Brake specialist

Picking the eyes out of the brake industry

The frenetic pace of modern life demands service in an instant, when we want it, where we want it. That is the essence of franchised operations such as tyre, exhaust and shockabsorber fitment centres. And therein lies the rub: they are fitment centres.

Fitment centres operate on the principal of big combined buying power that can demand low prices from suppliers, and that price advantage is then passed on to the client. They move large volumes at small margins and that is how their profits are generated. So, if you need a tyre for your average car, that is the place to go. It is nearly always a very good deal.

However, if you need a tyre for your 300km/hr supercar, that is not the place to go. Their expertise just does not extend to the ability to distinguish between different compounds for different applications, the scrubbing of tyres to prepare for race conditions, correct operating pressures for specific applications, et cetera et cetera. If you wish to see out your three score and ten years, you need a specialist for that kind of advice.

So what does that have to do with the brake industry?

Well, many people have died in low speed accidents, say at 60km/hr, when a head-on accident between two vehicles will equate to a combined impact of 120km/hr. To avoid a tragedy you have to be able to rely on your brakes. Even in your average car, with everybody obeying the speed limits, you have to avoid supercar-like impacts of 240km/hr head-on impacts on the open road. And you have only your brakes to save you. You do not want a fitment centre to have worked on your brake system. It is cheap, but then so will the lives of your family be.

Brake systems should be serviced by specialists. FULL STOP.

What is expected of a brake specialist?

Again, you have to distinguish between companies that

1. want to be the cheapest suppliers of brake system components, and
   
2. companies that are equipped to properly inspect, diagnose and repair faults in brake systems. These are the ones you can rely on.

A brake specialist will have available:

1. Appropriate lifting equipment in a clean, safe working environment,
2. trained fitters to prepare a vehicle for inspection and fit parts as instructed,
3. at least one qualified technician that understands the entire system, to diagnose system faults, prescribe the correct remedies, and take responsibility for repair work,
4. modern equipment to measure

• the braking forces at each wheel,
• deceleration ability of your vehicle,
• brake pressures,
• vacuum strengths,
• component tolerances and
• brake fluid qualities

5. specialized tools to prevent damage to brake system components when working on them,
6. a quality system to minimize human error as far as possible.

Any operation that is looking for a quick buck by fitting a set of pads or discs, or skimming your discs while they fit your tyres, are doing so at your expense. They will not recognise a faulty calliper even if it falls on their foot, and will ignore uneven brake pad wear causes without addressing those causes. They will not inform you that theirs is a superficial service that takes no account of other shortcomings in your braking systems, and you will drive away from there with a misplaced trust in your braking system. It is called criminal negligence. Consider yourself warned.

For Employers

Outcome-based training for passenger car and light delivery vehicle mechanics in South Africa includes a unit standard titled "Repairing Brakes on Hydraulic Systems". Have a look at it on the MERSETA website. If you know anything about modern braking systems, you will agree that the scope of the standard is woefully inadequate. It is merely a guideline for minimum background knowledge, and no company can rely on that required level of knowledge to provide experts for the brake industry. There is a lot of work to be done, and hopefully the unit standard will be upgraded in 2011.

In the meantime, it is not going to help you much in a court of law when you explain that your employee is a qualified mechanic. He needs to be qualified to understand brake systems, and he needs the correct tools to work on those systems. Again, consider yourself warned.

For Drivers

They say that history is written by the victors - the stories of the dead are seldom heard and acted upon. It is the same for legislation on road safety - it is written by living people, not by those that have died in car crashes. We have to think like they would now, put ourselves in their places, or we will end up in coffins, like them.