Did you – or your brakes – get cleaned?

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One of the most recommended auto services, just after oil changes and tire rotations, has to be routine brake maintenance without replacing the linings (pads/shoes) or surfaces (rotors/drums). If you want to get any quiet, reliable performance out of this vital safety system, making sure rust and corrosion hasn’t taken its toll, on most daily, year-round driven vehicles this needs to be done annually in many cases. With the popularity of open-style, spoked alloy wheels, wheel brakes with their abundance of untreated steel and cast metal, attract rust like it’s a cure for noisy brakes, instead of being one of the causes. Only a proper inspection of wheel brakes will tell a tech and his/her customer if a cleaning and lubrication service is needed for the moving mechanical components of either a drum or disc brake system.

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While any shop above a straight oil change oil facility will readily offer a brake cleaning service, there’s a world of opinions exactly how it should be done hence the wide variety of differences between techs’ applications. These range from a cursory spray down with a specialized cleaner and verification that the brake pads aren’t hung up by corrosion in their slider tracks to a full-blown disassembly of each wheel’s brake to thoroughly remove any rust, grit, and grime build-up from all brake pad tabs and tracks and a liberal application of a specific heat-proof lubricant on these areas. Anything less isn’t worth the time and money.

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Did you – or your brakes – get cleaned? Back to video

Good techs will also take the time to remove any rust scaling on the edges of the brake rotors or drums. This total job usually takes two hours on the average vehicle for a four-wheel service. Very thoughtful mechanics will remove the brake rotors and clean the surface on both the rotor and the wheel hub where they meet at the rotor’s centre hole. There can be a Pandora’s Box downside to removing some rear brake rotors. A lot of vehicles have their parking brake system (a small set of brake shoes) housed in a raise portion of the rear rotor; known as drum in hat design. These shoes and their associated hardware are impossible to view with the rotor in place and the act of properly removing the rotor for inspection can break or damage any rusted springs or hold-down clips. This can leave a customer in the lurch if he or she isn’t made aware of the risk before the removal takes place.

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But once the wheels are back on and your vehicle is out in the parking lot, how can you tell what type of brake service your ride received? If your vehicle is equipped with open-style wheel rims you can see most of the calipers and rotors through the wheel spokes. Check the area where the metal tabs at end of the brake pads ride in their tracks. These areas should be free of rust and have a visible amount of grease-type lubricant on them. You can view the inner sides of the brakes by means of a mirror on a long handle or with a cellphone camera on a selfie stick. Most shops will price this service per axle (meaning separate charges for the front pair of brakes and the rears) and will usually discount it below their normal hourly charges. Depending on small independent shops or regional chains or OEM dealerships prices can range from $70 to $120 per axle.