November 28, 2022
Don’t Drive with Noisy Brakes!
Photo by Gustavo Fring under Pexels License
While hearing your brakes squeak or grind can be annoying, they also alert you of potentially dangerous situations. Since your braking system is vital to your vehicle’s performance and safety, it’s easy to panic when your brakes make weird noises. For this reason, it’s best to identify and address signs of malfunctioning brakes.
What Are the Most Common Brake Noises?
It’s important to note that issues with the braking system can show up in vehicles of any make, model, or year. Since driving with faulty brakes is a recipe for disaster, you’ll want to be aware of the common signs of braking problems such as squeaking or grinding sounds. Veteran Car Donations sheds some light on these brake noises and what the repair process would look like for each.
1. Squeaking noise
The most common cause of squeaky brakes is low-quality brake pads. While cheap brake pads may sound good when you’re paying for them, you’ll have to brace yourself for years of squeakiness. These substandard brake pads typically feature large metal flakes in their metal material.
Each time you press the brakes, these flakes drag along the rotor and produce squeaking noises. When that metal flake wears away over time, the squeak goes away with it. However, since there’s usually another metal flake right behind it, the cycle continues. Replacing your cheap brake pads with quality ones will allow you to avoid this problem.
However, it’s possible to hear squeaking noises even if you’re not braking. If the squeak occurs while you’re driving and stops when you step on the brakes, your brake wear indicator is likely hitting the rotor and producing the noise. In case you’re wondering, the brake wear indicator is a metal tab that’s fastened to your brake pad. In this case, the squeak alerts you of worn brake pads as the metal tab drags along the rotor.
How to Get Your Brakes to Stop Squeaking
You can have your mechanic do this for you. But if you think you can do this on your own, here’s how to do it:
- Remove the brake pads.
- Disassemble the calipers.
- Use high-temperature grease to lubricate the calipers’ moving parts.
- Use brake pad lube to lubricate contact points between the calipers and brake pads.
2. Grinding Noise
A lack of brake pad material causes a grinding noise upon braking. The sound comes from the metal-to-metal contact between the worn-down brake pads and the rotors. Ignoring this issue will result in damaged brake system components and a hefty repair bill.
How to Get Your Brakes to Stop Grinding
- Stop driving.
- Pull over and call for a tow.
- Replace your brake system’s damaged parts if you’ve been driving and braking despite the grinding noise.
For more on brake issues, check out these blogs:
Use Your Worn-Out Vehicle to Help Our Suffering Veterans
If repairs aren’t enough to save your old and unwanted vehicle, you can still make good use of it when you hand it over to us at Veteran Car Donations. We’ll turn it into a tool for improving the lives of the struggling disadvantaged veterans in your local community.
Our team will auction off your auto donation and use the proceeds to support the life-enhancement programs of our veteran-focused charity partners. Just like us, these IRS-certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations are committed to serving veterans who are homeless and impoverished, those who can’t find decent job opportunities, and those who are suffering from serious disabilities and illnesses, including mental disorders.
Our charity partners use the funding they get from us to provide their beneficiaries with housing and financial assistance, employment and livelihood opportunities, family support, free quality health care and medical treatment, psychotherapy services, scholarships, and other services meant to uplift their lives.
Your donation will entitle you to claim the maximum tax deduction in the next tax season. We’ll mail you the 100% tax-deductible sales tax receipt of your car soon after its sale. You will also benefit from our free pickup and towing service, which is available to our donors in all parts of the United States.
Aside from the material rewards in store for you as our donor, you’ll also be privileged to enjoy a most satisfying donating experience, knowing that your act of charity will help transform the lives of our nation’s heroes.
We accept almost all types of vehicles regardless of age, mileage, or condition. Visit this page to learn what else you can donate aside from standard cars.
For more information regarding our vehicle donation program, including our quick and easy donation process, head over to our FAQs page. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us anytime through our toll-free hotline at 877-594-5822 or write to us here. We’ll respond to you ASAP.
Make Our Hurting Heroes Smile Today!
Photo by Nestor Boris Vargas under Pexels License
If you want to give our hurting heroes in your community a reason to smile, don’t hesitate to donate your unneeded vehicle to Veteran Car Donations. What are you waiting for? Call us at 877-594-5822 or fill out this secure donation form now!
Last Updated: August 24th, 2023