Today’s featured service is Rear Brakes on a 2003 Jeep Liberty, brought to us by a client from Little Mountain, Vancouver.
This Jeep Liberty came to us with the rear brakes badly worn: a loud grinding noise was present on every brake application.
Upon inspection we found the left rear brakes worn metal on metal. The term metal on metal refers to the fact that the brake pad material has completely worn away and the metal backing plate on the brake pad is rubbing against the brake rotor. The rotor is solid metal.
While brakes worn this severely are always repairable it always comes with extra costs. Pads and rotors must be replaced and usually calipers are damaged from the intense heat generated when the brakes wear to this point. In many cases however, a sticking brake caliper can cause this wear in the first place.
One often overlooked area of damage when brakes are run metal on metal for an extended period of time are the iron particles which are created by the wearing components. These coat the wheel(s) with an almost impossible to remove layer of baked-on, rusty iron dust. I’ve even seen vehicle paint jobs damaged by this excessive wear.
Fortunately this is all preventable. Regular brake inspections, performed at least annually, will inform you of the condition of your brakes. Any grinding noises heard while braking should be immediately addressed.
Metal on metal brake wear is also a safety hazard as your brakes are not capable of stopping your vehicle as quickly. The sound and pedal feel is also downright annoying!
On our featured Jeep Liberty the brakes worked fabulously after replacement, unfortunately it will have a rusty wheel to remind the owner of the worn out brakes that were left too long.
For more about the Jeep Liberty check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Liberty
For more about disc brake operation click on this link http://goo.gl/d4QzAB
