Urgent advice needed on brake pads and discs

jadex91

So yesterday my car was making a metal on metal noise, my partners friend had a look and said the brake pads have worn away and to get new discs and pads. He said he can do it but not til Tuesday or Wednesday evening. The thing is I'm worried about driving it now and I have to drive 20-25 miles a day. He said if I buy the parts for £67 he can do it and then just buy him a drink. Or do I take it to a garage and get it done today for £145 including vat? What do you think I should do?

daveyjp

Do you believe driving a car for 100-150 miles with brakes you know to be defective is a sensible idea?

rich13348

If they are the front brakes I would say get them done asap as they do the most of the braking.

System

Hi

It's what I call a Squealer. NB: read ROTORS as discs.

"http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_squealer_pads_for"

"Some brake pads have a 'squealer' plate attached. This thin plate does not do anything until the pads become badly worn. Then the plate rubs against the rotor, squealing (emitting a high pitched singing noise) letting you know you need to replace the pads - before they damage the rotors. Without this feature, pads wear out then grind deep grooves in the rotors that then have to be resurfaced (ground smooth again if there is enough metal left) or replaced. So getting pads with this feature saves you from having to replace a set of expensive brake rotors. "


It could be a piece of grit/gravel trapped in there somewhere, but the above is most likely.

Retrogamer

If the brakes are that badly worn, don't drive it until they're replaced. They might feel ok driving and stopping at slow speeds but if you had to do an emergency stop they might not stop you in time.

If you want to save money, get your your partner's friend to do it and find alternative transport in the meantime.

If you can't use alternative transport then garage it is

rich13348

johndough wrote: »

Hi

It's what I call a Squealer. NB: read ROTORS as discs.

"http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_squealer_pads_for"

"Some brake pads have a 'squealer' plate attached. This thin plate does not do anything until the pads become badly worn. Then the plate rubs against the rotor, squealing (emitting a high pitched singing noise) letting you know you need to replace the pads - before they damage the rotors. Without this feature, pads wear out then grind deep grooves in the rotors that then have to be resurfaced (ground smooth again if there is enough metal left) or replaced. So getting pads with this feature saves you from having to replace a set of expensive brake rotors. "


It could be a piece of grit/gravel trapped in there somewhere, but the above is most likely.

If the pads have this feature of course.