July 29, 2025 • 19 mins
Relebogile Mabotja speaks to Lesetja Dikgale the Founder and CEO of Michanic about brake pads care, maintenance and replacement.
702 Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja is broadcast live on Johannesburg based talk radio station 702 every weekday afternoon. Relebogile brings a lighter touch to some of the issues of the day as well as a mix of lifestyle topics and a peak into the worlds of entertainment and leisure.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seven o two, the car feature.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Some for the car feature on seven oh two afternoons
at twenty three.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Minutes two three o'clock, we take your calls on.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Audible ONEA A three or seven oh two in the
WhatsApp line oh seven two seven O two one seven
o two. As we talked today about break pads one
oh one, everything from the kre to the maintenance to
the replacement. I'm sure you've got a million and one questions.
Let's get let's get into it with listage.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I did.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Kylee, founder and CEO of Mike Kenick, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
No, thank you very much, and hello to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Who came up with the name Mike Keanick, I did.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
It's derived from my mechanic. Two, it's together to make
it my mechanic.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I thought you were like a wrapper on the weekends.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I used to be right.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Where I have to show everybody you do have that vibe.
What was your rapper name?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Dp?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
DP short for.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I can't say?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Okay? So when did you then move into cars?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Because for the way that I see, I almost feel
like the culture, you know, rap, hip hop and cars
are like so closely aligned.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, no, I mean, I'm a like tech freak, so
I like everything tech. So I mean, growing up, I
like fixing things, breaking things and trying to fix them
a game, and I've got an IT background, And I
believe that systems are all the same in general, So
if you understand one system, you just have to understand
(01:36):
the technicalities of a new system.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But systems are generally the same.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
A smart brother, we are sitting with here, So let's
go to the very basics. I'm not even gonna start
at break pass. Take us back to now you are speaking.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
To a five year old.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I want you to use that level of language when
you say breaks.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
What is incorporated in break?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Because whenever somebody now says, oh we need to replace skim,
we need to you know, you're always like which part?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So where do the pads fit in with the brakes?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
The pads are the stopping power of the breaking system
as a whole. So think of them as a door stopper.
So like a doorstopper would stop the door from moving.
It's like that little rubber type of thing. It stops
the actual door. So you have the disc that's moving.
Then the pads hold the disk. That's what the pads.
(02:34):
Do they hold the disk to make it stop moving?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
What are some of the common misconceptions that you think
people have lay people who are not in that space
about brake pads, for example?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Do you think that generally.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
As people, we we misunderstand how to use the brakes.
Do you think that we expect them to last longer
than what they like in terms of her life's then,
because I'm not gonna lie, whenever brakes are an issue,
I'm always shocked. No matter how old the car is,
There's no part of me like I shame it was time.
I'm always like, ah.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
You brakes, Yes, yes, of course, yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I mean I think driving the way people drive sometimes
you see maybe you're following a car on the highway
and the brake lights are continuously on, meaning the person's
foot is continuously on the brake. So I think a
lot of people think you always have to step on
the brakes to slow down your car, But you can
(03:35):
easily just let go of the accelerator and the car
will the momentum the car will automatically start slowing down.
So that's like kind of like the ways you start
saving your brakes at breaks instead of just always stepping
on your brakes as soon as you see the red
brakes in front of you, try to put your foot
off the accelerator, slow down, and then in most instances
you find that by the time you get closer to
(03:56):
that car, they're already moving.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You never actually had to apply your brakes.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
So yeah, I mean you can save that save your
breaks in that manner, but as well as like driving style,
I mean, if you're breaking very close, very fast and said,
et cetera, that will typically get your breaks finished in
a short space of time.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
As we saw on my TikTok lives. Since let's stop
skimming the disk and just change both the disk and
the pads, maybe share with us why people started skimming
in the first place, and at what point one should
not even take a chance. I mean, I would assume
the skimming started as sort of I'm going to buy
(04:36):
you a bit of time so you have money to
replace the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So skimming is actually way cheaper than replacing the whole discs. Right,
It's a way of saving some money to skim, and
it's completely safe within certain boundaries, right, So, I mean,
when a break does come, it's like an amount of
millimeters and then as you skim it gets as thinner
(05:03):
and thinner and thinner.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Then it gets to a point where if you skim
it becomes very dangerous.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
So you can skim maybe your discs once or twice
before you buy new brake discs, But we always advise
then obviously depending on the budget and also depending on
the severity of the breakdsks themselves.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
How would you say, you know, looking at your all
the all the vehicles that are sort of like you know,
those what people would consider your little vintage cars compared
to new cars and the lifespan of brake pads, do
you think that things are getting worse for us or
better for us as drivers?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I think, really and truly is it boils down to
one the driving style of the driver, two the brake pad.
