Current location:
Brakes become worn and can develop hotspots which the driver can feel as a vibrations. A simple solution is to skim the discs flat
Everything gives way to wear and tear and disc brakes are no exception. The first thing our ‘trustworthy mechanic’ will tell us is to bin the brakes and buy a newset. Well, there is a way to repair them instead of exchanging them and what’s more is that you get to save a lot of money. After all what a car owner doesn’t like to hear is “this must be new”, which invariably means expensive. The good news is that it can be fixed rather than destroying or exchanging it. The low-cost alternative is to give the brakes the right spin by skimming the disc of the brakes.
So how can one tell that the disc brakes need to be repaired? If brake-vibrations or pulsation of the steering wheel are felt then these would indicate that the disc is not flat, like it should be.
Have no fear, all steel casting discs (perforated, internally ventilated) and drum brakes can be easily repaired, except ceramic discs. But one should always keep in mind that brake pads should be changed after every 30,000 odd kilometres depending on your driving style, of course.
The brake pads are removed and a hub adapter is placed
The hub adapter has to be screwed on to the wheel hub
The skim-equipment is then fitted into the hub adapter
By pressing the start button it automatically rotates the disc
The rough cutting has to be done manually between a depth of 0.2mm to 0.5mm
For a smooth surface, the fi ne-cut removes 0.05mm from the brake disc
