Can you believe that winter is almost here already? 2018 has sped past in a flurry of rain and sunshine, and now the colder temperatures are beginning to set in. Among the Christmas preparations, you need to consider how you could prepare your house and car with something other than tinsel and baubles. Your car, especially, needs some attention as the mercury plummets.
You’re going to be on the road and taking the usual time to do your activities, heading to work and dealing with travelling between home and the stores. There’s a lot to do, but one thing that you need to put at the very top of your priority list is your car and its braking system. The icy conditions and the heavy snow will affect your stopping distances while you’re driving, and while you could replace the entire system with brakes from Automotive Stuff, you can also update just the brake pads. Getting the brakes ready for the colder weather isn’t just smart, it’s a necessity for your safety and the safety of others.
Inspect
Before you start salting the driveway and the gritters start getting the roads ready, you need to inspect the brakes closely. Get the car up and take the tires off so that you can look at the brakes and brake pads. It’s important to know exactly how they look, because you’ll be able to tell whether they are wearing unevenly. You’ll also be able to tell whether your brake fluid is leaking. Any signs of wear means that you need to get your wallet out and pay for your brakes to be changed. You don’t want your worn down brakes to fail – believe us!
Bleed
Living in a cold climate is hard enough, but the last thing you want is to deal with brake fluid in the lines. Even if the liquid doesn’t freeze, the dirt and debris make it far harder for your brakes to work and stop your car. Flushing the brakes out with antifreeze flusher can stop the fluid from freezing while cleaning out the lines properly.
Turn
Driving on snow and ice puts a lot of pressure on the brakes compared to the normal driving conditions out there. Work rotors can fail if there’s too much pressure. You can have the surface of the rotors re-cut if necessary and if they’re too thin, you can have them replaced entirely. It’s not an expensive thing to do, either, which will be handy when you need your cash to buy other things!
Prepare
Once you’ve replaced any components of your brakes, including brand new brake pads, you’re almost ready for the cold. The rest of the car will naturally be next, but the brakes are pretty much the most important thing to consider because without working brakes, you could end up in a ditch – not ideal.
Driving home for Christmas just became a whole lot easier, because you slowed down, took the time and checked your brakes are safe.
