Everyday Lessons From a Dad Essays

Everyday Lessons From a Dad Essays Everyday Lessons From a Dad Essay Everyday Lessons From a Dad Essay I may not know everything about a car, but I have learned quite a bit from my father. Everyday lessons from dad always help in any situation, especially when you are the girl that walks into the mechanics station, and your looked at like you know absolutely nothing, and sadly, most of the time, you get taking advantage of. The purpose of this essay is to share my experience of changing brake pads, by giving a step-by-step guide. â€Å"How to change Brake Pads on a car. † Step One: Park your car in a comfortable working area. You may be here for a little while depending on your previous experience with cars. Step Two: SAFETY FIRST! Make sure to block the back wheels to avoid the car from rolling after you have jacked it up. Also, make sure to place the car in park, set it firmly. Step Three: Grab you toolbox. Its time to go to work! You should start with the front wheels. Grab the tire iron (long metal rod with a socket on the end, some people may have one that looks like a cross). Okay, so first you want to simply loosen the lug nuts, using the tire iron, just enough to break them free. Now, you’ll want to jack up your car. Step Four: Now, you can proceed to take the lug nuts completely off and remove the wheel. As a safety precaution, you should place the under the front of the car. In an instance you have a faulty jack, the wheel will not only protect your car from bodily damage, but you as well. Step Five: As your looking at this contraction, wondering ‘Where do I even begin? ’, this process is actually very simple once you understand its components. So, you have 4 basic parts. You have the caliper, two brake pads, a rotor, and of course, some bolts and clips to hold everything in its place. What are these so-called basic parts? †, well I am glad you asked. I will give a brief breakdown. The Caliper- the job of this part is to squeeze the brake pads toward a centrally located metal plate -the rotor- this produces friction, which initially will slow the speed of your car. (The Caliper is the bright green section, shown in the picture below on the left. ) The Brake Pads- the job of t he brake pads are to move toward one another, gripping the rotor between them and slowing the wheels. They attached to the caliper and hover either side of the rotor. these are shown in the picture below, on the right. ) The Rotor- this is they shiny metal plate in the center. Want to know a secret? If you can’t see your reflection, your disc’s my need servicing or replacement. (the rotor is the shown in the picture below on the left. ) Step Six: Okay, now that you know what your working with. Time to get back to work. Remove the bolts or clips, depending on the make of your car, holding the caliper in place. Gently slide the caliper out and away from the rotor. See the brake pads? Remove the bolts or clips holding them in place and remove the pads. Step Seven: Next we need to move the piston back to it’s beginning location, to prepare it for the new brake pads. You can use the heel of your hand to push the piston back into it’s â€Å"full open† position. Step Eight: When you went shopping for your new brake pads, you should have also picked up a couple small packets of grease. You will use these to lubricate the brake pads. When lubricating the pads make sure not to grease the wrong side. Do not grease the front side, the side that comes into contact with the rotor. Okay, you’ve applied the grease. Now, you can attach the brake pad to the plate, using clips or bolts, and slide the whole thing in place. Step Nine: Your almost done! Put it in reverse and reassemble the system, just as you took it apart. Once you have your tire on and tightened in place. Continue on with your other tires, using the same process, if needed. Step Ten: Joy-Ride! Now take your car out to test your new brakes! You may hear a few scratching and screeching sounds at first but it will go away in just a couple of days. Make sure everything is in place before and after the test drive. Nothing is more important than your car’s ability to stop itself. Underestimating your brake system could have some very serious consequences. Below is a diagram of the whole brake system, this should help you get an idea of where everything is located. Next time you go in to have your brakes changed, look at what the mechanics charge. Then go to an auto parts store and see for yourself the affordability of brake pads. Lastly, ask yourself if you have an extra hour to spare to save quite a bit of money. I think you will find the time is definitely worth the extra money you will save. Cited Pictures: Picture #1: http://images. google. com/imgres? imgurl= uitti. net/stephen/who/cars/carhelp/s2400016_cross_bar. jpgimgrefurl= uitti. net/stephen/who/cars/carhelp/index. shtmlusg=__a4HjFHJud93vP1T8oiaxUBzTvPM=h=240w=320sz=17hl=enstart=9tbnid=py761tbs3IFWlM:tbnh=89tbnw=118prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtire%2Biron%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den Picture #2: uitti. net/stephen/who/cars/carhelp/s2400016_cross_bar. jpg Picture #3: http://media. photobucket. com/image/caliper%20of%20a%20car/idahotuner/IMG_4709.