How Often Do You Inspect The Brakes & Ball Joint Condition

Grumpy · Feb 8, 2019

honestly I occasionally see guys wanting help with the excessively worn,
brake, shoes, drums, pads or pads and rotors,
now I don,t know about your car maintenance , but I tend to check fuel and air and oil filters every 4K-5K miles
but every time, and additionally I think everyone checks the brakes if they sound odd, or noisy, any time
I rotate tires, do a tune -up, or change the oil , check fan belts, check hoses, check signal lights, head lights, etc. or basically any time ,I work on the car up on a lift or jack stands
one of the quick inspections is to look over the tires and brakes.
how anyone can be oblivious to the brake condition eludes me simply because in 99% of the cases its not something that just fails... its a condition of slow progressive wear.
you can generally assume that the front brakes will wear out at about twice the rate of the rear brakes, but at about every 6K-7K miles minimum the brakes, disc pads and rotors or drum and shoes, need to be inspected for wear.

Maniacmechanic1 · Mar 11, 2019

I lost the Rear Brakes on the Chevy Tahoe last night.
Right Rear Wheel cylinder Blew out failed.
At least the snow is gone.
Going to be 40F -60 F all week.
Minor Nuisance again.
Made it most of the winter no major repairs breakdowns.
Not much worse laying on your back in a Blizzard -10 F in a freezing your nuts off.

Maniacmechanic1 · Mar 11, 2019

Driving the 63 Pontiac Gp again.
Ran 90 mph today 25 miles in.
Running very good !
Likely drive all week.
Fix the brakes on my 1999 Tahoe this coming weekend.

Maniacmechanic1 · May 3, 2019

I am going to replace the Front and Rear Brake Shoes on the 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix soon.
They have lasted since 1998.
Last checked in late 2018 and getting thin.
Have the New brake shoes.
I ordered new front and rear brake spring hardware kits yesterday from OPG Original Parts Group in California.
Should be here soon.

Important to keep up on maintenance on the daily drivers and Pump gas Hotrods.
No breakdowns.
Can Concentrate 100% on the Race Car fed 110-120 Motor Octane Gas for No Prep Street Outlaws Racing.
My 1970 TA RAIV.
Working on that too now.

Maniacmechanic1 · May 3, 2019

Early Widetrack Pontiac takes special brake hardware kits.
1963-1964 Specific.
1963 was not self adjusting.
1964 Is 1st year of self adjusting drum brakes.

Grumpy · May 3, 2019

my sons wife is a less than brilliant driver, she mentioned the brakes on her 2005 Toyota corolla,
were making noise, I put it up on jack stands , to inspect the brakes , and find the front pads worn down to the backing plates
and the front left caliper leaking
I have no idea how anyone can let things get that bad before noticing,
but roughly 3 hours and about $219 later with a new caliper ,two rotors and front brake pads,
its back driving
it would have been easy $50-$70 or more less money,
it she had let me order parts on-line and given me a weeks prior notice.

http://www.classicperform.com/TechBook/BrakeTroubleshoot.htm

Maniacmechanic1 · May 3, 2019

grumpy said:
my sons wife is a less than brilliant driver, she mentioned the brakes on her 2005 Toyota corolla,
were making noise, I put it up on jack stands , to inspect the brakes , and find the front pads worn down to the backing plates
and the front left caliper leaking
I have no idea how anyone can let things get that bad before noticing,
but roughly 3 hours and about $219 later with a new caliper ,two rotors and front brake pads,
its back driving
it would have been easy $50-$70 or more less money,
it she had let me order parts on-line and given me a weeks prior notice.

Yes.
Make simple repairs now or pay alot more later.

Race Car will not tow or haul kids around or go off-road 4x4.[/QUOTE]

Samuel Stella · May 5, 2019

It's truly scary, Grumpy, what people don't care to look at. A guy came by the shop today looking for a dump truck driving job and he was like do you mind looking at my brakes they have been making an odd sound. So I was like sure I'll take a look and you can talk to the boss about a job. Long story short no back brakes at all the line was cut at rear axle and fronts down to the steel. I told him to head straight to a car repair shop and told the boss not to hire him. If he can't/won't look after his own stuff he wouldn't bother looking after yours.

Grumpy · May 6, 2019

thats all too TRUE!
you might be amazed at the total lack of maintenance I see every few weeks,
guys bring in a car, I pull a valve cover to adjust valves and the sludge surrounding the rockers is so bad it looks like,
the guy has never changed his oil in decades, most when pressed on the issue admit they add oil when its low..
but can,t remember doing an oil change in the last "YEAR OR SO"

Indycars · May 6, 2019

Yikees!!! That's scary!

Grumpy · Nov 28, 2020

one of the guys I generally go hunting with had an issue with a 1989 ford f350 truck he owns
he had not used the truck in a few weeks time as he generally only used it to pull his car transport trailer,
well, he went to move the truck and the front disc brake on the pass side was locked up,
we disassembled it, and the issue was corrosion,
as his sprinkler irrigation system repeatedly soaked that front wheel.
after disassembly, we ordered the replacement parts required,
and about 4 days later the parts arrived,
be sure to chock the rear wheels and use two sturdy jack stands , don,t trust a floor jack.

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/under-car-safety.26/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/floor-jacks.969/

so we replaced the caliper and disc and pads on both front brakes
this issue could be avoided, but it was rather easy to solve (but not CHEAP)
but certainly, we saved a good deal of cash ordering name brand parts online vs dealing with the local auto parts stores.
while we were at this we checked the rear brakes but they were in good condition as he had replaced them about 8 months previously.
obviously, inspect the FRONT AND REAR WHEEL bearings,
REPLACE the BRAKE FLUID,
LUBE THE ZERK FITTINGS
bleed the brakes, inspect the ball joints,
tie rods,REAR BRAKES and shocks,
tire condition,
while the truck is being looked at for maintenance

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...d+v8,1126493,brake+&+wheel+hub,brake+pad,1684

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/230176230929286374/

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...cid+v8,1126493,brake+&+wheel+hub,caliper,1704

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...brake+&+wheel+hub,rotor+&+brake+pad+kit,13824

https://haynes.com/en-us/tips-tutorials/troubleshooting-common-brake-issues-and-causes

https://urbankenyans.com/troubleshooting-brake-problems-step-step-guide/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/trouble-shooting-brakes-2.972/#post-70468

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...er-brake-pads-and-drum-wear.13975/#post-72991

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/greasing-ball-joints-etc.3150/#post-90585

Grumpy · Jan 9, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0028QGT86/ezvid02-20

https://www.costway.com/21pcs-ball-...ce-remover-installing-master-adapter-car.html

How Often Do You Inspect The Brakes & Ball Joint Condition

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Maniacmechanic1

solid fixture here in the forum

Maniacmechanic1

solid fixture here in the forum

Maniacmechanic1

solid fixture here in the forum

Maniacmechanic1

solid fixture here in the forum

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Maniacmechanic1

solid fixture here in the forum

Samuel Stella

Member

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Indycars

Administrator

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.