You entrust your safety and the safety of your family to your car’s brakes. The brakes are a vital part of your car’s safety systems, and obviously stop your car when it needs to be stopped. You need to know that you can trust your brakes to work when you need them. While the casual driver may not realize it, there are actually a few different options when it comes to brakes: drums and discs. It can be beneficial to know about both.

Drum Brakes

Drum brakes are the earliest form of automobile brakes still in use. All forms of automobile brakes use friction to slow the wheels and the vehicle. Drum braking systems use shoes or pads that press against lining on the inside of the wheel to arrest the movement of the wheel. This form of braking has a natural self-applying quality, in which the shoes bite into the wheel without any additional application of force from the driver.

Drums are less expensive than discs, and are often used on economy vehicles. Lighter vehicles also make use of drums. However, there are a number of disadvantages to disc brakes, including:

Drum brakes are apt to overheat, which can cause the shoes to distort and cause vibration to the entire braking system.
Overheating can also cause brake fade. The heat from the braking can cause the shoes to lose their gripping abilities, meaning that the brakes may not be able to grip and braking may not occur.

Disc Brakes

Disc brakes present a significant advancement over drum brakes. Whereas drums press against the inner lining of the wheel to arrest the wheel’s movement, a disc brake’s pads are attached to a device called a brake caliper, which mechanically depresses on the wheels, stopping movement. Unlike drums, they are much better at dispersing heat, meaning that they are not as subject to the problem of brake fade. While brake fade may occur, it is far less likely in discs.

Discs are now more common than drums, as they provide superior braking power on larger vehicles. Smaller economy vehicles still commonly use drum brakes, as the weights involved make discs unnecessary. More and more hybrid cars are making use of the less-expensive drum brakes, as they make use of the energy generated from braking to charge the battery.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident caused by non-functioning brakes, you may be entitled to financial compensation. To learn more, visit the Wisconsin car accident attorneys of Habush Habush & Rottier today.

Joseph Devine

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DRUM BRAKE EVOLUTION

To understand the how we must first discuss the why. Brake technology has made quite a few advances in the last 100 years, but even back in the 1940s, Ford adapted changes to the way brakes were designed, much to the resistance of Henry Ford.

Henry Ford was fond of his mechanical brakes, and his marketing touted “Solid steel from pedal to wheel”. These mechanical rod operated brakes persisted until 1939, well behind Ford’s competitors. The problem with the brakes is that they required frequent adjustment, and were just plain dangerous at speed. They featured 12 inch diameter drums that could easily put a car into a spin if one brake rod was tighter than another. High speed stops proved to be hair raising experiences, and many felt that the new hydraulic or “juice” brakes introduced in 1939 to the Ford product line was a step up in safety and performance.

JUICE BRAKES

The first and by far the most important design improvement was the change from rods to hydraulic fluid to actuate the brake shoes. Although the design was originally invented in 1924, Ford resisted utilizing the design until 1939, with the backing plates, shoes, and drum assembly that in many ways the is same design used on cars today. There were a few key design issues that took some years of production to be recognized and improved upon. Along with other idiosyncrasies, Ford’s new adopted hydraulic design was a work in progress. The brakes required more pedal effort to stop the car than our modern drum brakes, a break in period, and even in some cases machine grinding to fit correctly.

Back in the 1940′s and 1950′s our hot rodding fore-fathers had limited resources and little access to sophisticated machinery, so often a “bolt on solution” was the most popular. From the way Ford designed their cars, these brake alternatives were just that.

The second major design improvement was the way the shoes were mounted on the backing plate. The 1940 brake shoes pivoted on a pin at the bottom and where actuated by a slave cylinder at the top. This design is known as “single leading shoe” or “leading and trailing shoe brakes”. When brake force is applied, both shoes pivot at the bottom attachment bolt and press against the drum with equal pressure. Shoe contact tended to stay in one spot and the wear was uneven. Pedal effort was high because none of the rotational force was used to help make the shoes press harder to the drum surface.

