Okay, children, listen and learn. I am speaking from my YEARS of experience here...you would do well to heed my warnings.
Today, we are going to talk about car maintenance. Yeah, yeah, I'm a girl...what do I know? Well...I can change a tire, change my oil, change my spark plugs - I've helped tear down and rebuild a motor, bled brake lines - I've even replaced a clutch cable on my '72 VW Beetle by myself (I did LOTS of stuff by myself on the engine of that car - but, to be honest, it's kinda like a Lego engine).
But, as I have grown older, I have no desire whatsoever to do any of that crap myself anymore. I'm OLD and LAZY and I don't like to get dirty.
Even though I no longer choose to do it myself, I still understand completely how and why everything works. Like disc brakes. (Another thing I helped Pappy replace - many, MANY moons ago.)
Let's look at a couple of photos I swiped off of the Google:
This one is a cool cut-away of what a vented rotor looks like....see the vanes? Those are for ventilation for the heat generated when you apply the brakes.
When the brake pedal is applied, pressurized hydraulic fluid squeezes the brake pad friction material against the surface of the rotating brake disc. The result of this contact produces friction which enables the vehicle to slow down or stop.
Look how thick the vanes actually are from this cool photo...
Well...when the brake pads are getting a little worn, you can generally hear a little scratching or grinding noise when you apply the brakes. This is a built-in warning sign that it is time to get your brake pads replaced.
BUT, when you are as lazy-assed as I am, you ignore this noise and tell yourself - every time you "gently" tap your brakes - "Next paycheck." Even when you now have to put the car into neutral and coast up to the stop light - and you PRAY no one stops suddenly in front of you - you still say, "Maybe tomorrow."
I still remember the exact moment I realized "TODAY IS THE DAY!!" It was when I was doing that in neutral coast-y thing up to the stop light on the AA Hwy in Wilder, by McDonald's, and my brake pedal hit the floor.
Holy shit, that was a "Come to Jesus" moment.
Thankfully, I was able to limp home and get it to a mechanic.
This is the aftermath of my rotor - all artsy-fartsy like...
Hmm...I've never seen the inside of one of those...and the broken caliper had cut the brake line causing all of the fluid to leak out...whoops.
Maybe, next time I won't wait as long. Thankfully, the guy only charged me about 1/4 of what I would have paid at a regular garage.
(That baby is cast iron!! Doh!!)
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