Maintenance on your Brake Calipers is Important and Here is Why.

Like many of us, we are not experts in car maintenance and we don't always understand all the maintenance that is required to keep our vehicles running efficiently. Did you know that it is recommended to maintain your brake calipers every 2 years or 24,000 miles on your vehicle? Brake caliper servicing is something that is needed and different from your typical brake service. 

Let's start with the first question that we are all asking...what are brake calipers? Brake calipers house the brake pads and, using brackets, pistons and caliper slide pins, which help push the pads into the brake rotors when you apply the brakes.

Let's dig in more to fully understand the brake calipers...over time, the slide pins that we are referring to use their lubrication and don't slide the calipers well. With lack of lubrication, a few things start to happen.

1. Brakes don't contact the rotor correctly; brake pads wear unevenly.
2. The slide pins can stick. This causes the brake pad to continually contact the rotor, resulting in a buildup of heat, which wears down the brakes even faster.
3. Your brake's stopping power may become weak due to the brake pads not hitting the full surface of the brake rotor.

Bottom line, it sounds like we are not fully getting use of the brake pads as we should, which means we are throwing dollars away.

There is also rubber that covers and protects the slide pins which experience brake dust and rust buildup. This buildup can hinder the calipers from sliding. How does rust buildup occur? The leading cause is salt from the road. As native Ohioans, we know best then anyone that our Cleveland weather can really get our car dirty from the bottom to top and inside. The salt chemicals are harmful to the metal and are corrosive if the metal is not cleaned regularly. Thus, this build up creates the lack of lubrication.

To keep those brake calipers in pristine shape, you need to regularly clean and lubricate the slide pins. When our service department at Crestmont Cadillac cleans the pins, they also remove any grease, debris and look for rust then rub a heat resistant lube on the pin and slide it back in. The entire process can take just about an hour.

While we are maintaining the brake calipers, we can also inspect the disc or drum brakes...but that's another blog article! Since you took the time to learn about brake calipers, your final question might be, what is the cost of this type of maintenance? 

At Crestmont Cadillac, we charge $179.99 for all four brake calipers. Of course, we always ask that you see the dealer or Crestmont Service department for the exact details. We also service most makes and models from Ford, Chevy, Honda, Infiniti, Chrysler and more.

Mention this article and get $10 off your next brake caliper maintenance!