Question:
How do
I know when my car needs a brake job?
Answer:
You need
a "brake job" when your brake linings are worn down to the minimum
acceptable thickness specified by the vehicle manufacturer or the
applicable state agency in areas that set their own requirements.
The only way to determine if new linings are required, therefore,
is to inspect the brakes.
You
may also need a brake job if you're having brake problems such as
grabbing, pulling, low or soft pedal, pedal vibration, noise, etc.,
or if some component in your brake system has failed. But if the
problem is isolated to only one component, there's no need to replace
other parts that are still in perfectly good working order.
There
is no set mileage interval at which the brakes need to be relined
because brake wear varies depending on how the vehicle is driven,
the braking habits of the driver, the weight of the vehicle, the
design of the brake system and a dozen other variables. A set of
brake linings that last 70,000 miles or more on a car driven mostly
on the highway may last only 30,000 or 40,000 miles on a vehicle
that is driven mostly in stop-and-go city traffic.
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