So there's different brands, right, And obviously there's the cheapest
brands and there's the most expensive brands. And it's the
type of materials that I used, right, You typically your
cheapest brands will finish quite quickly simply because of the
(06:08):
material and you'll often see like a lot of dust
on your front wheels where you actually break in the
most like that black.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Dust that accumulates.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Usually that's it's kind of like pulverizing, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So it's like it's going into dust.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
So typically, if you want them to last longer, buy
a good brand and make sure like it's a trusted brand,
and then don't always go for the cheapest because every
two months you'll be replacing your break pads.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
What is a decent lifespan for one's break pass. Let's
say we measure off of a brand new car, and
it's average driving. It's not like anything two hey, tickets,
not crazy terrain, it's just average getting to work and
back home. A few errants here in the type of driving.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I should lost your bart ten to twenty thousand kilometers.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
On any car. That's kind of the average.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yes, okay, So now when we look at the signs
of worn break pads, when do you start to know
there is a problem.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
I need to start to be concerned.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Is that only the squeak that's the that's the first sign.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Oh so yeah, that's an interesting question.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Actually, So modern cause, as you spoke about, usually have
what they call a breakaway sensor. So the sensor will
pick up when the breaks get to about three millimeters.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Then what you find that a light will come on.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
In your car to tell you that you need to
replace your brakes, so even before the squeak, right, and
then on all the cars. In fact, the designers of
brake pads, they've designed them in such a way that
they got this metal piece that actually makes the squeak.
So that's your mechanical warning kind of like indication.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I thought it was maybe like some kind of friction,
but I didn't know it was intentional to on you
that you know you need to now do something about it.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, I know it was actually done intentionally so that
people can be warned to know if their breaks are
getting to a level where they need to be replaced.
And then there's also like very soft squeaks, So if
it's a hard squeak, definitely time to replace. If it's
a bit of a soft squeak, it usually could be
like dust, like break dust that's accumulated on the on
(08:23):
the on the.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Pads themselves, and that's one of the warning signs.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
So it's either you get a light in your car
and more modern cars, or you start hearing the squeak,
and you know, because anything below three millimeters on the
brake pad needs to.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Be replaced your hand.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Boden Horst says, brake pads can be bonded and used again,
please explain the how.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yeah, well it is done to save money.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What is bonded?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
So it's pretty much gluing the pads to the metal.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
So the pad is the thing that causes yes, and
then there's a metal behind that They kind of like
glue that together, the compound and the metal to create
a breake pattern gain.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
However, if you use if not, if they don't use,
good blue can come apart.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
If so, there's there's the risks to that, but there's
also guys who do it very well. However, I think
I would be more trusting from like a proper brand
buying a brand new than bonding because bonding has got
its own risks.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I mean, the whole thing to me just sounds like
why how much cheaper is it?
Speaker 1 (09:31):
And is that is?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
What would you say bonding is the alternative to skimming
or they're solving two different things.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yeah, they're solving two different things.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
So skimming is on the disk side, okay, yes, and
then the pads themselves, Like I mean, it's not. It
can be a little bit cheaper, but it's also good
for the environment because that means that the metal is recycled,
you know. But other than that, I mean that the
price different is so little that it's not even worth it.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
To be honest, I actually thought and that bonding is
taking two skimmed discs that are now thin and making
them one big disc.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Again.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
That you can also try that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
All right, we need to take a break.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
When we come back, we continue with our car feature
Audible one double A three or seven oh two in
the what zap line oh seven two seven O two
one seven o.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Two seven o two. The car features ten minutes of
two three.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Can we continue with our car feature talking brake pads
one or one, car maintenance and replacements and the like.
