MOTORING
June 3rd - June 9th 2011
Motoring World
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The History of Car Brakes
In 1804 the first brakes invented used blocks of wood made to rub against wheel rims by a system of levers to slow the steamer down they were used on. Since then technological advances have helped make the cars we drive safer and easier to stop.
Disk Brakes
Brake pads
Drum brakes
Jaguar was the first to pioneer disk brakes in 1953. These brakes used a pair of friction pads to grip and slow a disc mounted to and spinning with
the wheel hub. They dissipated heat better and are far more resistant to fade, they give much more powerful stopping for longer than drum brakes.
Ceramic Brake Pads
In 1901 Maybach introduced the internally expanding drum brake. It used a ring of friction material pressed against the inside of a brake drum by rollers. The initial drum brakes made a horrific noise and didn’t initially catch on, so asbestos was added to make them quiter. In 1902, Louis Renault designed the definitive drum brakes that are still used today. Initially they were used on rear wheels only, for it was feared front brakes could causes skids. These are the earliest
form of brakes that are still in use. Drum braking uses pads that press against the inside of the wheel to stop the car. This form of braking uses a natural self applying quality that helps the pads bite into the wheel without the need to apply any additional force from the driver. The however has some disadvantages, they tend to overheat, and that can cause the pads to bend and cause vibration on the braking system. When pads overheat they can cause brake fade.
Ceramic brake pads offer great braking performance, wear well over time and are very lightweight all of which are important for high-performance driving. So what’s the problem with ceramic brake pads? They’re very expensive. Ceramic brake pads are made from ceramic fibers, filler material, bonding agents and they may even have small amounts of copper fibers within them as well. Because they’re mostly ceramic, these brake parts dis-
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The pressure and friction applied to the brake disk is what slows and stops the wheel. Once the wheels stop turning, the vehicle stops moving, too. Though the role of brake pads as braking parts is pretty simple, the brake pads themselves are anything but. B¬ecause of how fast a vehicle’s wheels rotate and how much a typical car weighs, brake pads undergo extreme stress every time you slow down or come to a stop. There are two main types, ceramic and organic.
Organic Brake Pads
Brake pads were formerly manufactured using mainly asbestos as the friction material. That’s because brake pads are exposed to a lot of friction, which Question: Hi Graham, We have a 1996 Toyota Rav 4 which we have had generates a lot of heat. since new and we had chrome guards fitted over the headlights and the Asbestos is a good marear lights by the local Toyota Garage when we bought it. It always passes terial for absorbing and the ITV without any problems only a few days ago they failed it because of these saying they were affecting the function of the lights and also there dissipating heat. So was a risk of detachment!!!! They also said that we would not get a valid what was the problem? ITV until we removed these, have you ever heard of this before? Regards. When asbestos breaks down, it’s creates dust Answer: Hi, thank you for the question. If you bought the car new in Tenerthat’s dangerous to ife then the only thing I can suggest is to obtain a certificate of conformity from the garage you bought the car from and then present this to the ITV breathe -- and brake station, saying this I have had cars pass the ITV personally with bars over pads can create a lot of the headlights, maybe you just got a new person in the ITV station, but brake dust when they’re the certificate will allow the car to be ITV’d with the grills on as they will be slowing and stopping added to the fiche técnica (green card).I hope this is of some help. vehicles on the roads. Organic brake pads E-mail your questions to graham@motorworldtenerife.com
Question & Answer
sipate heat well, which keeps performance strong, even after repeated hard stops. They also don’t break down very much with repeated use; that means they produce less dust than other types of brake pads -- and the dust that they do produce is lighter in color and doesn’t stick to the wheels. However, because they’re so expensive, ceramic brake pads aren’t for every type of vehicle. Sports cars that are routinely driven hard can benefit from ceramic brake pads.
There’s a lot more to effectively using your car’s braking system then simply stomping on the pedal. The braking systems of cars, trucks and motorcycles are made up of a number of parts that translate the driver’s actions into physical force that stops the car. One of those brake parts is your vehicle’s brake pads. Brake pads are a key brake part because they are the component that contacts and applies pressure and friction to a vehicle’s brake discs that you can sometimes see just behind the wheels of some vehicles.
are made from natural materials liked glass and rubber, as well as resins that can withstand high heat. In fact, the high heat helps to bind the brake pad materials together. An advantage of organic brake pads is that they’re made of materials that don’t pollute as they wear and they’re easier to dispose of, too. They’re also softer than brake pads made of other materials, which means they’re often quieter. The downside of organic brake pads is that, because they’re softer, they typically wear faster. As they wear, they also create more dust than other types of brake pads.
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