Braking Systems

The most important active safety of a car are the brakes. Having said that, there are still car owners and drivers do not seem to understand how it really works. Brakes may be broadly described as using friction, pumping, or electromagnetics.

Frictional brakes are most common and can be divided broadly into “shoe” or “pad” brakes, using an explicit wear surface, and hydrodynamic brakes, such as parachutes, which use friction in a working fluid and do not explicitly wear.

Pumping brakes are often used where a pump is already part of the machinery. For example, an internal-combustion piston motor can have the fuel supply stopped, and then internal pumping losses of the engine create some braking.

Electromagnetic brakes are likewise often used where an electric motor is already part of the machinery. For example, many hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles use the electric motor as a generator to charge electric batteries and also as a regenerative brake.

BRAKING SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

• Use a brake meter or tester to verify the power of braking of each four wheels whenever it is possible.
• Make sure that the brake fluid is in the indicated level.
• Always check the status of brake pads.
• For every four changes of brake pads, change the brake shoe or a brake block.
• Never modify the original brake system without the expert advice.