You don’t think about your brake system until it stops functioning. Unfortunately, by then, it's too late. A basic brake inspection can be performed by anyone, nearly anywhere, with minimal special tools, and might be what prevents an accident. Even taking just a few minutes to look over the few components can be enough, so don't delay. Save your health and the hassle of trying to find another car by giving your brakes a quick check-over.
Brake Inspection Process
Brake Fluid
Start your brake inspection process with the hydraulic brake fluid. It's an incompressible hygroscopic fluid that acts as an extension of the force you apply to the brake pedal. The pressure is extended to each wheel and is what provides pressure to the brake calipers to clamp your brake pads against your rotors.
When looking at your brake fluid, you're looking for the fluid level to be within the minimum and maximum of the fluid reservoir's fill lines, and it should be a pale amber color. Anything resembling a dark fluid has gone bad and should be flushed as soon as possible. Brake fluid has a service life generally of 1-2 years and should be replaced every two years no matter what, so ensure that it becomes a regular part of servicing if it isn't already. Leaving it in beyond that gives it the chance to absorb too much water and lose its effectiveness.
If you would like to learn more about this and what brake fluid your car should be using, check out "How To Pick The Right Brake Fluid For Your Car."
Brake Discs/Rotors
The next step in your brake inspection is to measure the thickness of the rotors. This will tell you how much they've worn down since they were installed. All brake discs have a minimum thickness specification listed on the manufacturer's website. Anything that measures below the minimum thickness needs replacing.
To measure the thickness of your rotors, you will need a few tools. You will need to safely jack one corner of your car in the air at a time and support it while you have the wheel off. We advise using a quality floor jack, and jack stands. Lastly, you'll a Brake Disc Caliper Gauge. These are essentially analog or digital calipers with extended-reach jaws. These jaws help overcome any lips on the discs themselves that might have developed over time.
Even if your brake discs are within manufacturer spec for thickness, you should inspect them for unusual signs of wear. The discs should be solid and free of any missing chunks or slivers of metal. Beyond these glaringly obvious signs, you want to make sure that the rotor faces are relatively smooth and that they're not deeply grooved.
Grooved rotors provide less surface area for your brake pads to make contact with, reducing the overall stopping power. They will also wear your brake pads unevenly, resulting in premature replacement.
In the photo below, you can see discs with sections of metal completely missing and heavily grooved. These are both signs that the discs should be replaced.
We advise replacing both discs on an axle together to ensure even stopping power from side to side.
Brake Pads
Brake pads can easily be the source of your braking issues and, most commonly, are the culprit. When doing a brake pad inspection, you are looking for them to meet the manufacturer's minimum thickness specification first and foremost. A brake pad that isn't there can't stop your car.
The next step is to look at the wear they've acquired. Even if plenty of friction material remains, if they're wearing unevenly or have deep grooves from your rotors, they won't work effectively. As you can see in the photo below, my brake pads were worn unevenly. Less than half of the pad is actually making contact with the brake disc surface. You can tell this by the angle of the friction surface of the two brake pads on the right side of the photo.
Another issue you can gather from this photo is how much less friction surface is on the pads to the right of the photo compared to the left side. What this tells me is that the brake pads were not moving freely in the brake caliper on the passenger side of the car, causing them to wear more quickly. This could be due to debris getting caught in the caliper or a stuck caliper that needs rebuilding/replacing. In the case of this car that only gets driven in the winter, it's a sign that there is corrosion in my caliper, and it needs replacing.
Brake Hoses
Brake hoses are responsible for transferring the hydraulic brake fluid from the stationary hard brake lines to the brake caliper that moves with your car's suspension. These rubber hoses are put through their paces, having to take high heat from your brake system, and they're subjected to extreme pressure, all while having to move freely for tens of thousands of miles.
Over time, the rubber of these hoses can break down and crack. Even worse, the connections can corrode. If you see heavy corrosion on the end connections or cracking in the rubber, it's a sign that they need replacement immediately. The photo below shows that these hoses needed immediate replacement. The rubber was severely cracked in multiple places. This is to be expected, though, after 16 years on the car.
Tires
Tires are the most often overlooked yet most crucial part of the entire system. You could have all-new brake system components that are functioning perfectly, but if your tires aren't up to the task, you won't stop. Think about it: out of every part of your car, your tires are the only thing that connects everything to the ground. It's good to inspect your tires more often than your brake system, but at the very least, you should do it during your annual brake inspection.
When inspecting your tires during your brake inspection, start with tread depth. Tread depth is crucial because it evacuates the water from underneath your tires and prevents you from hydroplaning over the slightest of puddles. Most states have a minimum tread depth of 2/32" of an inch. However, to remain safe on wet roads, it's advised to replace your tires at around 4/32 of an inch. And for use in the winter, you should have at least 6/32 of an inch. To measure this, you can use the back end of the Brake Disc Caliper Gauge that you used to measure your brake rotors, or you can simply use a penny.
Beyond the tread depth, you should be looking for dry rotting/cracking of the rubber and uneven tire wear. A tire that wears more on the inside vs. outside or vice versa is a sign that your car is in need of an alignment. This could be due to your car falling out of alignment over time or a sign that you have excessive wear somewhere in the suspension. Also, tires wear evenly from the driver's side to the passenger side. Significant tread depth differences from one side of the axle to the other can wreak havoc on differentials and AWD systems.
If you need to replace any of the brake system components mentioned above, FCP Euro makes it easy. Start by going to our homepage and using the "My Vehicle" selector on the upper left-hand side of the page. By adding your exact make, year, and model, you will only be shown braking components that fit your car, taking all of the guesswork out. If you want to learn how to replace these components on your car, there's a good chance we have a DIY on our blog or our YouTube channel.