Living with the 1939 Ford brakes

To improve shoe to drum contact, the 1940 design utilized a pair of cams on the shoe pivots that moved each shoe in or out to eliminate high spots. Either lock nuts on the backing plate side of the brakes, or spring tension bolts allowed for adjustments to be made.

These spring tensioned bolt adjusters tend to resist staying in place, and the situation is even more aggravated if you chemically clean the backing plates for painting. Rust tended to create a resistance to turning of these spring bolts. The lower cam bolts on the design on the right tended to loosen as well, so when using the early Ford brakes periodic inspection is a must for optimal performance. Overall the design works well but requires maintenance.

A word about brake shoe grinding:

Brake grinding was common back in the day, as everyone was well aware that a little asbestos dust never hurt anybody! Perhaps no one thought of the disadvantage of grinding off of valuable braking material was a problem either. If the brakes where not ground down, they would eventually wear to the shape of the drums, but prior to that happening, the 1939 brakes had a nasty habit of grabbing and high spotting. This caused wheel lock at inopportune times, along with unpredictable braking. These features and disadvantages make the selection of the F100 truck brakes an easy choice.

Ford F100 pickup truck brake design

The F100 brakes are what is called a “Duo-Servo” design. This design works outperforms the 1939 leading edge design because it uses the rotation of the drums to cause the brake shoes to “twist” and press against the drum lining much harder. So much better in fact that they require less pedal effort and are less sensitive to high spotting. This also has the benefit of a more even brake shoe wear and longer shoe life. Let’s look closer at why the “Duo-Servo” design works so much better than the 1939 design.

At first glance the F100 design looks much like the 1940 design, but on closer examination we see that the shoes are not mounted on a stationary pivot point, but rather “floating” on a pin and spring assembly. The floating feature allows the brake shoes to twist and wedge themselves against the drum increasing braking friction. Through this servo action the shoes transmit motion to each other, rather than just one lead shoe doing all the work.

Throughout the 1950′s there was a revolution of sorts on brake development. Some of the larger more prestigious cars came equipped with this updated design. The major distinction was that the shoes now “floated” on the backing plates and took advantage of the rotation of the drum to grip harder. Ford recognized the advantage this would have on the heavier truck they produced during the early 1950′s. The point not lost on performance enthusiasts. Even though the early brake drums were 12 inches in diameter, the 11 inch F100 and F1 design was far superior in performance.

Curt Baker is a Charlotte NC based consultant specializing in foreclosure mediation in the commercial market. Curt works with Asset Solutions Group Inc and is focused on the Hospitality Industry in mediating debt, and restructuring financing for distressed properties. The company website is:

http://www.assetsolutionsgroup.net

Curt is also an accomplished author and builder of traditional hot rod automobiles. His passion has been on Ford cars of the early 1930′s and 1940′s, with emphasis on period correct restorations. His writings include The Traditional Ford Brake Book which isa detailed how to book on early Ford brake conversions.

http://so-car.blogspot.com/

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Cruising down the road with your mind on your grocery list, and a little girl darts out of nowhere and runs in front of your car in pursuit of an escaped ball. Wouldn’t you be thankful that your car stopped when you stomped on the pedal, just in the nick of time? Just imagine driving a car without your brakes. More accidents, going past your destination, hence terrible tempers. Not a pretty picture, is it? Fluctuating brakes can cause a lot of ugly scenarios, and the bottom line is, you have no business being on the road if your brakes are less than a hundred percent functional.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.2 million (2004) people meet their demise in road accidents every year, and the rate of people who are injured in accidents can go up to as much as 50 million. Studies show that these figures are expected to skyrocket by about 65% over the next 20 years. A lot of car accidents are attributed to mechanical difficulties, for instance, engine defects, hindered visibility, or brake failures. The earliest record of a car accident fatality is the death of Mary Ward, a scientist who fell under their home made steam car. The steel wheels of the steam car ran over her, resulting to her fatal injury, which was a broken neck.

Brakes, as we all know, are used to slow down or halt the movement of vehicles. They are also utilized to keep the vehicle from moving again. Kinetic energy increases with the square of the velocity, which means that brakes must dissipate a quadruple of that energy to stop it. Most brakes are fitted for wheeled vehicles such as trucks, vans, car, trains, and bikes.