Listigit Kylie, founder and CEO of my Canic chats to
us your calls on audible one double A three oh
seven O two in the whatsap line oh seven two
seven oh two one seven O two. I was actually
trying to convince Liciter to give us a freestyle about
(10:49):
brake pads, and he's like he didn't prepare him, Like
that's the point.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So when we've got a couple of questions that have
come in, one says, I you use my gears to break.
I have not changed my brakes in two years. Are
you supposed to use your gears to break? Does it
mean changing down and now riving more or no?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
So if the car is at high speed, yes, and
you take it to a lower gear, just that a
process will slow.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Down the engine.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So it's kind of like using the gearbox to slow
down the engine and then that slows down the wheels.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
But I wouldn't advise it.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It sounds like you.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Might not replace your break paths, but you might need
to replace your gearbox.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I thought you were gonna say your engine that is
so rough once this. Whilst I agree with driving style,
there is the element between automatic and manual cars. Automatic
cars are always in gear and grinding forward even when still.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
So most automatic cause when you've stopped at the robots,
they're trying to go forward.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
They always try to go forward because if.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
You can imagine, in a manual car, you have to
do to touch control and keep balancing so that the
car can can be stable. But like with an automatic car,
it's already engaged trying to go forward at that point
in time when it's on D, so you can always
put it on N when you're stopping, and then you
don't have to then put on your brakes and you
can put your handbrake.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh then they said the correct term for grinding forward
is creep. It was just what you're talking about, okay,
And then we've got a voice note on seven two
seven O two one seven o two.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Absolutely yeah, I tried late on the weekend.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Prenda. Oh yeah, it made.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'll give you even one beta. You must actually glue
the two disks together and then ra okay once you
please ask listen, Joe, why is it that brake pads
from manufacturers costs three times more than the ones from
independent suppliers.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
The only reason is because they have the manufacturer badge
on it. So in the world pretty much there a
few brake pad manufacturers well known, and what the oees
will do they'll contract that manufacturer to create the breakpads
for them and they put a badge on it. And
then then I mean, I guess there's brand equity. That's
(13:35):
why they're more expensive. But other than that, there is
absolutely no difference between the ferrodos you get from one
guys to another and the breaks you get from the oees.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And I'm glad that you clarified that because I.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Think we forget that name.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Brands are also a thing in the space that you
work in, and usually you can get things at a
more affordable price. But the question if things go wrong,
it might be trickier to get it resolved.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
No, not necessarily.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I mean with our business, for example, and many other
reputable workshops, et cetera, you'll get to get a warranty
on workmanship, and part suppliers usually give warranty on parts
as well. So I think if you have an issue
and you've got to you're working with reputable people, it
will be resolved as quickly, if not better than the
(14:29):
ease in some instances.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Okay, so now can we talk about the different breake
pad types? So you're ceramic versus semi metallic versus organic, like,
talk to me about the different ones and what we
should be looking out for, because it's I don't know
if unless you're like building your own custom car, you
can go and like now select what kind of breakpads
(14:51):
you want, but what should we be looking out for.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Yeah, so all those I guess there's compounds or materials.
It's like based on heat, so you can imagine the
friction that happens when you break is like it creates
a lot of heat. So at a sports car level
high performance, that's where you typically find your ceramic type
of breaks because ceramic can take a whole lot of heat.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
And then really and truly if you don't.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Have a sports car or a high performance car, you
would never need ceramic breaks at that point in time.
But yeah, I mean the organic obviously it's more eco
friendly so to speak. And there's obviously different types in
terms of like how hard it is, how soft it is,
depending on the on the on the vehicle specifications themselves.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah okay, di y versus professional servicing. So when is
it actually safe to check yourself or actually in terms
of to check for yourself if you like it is
time to replace or at what point would you say
a person must go to a mechanic?
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Oh okay, So actually we have an article we wrote
and then there's like four signs pretty much that your
brake system needs to be looked at. One is the
squeaking that we spoke about. Two there's a shaking of
the steering wheel when you break, then you.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Must know that.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That's when you start knowing that maybe your break disc
needs skimming or replacement, because that means they probably want
Then you have like a brake light coming on, uh
and when you press on your brakes they feel spongy.
