Hello, we have been having 2 constant complaints from customers this winter. The first is low tire pressure from the ice cold temperatures. The second is brakes pulsating or not stopping like they used too. Since I talked about low tire pressure and common rim leaks in my last post, I thought I would talk about what we are seeing commonly with brakes.
What we are finding the most after inspecting the brakes is that the brake pads are rusted/seizing into place in the brake caliper brackets. As a result, the pads do not make full contact with the brake rotor. The attached pictured is of a brake rotor in which the pad is only making minimal contact with the rotor. This can be seen by the shiny streak in the middle of the rotor. The other surface of the rotor is rusted and defaced due to the brake pad not touching it. A rotor in which the brake pad is making complete contact with the whole rotor will make the rotor appear completely shiny. So you may be wondering what is the fix of this issue? Servicing the caliper brackets and replacing the pads and rotors. Unfortunately when pads wear at angles they will never go back to wearing evenly and will only run new rotors. Rotors have become inexpensive enough that new rotors can be the same cost as turning old ones. Being able to stop a vehicle is important. Having good working brakes is also extremely important. If you think you may be having this issue, then give us a call and let Paul or I know that you saw this blog post! Doing a post update about the effects salt and 2 dissimilar metals. Aluminum and steel are our 2 most common found metals on automobiles. Unfortunately they do not agree when put next to each other with salt added in. The bolts that were supposed to hold these truck running boards on came out due to the bolts being steel with aluminum boards. You can see in the picture below how the aluminum corroded away around the bolts. New hardware and repositioning the boards allowed us to save the boards so the customer did not have to buy new ones. This same issue also happens on other parts of a car. The most common is on exhaust heat shields, causing rattles as the shields contact the pipes.
Now that the weather has gotten cold and the salt is laid out on the roads we are seeing more corrosion issues. The most common are aluminum rims that are leaking air from the bead area. Salt corrodes the rim and causes an uneven surface eventually leading to air coming out of the rim. Most of these leaks do not go flat over night but over the course of several days. I have attached a picture of a rim leak from today. We use soapy water and let the bubbles show us where the air is escaping from. In order to resolve this issue we dismount the tire. Clean and remove the corrosion from the rim. Next we apply a rim sealant and allow it to cure. After the sealant has cured, we mount the tire back on and computer balance it to insure no vibration. This job usually takes about 30 minutes to complete.
If you think you have a rim leak, then please give us a call to set up an appointment for us to check. Hello Everyone, Clint Ferrel here, I wanted to take the time to wish everyone a great 2019. The shop is excited to continue on another year.
As many of you know I became a father last year. Little myles will be turning 1 soon. He does make it to the shop! Unfortunately, it is usually when he is sick; however, you may see him down here and get to meet his wonderful personality and see his dimple. He always brings joy and makes everyone's day when he is with us. We will be making some changes here at the shop this year. Last year Paul updated the office with a new floor, counter and cabinets. I will keep everyone posted as we continue to make changes through out the year. |
Ferrel's Garage
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August 2021
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