Brake Systems

We all know that pushing down on the brake pedal slows a car to a stop. But how does this happen with electronic brake systems.

How does your car transmit the force from your leg to its wheels? How does it multiply the force so that it is enough to stop something as big as a car?

People, brake systems must be kept in good repair, because their life depends upon it! Bad or insufficient brake systems can send you crashing through a guard rail, or spinning out of control into oncoming traffic.

This is just the worst case scenario, but even in the best case, it is scary to feel your brakes fading. When your brakes first start to fade, the first thing you will notice is a squeaking sound.

Initial this will come just every once in a while – a high pitched squeaking or hissing that is kind of unpleasant.

It may even stop for a while and come back again. But after a while, and sooner rather than later, it will become a regular sound, going “squeak, squeak, squeak,” in time with the rotation of your wheels. It is very loud, and other drivers might start to give you looks.

Proviso it continues, your electronic brake systems will start to squeal continuously, but you really don't want to let it get to that point. This is because the sound you are hearing is the rubber coming off of the rotors and the rotors squeaking up against the calipers.

If you replace your breaks right away, all you have to get as new pads, but if you wait to long, you might need new rotors as well, and that costs much more money.

At the same time you should keep it in good repair and get it checked out regularly, the electronic brake systems which your car came with is probably quite alright and doesn't need to be replaced with some fancy, custom system. There are some important things to keep in mind, however. When you get your brake pads replaced, it is important to take it easy for a while, at least until they brake in.

If you don’t do that, they will wear out quickly, and then you'll have to get new ones almost immediately! The best way to take it easy is to not drive very fast, drive conservatively, and above all, do not brake suddenly unless you absolutely have to. This will ensure that your brakes will break in gradually like they were meant to.

Of course, most big semi trucks have different brake systems together. They are called air brakes because they are powered by compressed air, and are much more powerful than the ones you have on your car!

Because of the tremendous load that they are under, they can sometimes fail when the truck is going down a steep hill, causing it to careen out of control. This is why many mountain roads have runaway truck ramps, where trucks can careen into a bed of gravel which will stop their forward motion.

When you depress your brake pedal, your car transmits the force from your foot to its brakes through a fluid. Since the actual brakes require a much greater force than you could apply with your leg, your car must also multiply the force of your foot. It does this in two ways: The brakes transmit the force to the tires using friction, and the tires transmit that force to the road using friction also.