That could mean that either the breaking pressure, well, it
means that the breaking pressure is not at the right level,
(16:39):
meaning that either there's a leak of the break fluid
or maybe you need to top up your brake fluid.
And so those are the things that you you can like,
you'll feel, and you'll hear and see when when when
your breaks are running out. But if you talk about
dry checking, then everybody's allowed. But if you say dry replace,
(17:00):
I'll say be careful.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
So about how much should one be looking at when
it comes to replacing breakpads? And obviously the price of
cars are not the same. You're not gonna have a
city golf and a Posch spinning the same amount on breakpad.
But what kind of range are we looking at if
we look at the more lower entry level cars all
the way to your high end.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
So I think lower entry level cars you're looking at
between I'd say nine hundred and fifty and twelve hundred,
maybe on the upper side fifteen hundred, and then mid
range to premium anything from fifteen hundred rants all the
way again, I mean if you include when you start
(17:43):
including the disks, you can get upwards of seven eight
thousand rands. That's why it's so important that the minute
your break starts wreaking or giving you signs, sort them
out so that you don't have to pay for the
for the for the disks. So and if you're not
replacing disks, I mean, the most you should be paying
at the top top side and three three k okay.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
One question says, please ask listenach, I have a high
performance vehicle. However, besides from the manufacturer, there's little to
no shops that sell my pad. Do you know of
any reliable good places online or local I can try?
The con question is a Mercedes.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Oh yeah, I mean, so what happens is that if
the car is relatively very very new and they have
changed their break specifications, that would be the likely reason
that you can't find them in the aftermarket, because the
aftermarket has not picked up.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
On that as much and started creating them however, I.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Mean the really there's a master part on Goldwachen. Those
are really really really good suppliers that you can check out.
And there's other suppliers as well, like short Break just
break actually and then yeah, they might have your pad.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Thank you so so much for coming through. How can
people get in touch with Mychinic? Is an email address?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So our email address at Mechanic is high at Mechanic
m I C h A n I C dot co
dot z A and but if you want all our details,
just go to w w W dot Michanic dot co
dot z dot co dot z which is m I
C H A n I C and I mean the
team is always online, so they'll have you sorted
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Your rep name DP DP
Seven o two, the car feature.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Some for the car feature on seven oh two afternoons
at twenty three.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Minutes two three o'clock, we take your calls on.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Audible ONEA A three or seven oh two in the
WhatsApp line oh seven two seven O two one seven
o two. As we talked today about break pads one
oh one, everything from the kre to the maintenance to
the replacement. I'm sure you've got a million and one questions.
Let's get let's get into it with listage.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I did.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Kylee, founder and CEO of Mike Kenick, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
No, thank you very much, and hello to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Who came up with the name Mike Keanick, I did.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
It's derived from my mechanic. Two, it's together to make
it my mechanic.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I thought you were like a wrapper on the weekends.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I used to be right.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Where I have to show everybody you do have that vibe.
What was your rapper name?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Dp?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
DP short for.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I can't say?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Okay? So when did you then move into cars?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Because for the way that I see, I almost feel
like the culture, you know, rap, hip hop and cars
are like so closely aligned.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, no, I mean, I'm a like tech freak, so
I like everything tech. So I mean, growing up, I
like fixing things, breaking things and trying to fix them
a game, and I've got an IT background, And I
believe that systems are all the same in general, So
if you understand one system, you just have to understand
(01:36):
the technicalities of a new system.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But systems are generally the same.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
A smart brother, we are sitting with here, So let's
go to the very basics. I'm not even gonna start
at break pass. Take us back to now you are speaking.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
To a five year old.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I want you to use that level of language when
you say breaks.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
What is incorporated in break?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Because whenever somebody now says, oh we need to replace skim,
we need to you know, you're always like which part?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So where do the pads fit in with the brakes?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
The pads are the stopping power of the breaking system
as a whole. So think of them as a door stopper.
So like a doorstopper would stop the door from moving.
It's like that little rubber type of thing. It stops
the actual door. So you have the disc that's moving.
Then the pads hold the disk. That's what the pads.
(02:34):
Do they hold the disk to make it stop moving?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
What are some of the common misconceptions that you think
people have lay people who are not in that space
about brake pads, for example?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Do you think that generally.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
As people, we we misunderstand how to use the brakes.
