Brakes, Steering and
Suspension Cheddar
Brakes, Steering and
Brakes, Steering and Suspension Cheddar
Brakes, Steering and Suspension
Repair Cheddar
Discs, Pads, Shoes, ABS, adjustments. 4-Wheel Alignment tracking, Coil Springs, Shock Absorbers (Dampers). Got a brake squeal, spongy pedal, vehicle pulling under braking, then come in and lets get it checked out.
Brakes are one of the most important items on your car to be working! Getting through tires fast? Then maybe your wheels need tracking to set them on the straight path again.
Auto-Mech is fully qualified to conduct a comprehensive inspection of your car’s Braking system, Suspension & Steering components and can advise you upon any necessary repairs or service items. Your brakes and brake fluid are always checked under our service plan, to ensure the best possible car performance and safety of your car. Call us now and make an appointment.
It goes without saying that the braking system in your motor is one, if not, the most important safety components within a motor vehicle which facilitates the driver to be able to slow down, stop, thereby avoiding potential accidents and keeping your car stationary when parked. There is a lot more to the braking system than just the brake pads! It is vital that you get the entire system checked regularly to ensure you and your passengers travel safely.
Suspension is the section of your car that includes; coil springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connect the vehicle to its wheels and allow some relative movement between the two. The suspension on your vehicle helps with handling and comfort for the driver and ride quality for their passengers. The goals which the suspension trys to achieve are to help isolate from road noise, bumps and vibrations, etc. To reach these goals the suspension has to have the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheels in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all of the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle are through the contact that your tires have with the road surface.
Abbreviations you may have seen, but what are they?
ABS
TCS
ESP
ABS
The Anti-lock Braking System prevents wheels locking or skidding, no matter how hard the brakes are applied, or even how slippery the road surface. Steering stays under control and stopping distances are generally reduced.
TCS
Traction Control System is in place to help assist the driver when the road surface has less grip than the vehicle needs to maintain control, either through cornering; when vehicle weight is shifted or when road conditions are poor under rain, mud, snow, ice. The TCS overcomes these problems by limiting the torque transmission at the wheels in a controlled predictable manner.
ESP
Electronic Stability Program is in place to respond to the vehicle and improve handling when the vehicle gets out of control in critical situations. This system uses ABS and TCS to assist in steering the vehicle. It can apply the brakes on individual wheels in order to counteract under-steer or over-steer.
The Steering is comprised of linkages which allow your vehicle to follow a desired path. The most conventional steering arrangement is to turn the front wheels using the steering wheel which is position in front of the driver via a steering column. This is usually done through a universal joint and be part of a collapsible steering column designed for road safety. The basic aim of the steering is to ensure that the wheels are pointing in the desired direction applied by the driver on the steering wheel.
Now for a technical explanation; This is typically achieved by a series of linkages, rods, pivots and gears. One of the fundamental concepts is that of the caster angle each wheel is steered with a pivot point ahead of the wheel, this makes the steering tend to be self-centering towards the direction of travel. The steering linkages connecting the steering box and the wheels usually conforms to a variation of Ackermann steering geometry, to account for the fact that in turn, the inner wheel is actually travelling a path of smaller radius than the outer wheel, so that the degree of toe suitable for driving in a straight path is not suitable for turning. The angle of the wheels on a vertical plane (Camber angle) also influences steering dynamics.
Power steering helps the driver of a vehicle to steer by directing some of the power to assist in swivelling the steered road wheels about their steering axis. There are two types of power steering; hydraulic and electric/electronic. A hybrid version of both is now also possible to find on modern vehicles. In a hydraulic power steering system it uses hydraulic pressure supplied by an engine driven pump to assist the motion of turning the steering wheel.
Where as Electric power steering is more efficient than the hydraulic power steering, since the electric power steering motor only needs to provide assistance when the steering wheel is turned, whereas the hydraulic pump must run constantly. In electric power steering system the amount of assistance is easily tuneable to the vehicle type, road speed and even driver preference. An additional benefit is the elimination of environmental hazards posed by leakage and disposal of hydraulic fluids. Yet also electrical assistance is not lost when the engine fails or stalls, where as hydraulic assistance stops when the engine stops, making the power steering extra heavy as the driver is now turning not only the heavy power steering system but also the power assistance system itself.
Find Us
4 & 5 Mendip Vale Trading Estate,
Wedmore Road
Cheddar
Somerset
BS27 3EL
T: 01934 743490
F: 01934 741353
E: enquiries@automechcheddar.co.uk
