106 St Tire & Wheel FAQ series presents
How Are Brake Pads Made:
1) Like most things, brake pads start in a lab....how to do it, what to include, configuration, etc., and, let's face it, Napa has great auto parts. They are known worldwide as a quality brake manufacturer. 106 St Tire wouldn't have it any other way, would we? With decades of service to the auto community in Queens, we wouldn't settle for anything less than Napa. Would you?
2) So, let's talk what's critical: a dynamometer. What the hell is it? Great question! It's is a device for measuring force, torque, or power and before brakes are brakes, a brake pad will spend hours on a "dyno." Why? To verify the performance.
3) During the process of developing brake pads, engineers will carefully examine every single component and raw material that goes into the creation of them. Ultimately, the quality of each component will determine the performance of the brake pads that will one day stop your car in NYC traffic. The "mix" will be formulated by an experienced engineer who will be looking for just the right blend of the components for noise, braking performance and wear. There are other factors as well with decisions being made on manufacturability, performance and cost.
4) In the later stages of brake pad development, engineers will refine the design and tweak it to perfection on the dyno. This may involve adding slots and chamfers which are angles on the brake pad to prevent squeaking and get the best NVH (here's a question for your auto buddies, what's it stand for? Noise, Vibration and Harshness :-) performance.
5) One of the initial steps in the creation of a brake pad is stamping out the back plate. For this process, large coils of metal, probably steel, are used with as much as fifty percent being wasted in production yet recycled as scrap. The steel is greased and pickled to prevent eventual corrosion of the pad.
6) When the brake pad is stamped it will go through several processes of stamping to make sure measurements are correct.
7) Various special feature friction material retention mechanisms, hardware and pins, are machined after the plate is stamped. Surfaces that make contact with the brake caliper are set to their correct final dimension so that the brake fits once it's installed.
8) The back plate is sandblasted (now called media blasting) and washed to remove imperfections and oil from the stamping process, or any burs left. Oil remaining on the plate will cause issues when it gets to the bonding of the friction material.
9) The backing plate emerges from the sandblasting and cleansing the surface which is now primed for adhesives. Of course, a rough surface created by sandblasting creates a better surface for adhesive.
10) Most pads have an adhesive sprayed onto the back plates. This will vary if mechanical attachments have been made, obviously, and this step would then be omitted.
11) Next come the components of the friction material being measured and then mixed in precise amounts, and those components being measured accurately.
12) The various above components are them placed in a mixer that makes a perfect blend.
13) The initial molding process follows in what is called "pre-molds" and these "pucks” will be pressed and formed on to the back plates.
14) The result is a stack of molded "pucks" ready for the final molding process in what has been a semi-metallic process creating one of the finest brake pads in the world.
106 St Tire & Wheel locations use quality Napa parts, and we have a brake special running for Napa Premium brake pads. Each axle is $65 for most cars installed by our experience mechanics. With an appointment, we can do your brake job at anyone of our 5 conveniently located shops during the day or at night 24 hours with an appointment at our two 24 hour locations 106-01 Northern Blvd or 105-08 Northern Blvd.
Call us at 718-446-6769 24/7 any day or night of the year except Christmas.
/brakes
Call us 24 hours to schedule an appointment for your Napa brake job
done to your convenience. http://106sttire.comhttps://106sttireandwheel.autotext.me/Admin/kioskv2/index.php?id=VnVGYnB4MkhRbGtGSC9TY0VMQis2dz09&appt=1
schedule almost any service at the above link as well.
Other 106 St Tire and Wheel locations open days:
118-02 Merrick Blvd 718-276-4070
79-20 Queens Blvd 718-458-2500
45-13 108 St 718-271-9700
all of the above locations are open 7 days a week and many holidays
24 hour locations main number is 718-446-6769