Do you think that we expect them to last longer
than what they like in terms of her life's then,
because I'm not gonna lie, whenever brakes are an issue,
I'm always shocked. No matter how old the car is,
There's no part of me like I shame it was time.
I'm always like, ah.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
You brakes, Yes, yes, of course, yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I mean I think driving the way people drive sometimes
you see maybe you're following a car on the highway
and the brake lights are continuously on, meaning the person's
foot is continuously on the brake. So I think a
lot of people think you always have to step on
the brakes to slow down your car, But you can
(03:35):
easily just let go of the accelerator and the car
will the momentum the car will automatically start slowing down.
So that's like kind of like the ways you start
saving your brakes at breaks instead of just always stepping
on your brakes as soon as you see the red
brakes in front of you, try to put your foot
off the accelerator, slow down, and then in most instances
you find that by the time you get closer to
(03:56):
that car, they're already moving.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
You never actually had to apply your brakes.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
So yeah, I mean you can save that save your
breaks in that manner, but as well as like driving style,
I mean, if you're breaking very close, very fast and said,
et cetera, that will typically get your breaks finished in
a short space of time.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
As we saw on my TikTok lives. Since let's stop
skimming the disk and just change both the disk and
the pads, maybe share with us why people started skimming
in the first place, and at what point one should
not even take a chance. I mean, I would assume
the skimming started as sort of I'm going to buy
(04:36):
you a bit of time so you have money to
replace the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, certainly.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So skimming is actually way cheaper than replacing the whole discs. Right,
It's a way of saving some money to skim, and
it's completely safe within certain boundaries, right, So, I mean,
when a break does come, it's like an amount of
millimeters and then as you skim it gets as thinner
(05:03):
and thinner and thinner.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Then it gets to a point where if you skim
it becomes very dangerous.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
So you can skim maybe your discs once or twice
before you buy new brake discs, But we always advise
then obviously depending on the budget and also depending on
the severity of the breakdsks themselves.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
How would you say, you know, looking at your all
the all the vehicles that are sort of like you know,
those what people would consider your little vintage cars compared
to new cars and the lifespan of brake pads, do
you think that things are getting worse for us or
better for us as drivers?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So?
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I think, really and truly is it boils down to
one the driving style of the driver, two the brake pad.
So there's different brands, right, And obviously there's the cheapest
brands and there's the most expensive brands. And it's the
type of materials that I used, right, You typically your
cheapest brands will finish quite quickly simply because of the
(06:08):
material and you'll often see like a lot of dust
on your front wheels where you actually break in the
most like that black.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Dust that accumulates.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Usually that's it's kind of like pulverizing, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So it's like it's going into dust.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
So typically, if you want them to last longer, buy
a good brand and make sure like it's a trusted brand,
and then don't always go for the cheapest because every
two months you'll be replacing your break pads.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
What is a decent lifespan for one's break pass. Let's
say we measure off of a brand new car, and
it's average driving. It's not like anything two hey, tickets,
not crazy terrain, it's just average getting to work and
back home. A few errants here in the type of driving.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, I should lost your bart ten to twenty thousand kilometers.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
On any car. That's kind of the average.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yes, okay, So now when we look at the signs
of worn break pads, when do you start to know
there is a problem.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
I need to start to be concerned.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Is that only the squeak that's the that's the first sign.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Oh so yeah, that's an interesting question.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Actually, So modern cause, as you spoke about, usually have
what they call a breakaway sensor. So the sensor will
pick up when the breaks get to about three millimeters.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Then what you find that a light will come on.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
In your car to tell you that you need to
replace your brakes, so even before the squeak, right, and
then on all the cars. In fact, the designers of
brake pads, they've designed them in such a way that
they got this metal piece that actually makes the squeak.
So that's your mechanical warning kind of like indication.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I thought it was maybe like some kind of friction,
but I didn't know it was intentional to on you
that you know you need to now do something about it.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah, I know it was actually done intentionally so that
people can be warned to know if their breaks are
getting to a level where they need to be replaced.
