Your brakes are probably the second most important system on your car. Without your brakes, you aren't able to safely stop, which means you can't drive your car. If you want to be able to safely drive your car, you need to know what some signs of failing brakes are. 

Squealing

As it gets to be time to replace your brakes. you may hear some squealing when you brake. The squealing tends to be very high-pitched. At first, it will be relatively quiet. As your brakes start getting worse, it will likely get loud enough to drown out your radio when you are braking. The squealing generally comes from a wear indicator on the brake pads. As it wears through, it starts squealing, warning you it's time to replace the brakes. 

Grinding

This grinding sound will make you cringe. It's a metal on metal sound and generally sounds pretty terrible. If you are hearing that sound, it's because the brake pads have been completely worn through. The metal of the calipers are rubbing directly on the metal of your brake rotors. That can make it hard for your car to stop, especially when you have to stop in a hurry. Even worse, if it goes on for a long time, the metal on metal action will cause permanent damage to your rotors. If that happens, you are going to have to get more than just your brake pads replaced, you are going to end up with having to replace the rotors as well, which can be a much more costly repair. 

Pulling to One Side

If your car starts pulling to one side, it could be that you have a caliper that is stuck so that it's riding the brakes and pulling your car to that side. Now, there are several other things that could cause your car to pull towards one side. If your tires are out of alignment or improperly inflated that can also cause your car to pull towards that side. One way to check to make sure that it's not improperly inflated tires is to get a tire gauge and check to make sure they are inflated to the right PSI. If your car is pulling and you are hearing any strange noises aside from the squealing, it's time to take it to the auto repair shop and get it looked at. 

If you think that you are having brake problems, the sooner you get your brakes checked the better off you are. You will be safer with new brakes, and it will tend to cost you less money to get them fixed before it gets too bad. For more information, contact a company like Highwood Auto Body.

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