My round trip to work and back is about 26 miles, no I have no family to “loan” me the money. The van sat all weekend and wasn’t driven, I am keeping my speed to no more then about 40 mph and keep and incredible amount of distance between me and the car in front. In the perfect world I would have gotten them fixed already, but that didn’t happen. I find it a bit much to think that I am alone in this type of situation. I have made sure to the best of my finanical ability to keep my van in good running condition. My base question here was simple, until I get this repair done what kind of handling problems can be associated with breaking when your front breaks are bad.
No handling problem directly, but BRAKING is essential to slow down for corners. So, indirectly, it’s harder to moderate your speed with poor BRAKES. In addition @Rod is correct that dragging or seizing of BRAKES can help throw you out of control.
I don’t think you’re alone in that situation, but the fact that other people are doing it does not automatically make it OK.
I recommend learning how to fix your own cars. If you don’t have much money, that’s the best way to responsibly own a car, and it represents an enormous savings. As an example, I replaced a brake master cylinder in one of my cars for $40. The shop wanted over $600. Brake work is very easy to learn and is a good first project to do as a car repair novice.
It’s OK to not have very much money - I’ve been there myself and with the current political/economic climate, most of us who are no longer there are at risk of being there again at the whim of our employers.
But I do think it irresponsible to know that you can’t afford to have safety problems fixed for you when they occur, but refuse to learn how to fix them yourself. After all, at the end of the day, if you crash into my wife and kill her, I’m not going to have very much empathy for your financial situation.
There is zero chance I could ever learn to fix anything on my car, not in my DNA, I screw up putting windshield fluid in, and I am being serious. Fixing/repairing cars takes skill, paitient and ability, I have zero, so my attempt would only result in either further damage or an even unsafer car.
bertrand, you keep on doing your thing but try to make a secret little drop box someplace to stick a few bucks in once in a while as a separate little savings account for car repairs. I get how tight things can be - needing every penny - but see what you can do.
When your brakes get done Friday the shimmy in your steering wheel and pull to one side should go away. If it doesn’t, then you have the brake work double checked first and then move on from there.
Craftsman hand tools are perfect for the weekend warrior, they’ve got lifetime warranty, and they’re often on sale
The popular mechanics website has articles that explain how to work on brakes. The illustrations are pretty decent, also
Years ago, I had to start off with Craftsman tools. As I got more proficient and earned more money, I bought better tools, and the Craftsman tools are now in my garage, for those weekend projects
Causing a 2500-3000 pound piece of metal, plastic and rubber to move in any direction without an ability to stop that motion will make you liable for any/all damage which results from that motion. It’s just plain stupid. Your statements here could add to any case (criminal or civil) should your actions cause any damage or injury. I cringe many times when driving and I see folks risking MY life by driving junkers, tailgating me, weaving in and out of traffic, and me thinking about how little they care about the ride they have, just like you OP. You’re risking a catastrophe. Can’t come up with the cash? Get a credit card. I could get a credit card for my DOG if I really tried. Friends, family can’t spot you the few bucks to save your life? C’mon OP, stop driving and get it fixed. Good luck and start thinking smarter. Rocketman
A) No I can’t get a CC, trust me I have tried. B) No I have no family that has $200 “handy” to loan me, not sure if you have looked, but the economy is kinda bad. C) I never said the car didn’t brake, just that it made a sound while breaking and I felt a shimmy in it when I did break. D) Accidents happen all the time with people driving perfectly fine well built cars. I am making sure to be more careful while I am driving, keeping large amounts of space between me and other driviers, keeping my speed to a mininum. Sorry Rocketman but not sure how I could think any smarter.
What would you do if you didn’t have a car issue but rather had a sick child who needed $200 worth of medicine? Would you find a way to get the money? And although you claim now that you never said the car didn’t brake, you opening sentence said something like “my brakes are gone”. Gone. Gone. What does that mean, my brakes are gone? I’m being careful driving my car and the brakes are gone. Really? Don’t bother with a follow-up, we don’t think about things the same I guess. Good luck! Rocketman
I don’t have kids, wouldn’t have kids so not relivant. And sad to say there are thousands of people with sick kids who don’t have the monies for the medicine and don’t get it. are they bad people. And yes my brakes are gone in the sense they are not operating at the maxium ability, but I can brake, would it be wise to drive fast and brake hard, no, so I don’t I drive very slow, right around the speed limit of 30-40 mph, I keep a very safe distance and begin slowing way ahead of time when I see light changes or traffic braking.
Brakes replaced total cost for labor, pads and new routers… $200. So what is life expectancy for pads on a mini mainly driven in city traffic.
^
This is impossible to say, due to the variation in quality from one brand of brake pads to another, and due to the variations in people’s driving styles. You might get as much as 35k in mostly city driving, or you might get as little as 20k in city driving.
It is impossible to say. But no matter the parts, if you continue to drive as you have been - slowly with more stopping distance and gentler braking - i.e. if you continue to drive like your brakes aren’t working well it will maximize the lifespan.
@bertrand Cogratulations! Life depends on thje qulaity of the pads. However, with gentle driving you should get 50,000-60,000 outof a set of pads.
The other extreme is San Francisco taxi service. I took a cab there once and the driver tolds me they did the brakes every 3 months! But these cabs go 100,000 miles+ per year of up and down hill driving.