Workshop
BrakesPads, discs, lines
Brakes on a loaded van work harder than most people expect, and they tell you they are unhappy long before they stop working. Here are the complaints we hear most, and what each one usually turns out to be.
Ask about brakes on WhatsAppWhat people describe, and what it usually is
“It grinds when I slow down.” Pads worn past the friction material, cutting into the disc. Left long enough the disc goes too, so this is the one to bring in soonest.
“It squeals in the morning then stops.” Often surface rust or dust after a wet night, and harmless. If it squeals warm and under pressure, the pads are the suspect.
“It pulls to one side when I brake.” A sticking caliper or a seized slider, usually on the side that is not pulling. It also wears one pad twice as fast as the other.
“The pedal feels spongy, or it sinks.” Air in the system, a tired flexible hose, or a leak at a corroded line or cylinder. Brake fluid also absorbs water with age, which softens the pedal.
“The handbrake will not hold on a slope.” Stretched cables, seized adjusters or worn shoes on drums.
New parts on brakes
Friction parts and hydraulics go on new: pads, discs, drums, shoes, flexible hoses, cylinders and fluid. We do not fit used brake parts, whatever else we sell.
Discs and pads are replaced as a pair across an axle so the van pulls up straight, and we clean and free the carriers rather than bolting new pads onto a seized caliper.
How quickly we can look at it
Brakes get looked at quickly. Send the registration on WhatsApp with what you can hear or feel and we will tell you the same day whether it is safe to keep driving it to us or better to bring it in straight away.