How to Know when Your Car's Brakes Need Replaced

It'd be nice if cars didn't need routine maintenance, but they do. Oil, tires, brakes - these all need replaced. Letting them go too long before replacing them can lead to extra - and sometimes irreversible - damage to your car.

If you know the signs that your brakes need replaced, you can get it done early. Doing so will help you avoid extra damage and repairs.

What Wears Out?

An automotive brake has a couple of basic parts - a hydraulic clamp, a line for brake fluid, a brake pad, and a rotor (which you might say is part of the wheel).

Under normal circumstances, the clamp and the lines won't wear out. They're built to last quite some time. However, the brake pad does it's job (stopping your car) by applying friction to the rotor. The rotor is a smooth metal disk that spins with the wheel, and as the brake pad is forced against the rotor the cars slows down. This friction slowly wears down the thickness of the brake padding, and it will eventually erode down to nothing.

If it does, this is where you get into trouble. To work effectively, the rotor needs to be smooth and flat. Underneath the padded portion of the brake pad are a couple of metal bolts. When the pad wears out, these metal bolts start to grind into the rotor, creating scratches and grooves. At this point, you usually need to replace the rotor, or else you'll cut down on the life expectancy of the next set of brakes.

What to Look For?

One thing you could look for is the brake pad itself. On some cars, it's easy to get a glimpse through the hubcap into the wheel and brake assembly.

If you can see inside, look for a large metal disc - this is the rotor. At some point, you should see something that wraps around the edge of the rotor. It should be about 4-5 inches long and slightly rounded. Those are the break pads.

You can either look inside or feel with your finger to try to determine how thick the remaining brake pad is. If it looks like it's almost gone... it's time to do the brakes.

What to Listen For?

There are also some sounds that your car will make to tell you the brakes need done.

The first is a warning mechanism built into many brakes - chirpers. When the brake is almost worn out, a small piece of metal will come into contact with the rotor. They are designed not to cause grooves and scratches on the rotor, but they'll will cause a high pitched sound (a chirp).

If you start hearing the chirping, look at your brakes and see if they look worn out.

There is another sound that your car is not supposed to make. When you hear a deep, painful grinding sound coming from the front corners of your car... your brakes are shot. That's the sound of the metal bolts gouging into your rotor, slowly grooving it into oblivion.

At this point, your rotor is probably shot. You'll end up having to replace it and the brake pad.

If you can't get it done right away, don't worry. Your brakes won't just stop working... but I wouldn't leave it too long. If you hear the chirpers going, I'd change the brakes ASAP to avoid any damage to the rotors. Once you hear the rotors getting grooved, though, it's safe to wait until the weekend when you've got some extra time.

Keep an Eye and an Ear Out

Keep an eye out for worn pads, and keep an ear out for chirpers. If you pay attention, your car will tell you when your brakes need to be changed.

If you don't pay attention, your car will just tell you in a louder, more obnoxious way.