If your brakes are screeching and squealing, that's usually a sign that they need to be replaced. You can take them in and have a professional do your brake replacement, or you can try to do it yourself. Here are three questions to consider if you're thinking about doing it yourself.
Do You Have the Tools You Need?
First and foremost, you need the right tools to do a brake replacement. If you have the tools on hand already, you may save money by doing the work yourself. However, if you have to spend a lot on tools or other equipment, you may want to save that money and turn this job over to the pros.
You need a floor jack and some jack stands to get your car off the ground. You may also need a tool to help you adjust the brake caliper pistons to the new pads. Finally, you need a tire iron so that you can access the brakes.
Do You Have the Right Instructions?
Replacing the brakes is relatively the same from vehicle to vehicle, but there are several individual quirks related to your vehicle's particular make and model that you may want to know about.
Can you access that information. Do you have an owner's manual? Do you have a repair guide for your particular type of car? Alternatively, can you find videos online of people working on your exact type of car? If so, you have most of the information you need to do the job. If not, you may also want to turn this job over to the pros.
How Much Are Labor Costs?
When you do a brake replacement yourself, you have to buy the brake pads and any other parts that you need. As a result, you really only save on the cost of labor. To ensure it's worth your time and effort, check into labor costs. You may want to get a few quotes as different mechanics charge different rates. That helps you hone in on the numbers so that you can decide if it's worth it.
Additionally, if the part estimates look a lot higher than what you were planning to pay for parts, you may want to ask the mechanic if you can bring in your own parts. Some companies allow customers to do that, and it can help bring down the total price. If that's not possible and the company is doing a big mark-up on the parts, you may want to do it yourself.
Share18 October 2017
Hello, I am Nisa Trinity. Welcome to my website about automotive services. When I was a young kid, I loved to hang out at the local garage and watch the mechanics work their magic. Vehicles would arrive at the shop in a dire state of disrepair and leave under their own power. The whole process took very little time and effort when skilled mechanics made the right diagnoses. On this site, I will talk about the process of diagnosing and repairing vehicles of all kinds. I hope you can visit my site every day to learn about this important topic. Thank you.
