Brake Repairs in Hackbridge | KITH Cars Garage, South London

Your brakes are not something to make savings on. At KITH Cars Garage in Hackbridge, brake work is done with quality OEM-equivalent parts on every job. We serve customers from Croydon, Sutton, Mitcham, Carshalton, Wallington, Beddington and across South London. When we hand a car back, the brakes work properly.

Brake pads have a metal wear indicator built in. When the friction material wears down far enough, the indicator contacts the disc and produces the squealing noise you have likely heard on other people's cars or your own. That is the warning. Ignore it and the backing plate starts grinding against the disc. By that point you are buying discs you might not have needed.

Discs wear too. We measure thickness against the manufacturer's minimum specification on every job. A disc that has worn below minimum is dangerous and must be replaced regardless of how it looks. Grooved or heavily scored discs should come off even if they are technically above minimum, because new pads bed in poorly against a damaged surface.

A seized calliper is the usual cause of a car that pulls to one side under braking. The piston inside the calliper should retract fully when you release the brake. If it does not, the pad drags against the disc continuously. You will notice the smell eventually, a reduction in fuel economy, and the pull at braking. Calliper replacement is at the medium rate because it is not basic brake work.

Brake fluid is classified as hygroscopic, which means it draws moisture from the atmosphere over time through the rubber components of the system. Moisture-laden fluid has a lower boiling point than fresh fluid. Under hard use, particularly on long descents or track use, that degraded fluid can vaporise. Vaporised fluid compresses in the line and the pedal goes to the floor. Manufacturers recommend a two-year change interval for good reason.

Every brake job at KITH Cars Garage finishes with a road test on local roads. Several full brake applications are used to bed the new components correctly and confirm even braking, no noise and no vibration through the pedal.