Brake Inspection

Start out by going into your car and step on the brake pedal and see if its stiff or if it has a spongy feeling. If its spongy then you might need to bleed your brakes. If you step on the brake pedal and it slowly goes down to the floor then you might have a bad master cylinder and must be replace as soon as possible. After the pedal test start removing the tires. If you are using a jack don't forget the jack stands. Start out by checking the front disk brakes. Check the brake lines for any cracks or bends. Then move on to the rotors, rub your finger on the rotor and see if its smooth or wavy. In some cases the rotor will be wavy but that does not always mean its bad. Next check the brake pads and see if they still have enough in them, if not start thinking on buying some new ones. Now check the drum brakes, if you have rear disk brakes then repeat the first steps. Remove the drum, some drums might need to be muscled out or hammered out. Check the brake shoes if they a thin or cracked then you should buy new ones. Check the wheel cylinder for leaks if leaks are present then new hardware should be put on. After you inspect everything put the wheels back on and make sure to torque them up properly.

How To Read Tires

Today we learned how to read a tire to know what all the numbers and letters mean. Every tire has their own set of numbers and letters for example P215/65 R15 89 H. The first letter on it is a P, this is the tire type. There are four different tire types P=passenger, T=temporary, LT=Light truck, and C=commercial. Next its 215 which is the width of the tire (top of tire, tread part) in millimeters so for this tire its 215 millimeters wide. The third number is 65 which means the side wall is 65% the length of the top.  The R is the construction type which there are three types, R=radial, B=bias belted, D=diagonal (bias). The 15 is the rim diameter in inches.  The 89 is the load index which tells you what the maximum load on it. And finally the H is the speed symbol, there are thirteen different symbols.

·         M=81 mph

·         N=87 mph

·         P=93 mph

·         Q=99 mph

·         R=106 mph

·         S=112 mph

·         T=118 mph

·         U=124 mph

·         H=130 mph

·         V=149 mph

·         W=168 mph

·         Y=186 mph

·         ZR=Above 149 mph

Try not to go more than what your tire reading is because if you do the tire will warp and and blow up causing an accident.