Brakes falling off of your car sounds like a nightmare scenario, especially if it happens while driving. Fortunately, this isn’t something that sounds too common, but the fear is there.
Can brakes fall out of a car? This is very unlikely. Properly installed brakes with appropriate inspection frequencies make the possibility of falling out absolutely minuscule.
If any part of the brake system does fall out, this is evidence of a much larger issue, like excessive wear or an improper installation.
Hopefully, you’re reading this article out of curiosity, rather than experience. In either case, brakes are a part of every vehicle that create unforgiving problems when something goes wrong.
While falling brakes are unlikely, it’s useful to at least understand the conditions that could lead to this, and how to avoid them.
Raining Brakes?
This article will only focus on disc brakes, as the topic applies more to those than it would for drum brakes. To understand why a brake may or may not fall out, it helps to understand the individual pieces.
The rotor is a circular piece of metal that rotates with your wheel. These two always spin together and stop together.
The brake pad is the piece that pushes against the rotor when you apply the brakes. The friction between the rotor and the brake pads is what slows and stops your vehicle.
The calipers hold the brake pads and have pistons that extend to push the brake pad against the rotor.
If everything is installed properly, your brakes won’t simply fall out. If you have serious concerns about their installation, you should ask yourself if finding a new mechanic is necessary.
In an ideal situation, brake pads will be replaced at the manufacturer recommended frequency, or whenever the pad thickness is less than 1/4 inch thick.
If the pads aren’t replaced often enough (or are never replaced) the only thing stopping your car will be the caliper piston and the back plate that comes with the brake pad.
If you have these materials rubbing against each other, something could break loose and fall out eventually.
These should never, ever be the only things stopping your car. If they are, you have a serious risk of damaging this area of your braking system and turning a relatively cheap pad replacement into an expensive repair job.
The other likely scenario for brakes falling out is extensive corrosion and rust. These will weaken any affected areas and, in a bad enough situation, could lead to something falling out.
Mechanics should be checking for any areas affected by rust and corrosion whenever they service your brakes. If you don’t believe that this is happening, or you believe that you may have rust issues that haven’t been seen, you need to ask for this inspection directly.
Can Bad Brakes Damage Anything Else?
- Rotors, when exposed to the material behind the brake pads, will inevitably be damaged enough to raise the cost of a repair. The surface of a rotor needs to be flat and uniform.Large enough variations will create vibrations when braking, even after your brake pads are replaced. These issues will only get worse with time, and the rotor will either need to be machined or replaced.
- Caliper pistons need the brake pad material as a buffer between them and the rotor. As the brake pad wears down, the caliper extends further to make contact with the rotor.In many models, if the brake pad wears too far, the caliper will overextend and possibly become stuck or break a seal.
- Misalignment can happen when damaged rotors and calipers create vibrations or otherwise damaging forces on your suspension system. All of this can and will create additional issues that will cost more money to fix.
- Tires need to be aligned and even. Bad brakes or misalignment can create uneven wear on your tires – another thing that will lead to vibrations, possible suspension issues, and unfortunate tire replacements.
This list is not exhaustive, but should hopefully give a good idea of the importance of proper brake management.
Don’t panic (too much), if it seems like your car will come crashing to the ground at the first sign of a brake issue. We have several ways to find potential problems before they become serious.
How To Notice Issues
- Look for an indicator that your brake pad is wearing too thin. You can find this on the pad itself, if the pad thickness is less than 1/4 inch – or you may have an electronic indicator in your car that alerts you to change the pads.Some pads also have a cut in the material that, when it reaches the rotor, is a sign that the pads need to be changed.
- Listen for high pitched squealing when you stop your vehicle. Many brake pads come with a wear indicator that will scratch the rotor and create this sound. This is your cue to visit the mechanic.
- Feel your car and your brake pedal when you slow down and stop. If your car sways to one side, you may have uneven brake pad wear or contamination in your brake fluid lines.If the movement of the pedal feels softer than usual, or you have to push it a considerable distance before your car begins to brake, you may have air or water in your brake lines – possibly even a leak.
If you feel vibrations when you brake, this is a good reason to visit a mechanic ASAP. As noted earlier, this can indicate concerning rotor damage that needs to be addressed before it causes additional issues.
Protecting Your Brakes
Protecting your brakes isn’t difficult by any means. The two most important things you can do are to inspect your brakes regularly and fix any issues immediately.
If you do nothing else, at least do those two.
Here are a few others:
- Give yourself space – Tailgating the car in front of you won’t get you to your destination any faster, but you’ll have a great opportunity to stress your brakes more than usual when they use theirs.
- Give yourself time – If you need to stop for any reason, start braking well in advance to make the process easier on your vehicle. Take your time when you come to a stop.
- Give your brakes a rest – Driving down a long hill without letting up on your brakes is a perfect way to overheat your brakes and cause damage that could have been easily avoided.Use them periodically, or if your car has an engine braking feature – let it do the braking for you.
- Give your car a lighter load. This is simple. The more weight your brakes have to slow down, the more effort it takes. Unnecessary effort is inefficient waste. Reducing weight reduces the resulting stress and heat.
On that note, remember that brake pads need to be replaced as they wear out. The recommended replacement frequency varies from 30,000 to 50,000 miles, give or take, but this can be found online or in the owner’s manual for your vehicle and possibly for the specific brakes you buy.
If you have disc brakes and visually inspect your brake pads (you should), remember that there should be more than 1/4 thickness of the braking material left. Any less is evidence that you need your brake pads changed.
Even in the absence of any issues, don’t neglect to have your brakes checked at least once a year and whenever you have other work being done. The risk of neglect isn’t worth the cost.