually accelerate from a stop. If your head is hitting the headrest every time you accelerate you’re applying too much throttle.
When stopping anticipation is key; always look ahead checking for lights and slowdowns.
If you know you are going to stop soon, let off the accelerator allowing the vehicle to start to slow down, only applying the brakes with a light enough force to bring you to a complete stop.
Practice safe driving and always drive with a sound mind. Keep in mind that aggressive driving is not a habit to practice on any road.
It’s true that running your car at full speed can help you reach your destination faster, but this advantage is not worth the risk.
3. Not Anticipating Or Looking Ahead
Anticipating or looking ahead is a crucial part of driving. Not practicing this, may not only lead to brake wear but also potential accidents.
How It Causes Wear
When you don’t anticipate or look ahead of you when you are driving, you are very likely to hit the brakes with full force and pressure when an unexpected thing comes your way.
These things may include stops, cars passing, pedestrians, and more.
What Can You Do To Improve
It is important that you stay aware of your environment and keep your eyes open for all details on the road like cars, traffic lights, signages, and more.
If you need to come down to a stop soon, coast. Coasting means driving with the foot off the accelerator for automatics, for manuals, its clutch pedal held down, or the car in neutral. This allows air to create drag on the car.
Coast as much as possible until it is the right time to brake. In this way, you will not put too much friction on your brakes.
In addition, remember to take into consideration the distance of the car in front of you and the road conditions where you are driving.
This allows you to have enough time for a safe stop.
4. Bad Maintenance Of The Vehicle
More often than not, people don’t realize that the wheels can play a role in brake wear. Wheel maintenance includes avoiding using unfit road wheels like low tread tires.
Drivers should also ensure that wheels are properly inflated all the time.
How It Causes Wear
Low-tread tires provide less traction, especially in wet road conditions.
When the traction is less, the car will have difficulty producing friction to stop the car. When that happens, the brakes can experience more pressure causing wear and tear.
Less traction is also experienced when the tires are overinflated.
On the other hand, underinflated tires don’t contain enough air pressure to create an appropriate amount of friction making it difficult to come to a complete stop.
What Can You Do To Improve
Part of being a responsible car owner is the regular and proper maintenance of the vehicle including wheel maintenance.
Always check your vehicle’s condition and perform the necessary actions when you notice that the tire’s condition is off.
Use high-tread road tires and always check your tire’s air pressure level.
In Sum
The brakes are one of the most useful and often used parts of the car. Just like any car part, brakes will experience wear and tear because of usage and time.
Nevertheless, there are still ways to prevent brake wear and extend the longevity of your brakes. These ways include adapting better driving skills and learning the vehicle’s characteristics.
Finally, you’ll have to understand other factors or reasons that may cause brake wear.
These reasons include aggressive driving, not going with the flow of traffic, not anticipating or looking ahead, and bad vehicle maintenance.
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