The earliest braking systems work by using steel rimmed wheels to halt vehicles. They were composed of an arched wooden block, engineered to press against the steel tire and controlled by a leverage mechanism from the driver’s seat. This primary system was dubbed as the “brake shoe.” It was the common way of halting a steam locomotive or a horse drawn vehicle, utilizing rods and pivots to operate them. Then, in 1895, the Michelin Brothers’ pneumatic rubber tires began to oust steel rimmed wheels, and the brake shoes were no longer satisfactory for use, which hence prompted them to cook up new braking systems.

Over the years, brakes were developed and continuously upgraded to more efficient systems to provide more assurance for safety. Some of these improvements include the anti-lock braking system, the brake assist, cornering brake control, dynamic brake control, and the inboard braking system.

The anti-lock braking system keeps the wheels from locking while braking, permitting the driver to maintain control over steering under severe braking. The brake assist on the other hand is developed to boost braking pressure when in emergency situations. Cornering brake control, or CBC, regulates the braking force on each of the vehicle’s wheels. Speeding up the system and reinforces the application of the brakes is the main job of the dynamic brake control, while inboard brakes are strategically located near the differential instead of the wheels, simultaneously improving ride and handling with braking.

A simple thing as regulating your braking system can save a lot of lives, yours and those around you. For these reasons, keeping your brakes in perfect condition is imperative before you drive out on the freeway. There is no doubt that you will be grateful that you had the option to stop just when you really needed to.

Daniel Rogers is a 33-year old businessman who owns stores that sell various car parts. You can visit brakes for more information.

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Brake systems in automotives have seen a lot of improvements since the emergence of the first car in automotive history. Now, almost three centuries after, automotive brake systems have evolved much since the traditional drum brakes of the early 1900′s. These brakes were of considerable popularity up to the end of the 1970′s, when disc brakes began to be widely accepted and circulated for mass production. Although there are fewer drum brakes now, a number of modern cars like the Toyota Prius still rely on drum brakes. These days, though, the type of automotive brake systems often seen in cars employ disc brakes. Frederick William Lanchester in Birmmingham, England, was actually the first person to patent the first ever disc brakes for automotive use, but it took a long time before the potential and reliability of these disc brakes were recognized. Initially, this brake system was confined to sports cars. Over time, when improved performance of this innovation steadily became apparent, disc brakes were put to use by many automotive companies, and thus, became a common feature of contemporary passenger cars as well. Disc brakes also include brake pads, rotor as well as calipers and support. Other parts of the modern automotive brake system also include the master cylinder. This is typically located in front of the driver’s seat, in the engine compartment. This cylinder is usually made up of two, with each one connected to a pair of wheels. In this manner, if either of the cylinders suddenly suffers from corruption or component collapse and malfunctions, the other still remains to enable you to brake effectively. Another automotive brake system element is the brake fluid. This is enclosed in a container positioned on top of the master cylinder. Remember that when you are changing your brake fluid, you should take care to replace the cap or lid on it immediately. Because brake fluid corrupts after a certain period of use–as do all things–when it’s time to pour in a new batch, most people forget that the air that gets into the hydraulic fluid contaminates it, lowering its boiling point while raising its freezing point, in addition to adversely affecting its anti-corrosives. Then there are also the brake lines. This is the path that the brake fluid takes that allows it to circulate from the master cylinder to the wheels. Last, there are also the power brake booster and anti-lock brakes. For most people, brake system care and maintenance do not necessarily enter into their run of daily thoughts and worries. As long as the car gets them where they are going and stops when they press on the pedal, they relegate these issues to the backburner, remembering them only when they find themselves confronted with a spongy brake pedal or, much worse, with brake failure. So, if you do not fancy the thought of finding yourself falling back into childhood prayers while you hang tight to the steering wheel, do yourself a favor and learn more about your brake system. Knowing more always leads to better automotive protection. Michael Kingston is a freelance writer from Albany, New York. He enjoys online games and is passionate about cars as well. He’s specifically fond of how automotive brakes work. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Kingston