# What is wrong with my brakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford, edge\ **Created:** [August 20, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063 "2017-08-20T03:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/21 "2017-08-22T21:28:43Z")
The rocket engine specs I’ve seen are pounds of force or specific impulse. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/22 "2017-08-22T22:21:22Z")
“The rocket engine specs I’ve seen are pounds of force or specific impulse”. Correct. These I mentioned were thrust, so should have been in pounds. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/23 "2017-08-23T02:06:33Z")
> [@GeorgeSanJose](#): > > 1300 BPM, 34 ft. lbs. of impact energy for quick demolition If you had a 34 pound weight at the end of a 1 foot rod, that was twirling around in a circle and whacked something each revolution at 1300 BPM, I suppose you might measure that in foot pounds and BPM . ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/24 "2017-08-23T13:04:01Z")
> [@GeorgeSanJose](#): > > If you had a 34 pound weight at the end of a 1 foot rod, that was twirling around in a circle and whacked something each revolution at 1300 BPM, I suppose you might measure that in foot pounds and BPM . I guess. At a rate of 1300 rev per min or 22 rev per second at a radius of 1 ft, that is a speed of 2π(22) = 136 ft/s. The linear momentum at impact would be 34(136) = 4630 lb-ft/s Impulse depends on the time it is in contact. if that is 0.01 sec (at a guess), then the impulse would be 46 ft-lb. So you could consider the 34 ft-lbs an impulse measurement. But I played fast and loose with US units of mass and force, as both are sometimes measured in pounds, skipping the poundal and the slug, both of which confuse me. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/25 "2017-08-24T18:38:11Z")
OK folks, from rockets and math back to cars. All I can say is life changed with the invention of the pocket calculator. I keep one in my go bag in the car all the time. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/26 "2017-08-24T20:24:54Z")
> [@bing](#): > > All I can say is life changed with the invention of the pocket calculator. I keep one in my go bag in the car all the time. Get a smart phone - Calculator is one of the built in apps. I wish I had pocket calculators when I was in high-school. My AP Calc and AP Physics would have been a lot easier. Slide Rulers were great, but a calculator was so much easier. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/27 "2017-08-24T20:44:32Z")
> [@MikeInNH](#): > > Get a smart phone - Calculator is one of the built in apps. Yup! You beat me to it, Mike. Even though it took me a few weeks before I started using that app, it is really handy for use in stores, restaurants, and other places where you want to do a quick calculation. And, when I am in the car, if I don’t feel like taking my phone out of its holster, the info center on my car has a built-in calculator. That function is “greyed-out” when the car is moving, but as soon as I have stopped, I can display a calculator on the 6.5 inch screen. No need to carry extra calculators in the 21st Century! ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/28 "2017-08-25T03:34:12Z")
I have a calculator on my phone, but I prefer something with actual buttons to push. ---
**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/29 "2017-08-25T16:58:37Z")
Potential impact energy of a fired bullet is calculated with bullet weight and speed and expressed in foot/pounds. Torque specs for motor vehicles is expressed in pounds/feet. I researched it years ago and the terms were supposedly interchangeable and thought to be another case of English English verses American English. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/30 "2017-08-25T18:24:08Z")
> [@sgtrock21](#): > > Torque specs for motor vehicles is expressed in pounds/feet No, torque is in ft-pounds (or pound-ft, same thing). NOT pounds per foot. More correctly, it is in newton-meters. Energy of a moving object (Kinetic, not potential) is in joules or BTU. Potential energy is in the same units. edit: kW-hour is another unit of energy, as is calorie, electron volt (eV), and tonne of TNT ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/31 "2017-08-25T18:47:44Z")
Who would have thought this is as controversial as putting Romex in conduit? ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/32 "2017-08-25T19:56:58Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Who would have thought this is as controversial as putting Romex in conduit? Hmmm… I don’t know 🤔 … … perhaps the same folks that thought this was a discussion answering the question, _ **“What is wrong with my brakes ?”** _ 😉 _ **CSA** _ ---
**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/33 "2017-08-26T14:39:52Z")
I was not sure how to spell it. Having heard it spoken as pounds/feet I took my best shot. ---
**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/34 "2017-08-26T14:50:40Z")
George’s demolition hammer specs sent us on the path of derailment and since none of our engineers drive trains it could not be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/35 "2017-08-26T15:01:33Z")
> [@BillRussell](#): > > No, torque is in ft-pounds (or pound-ft, same thing). NOT pounds per foot. More correctly, it is in newton-meters. Or inch ounces, or kgf-cm. It doesn’t matter how you describe it. What’s important is understanding that it represents a specified force applied a specified distance from the rotating axis. If you had a long enough wrench and a big enough bolt you could even describe it as pounds per yard. On my Toyota design documents it’s represented as N-m, (Kgf-cm, ft-lbf) That isn’t what most people are used to, but that’s the way they specced it. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/36 "2017-08-26T17:00:55Z")
You are correct of course. I was commenting on the lb/ft, which is pounds **per** foot or force divided by distance, totally wrong. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/37 "2017-08-26T21:10:19Z")
I’ve seen and heard torque described multiple ways. Fact is, five pounds applied one foot from the axis is the same as one pound applied five feet from the axis. What really matters is understanding what it all means. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/38 "2017-08-26T22:55:36Z")
you are correct, of course. torque is force multiplied by distance, as simple as that. What I object to is torque described as force **divided** by distance. That is totally wrong. I think we have beaten this to death… ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/39 "2017-08-26T23:47:32Z")
> [@BillRussell](#): > > we have beaten this to death… No pun intended? lol … I think the foot-pound & beats-per-minute specs for comparing demolition hammers has been pretty much justified by the discussion above. It’s sort of like how engine engine power is measured as a product of torque (in foot pounds) and rpm. 100 foot pounds \* 1000 rpm = 19 HP. The power of the electric motor running the demolition hammer must be proportional to a product of the foot-pound spec and the beats per minute spec. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063/40 "2017-08-27T01:03:49Z")
🧐 Looking for that emoji of the dead horse being whipped, but alas cannot find. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063.md?page=1) [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-my-brakes/107063.md?page=3)