And then there's also like very soft squeaks, So if
it's a hard squeak, definitely time to replace. If it's
a bit of a soft squeak, it usually could be
like dust, like break dust that's accumulated on the on
(08:23):
the on the.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Pads themselves, and that's one of the warning signs.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
So it's either you get a light in your car
and more modern cars, or you start hearing the squeak,
and you know, because anything below three millimeters on the
brake pad needs to.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Be replaced your hand.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Boden Horst says, brake pads can be bonded and used again,
please explain the how.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yeah, well it is done to save money.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What is bonded?
Speaker 3 (08:51):
So it's pretty much gluing the pads to the metal.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
So the pad is the thing that causes yes, and
then there's a metal behind that They kind of like
glue that together, the compound and the metal to create
a breake pattern gain.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
However, if you use if not, if they don't use,
good blue can come apart.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
If so, there's there's the risks to that, but there's
also guys who do it very well. However, I think
I would be more trusting from like a proper brand
buying a brand new than bonding because bonding has got
its own risks.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I mean, the whole thing to me just sounds like
why how much cheaper is it?
Speaker 1 (09:31):
And is that is?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
What would you say bonding is the alternative to skimming
or they're solving two different things.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yeah, they're solving two different things.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
So skimming is on the disk side, okay, yes, and
then the pads themselves, Like I mean, it's not. It
can be a little bit cheaper, but it's also good
for the environment because that means that the metal is recycled,
you know. But other than that, I mean that the
price different is so little that it's not even worth it.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
To be honest, I actually thought and that bonding is
taking two skimmed discs that are now thin and making
them one big disc.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Again.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
That's what I thought.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
That you can also try that.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
All right, we need to take a break.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
When we come back, we continue with our car feature
Audible one double A three or seven oh two in
the what zap line oh seven two seven O two
one seven o.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Two seven o two. The car features ten minutes of
two three.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Can we continue with our car feature talking brake pads
one or one, car maintenance and replacements and the like.
Listigit Kylie, founder and CEO of my Canic chats to
us your calls on audible one double A three oh
seven O two in the whatsap line oh seven two
seven oh two one seven O two. I was actually
trying to convince Liciter to give us a freestyle about
(10:49):
brake pads, and he's like he didn't prepare him, Like
that's the point.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
So when we've got a couple of questions that have
come in, one says, I you use my gears to break.
I have not changed my brakes in two years. Are
you supposed to use your gears to break? Does it
mean changing down and now riving more or no?
Speaker 4 (11:10):
So if the car is at high speed, yes, and
you take it to a lower gear, just that a
process will slow.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Down the engine.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So it's kind of like using the gearbox to slow
down the engine and then that slows down the wheels.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
But I wouldn't advise it.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It sounds like you.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Might not replace your break paths, but you might need
to replace your gearbox.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I thought you were gonna say your engine that is
so rough once this. Whilst I agree with driving style,
there is the element between automatic and manual cars. Automatic
cars are always in gear and grinding forward even when still.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
So most automatic cause when you've stopped at the robots,
they're trying to go forward.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
They always try to go forward because if.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
You can imagine, in a manual car, you have to
do to touch control and keep balancing so that the
car can can be stable. But like with an automatic car,
it's already engaged trying to go forward at that point
in time when it's on D, so you can always
put it on N when you're stopping, and then you
don't have to then put on your brakes and you
can put your handbrake.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh then they said the correct term for grinding forward
is creep. It was just what you're talking about, okay,
And then we've got a voice note on seven two
seven O two one seven o two.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Absolutely yeah, I tried late on the weekend.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Prenda. Oh yeah, it made.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'll give you even one beta. You must actually glue
the two disks together and then ra okay once you
please ask listen, Joe, why is it that brake pads
from manufacturers costs three times more than the ones from
independent suppliers.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
The only reason is because they have the manufacturer badge
on it. So in the world pretty much there a
few brake pad manufacturers well known, and what the oees
will do they'll contract that manufacturer to create the breakpads
for them and they put a badge on it. And
then then I mean, I guess there's brand equity. That's
(13:35):
why they're more expensive. But other than that, there is
absolutely no difference between the ferrodos you get from one
guys to another and the breaks you get from the oees.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And I'm glad that you clarified that because I.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Think we forget that name.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Brands are also a thing in the space that you
work in, and usually you can get things at a
more affordable price. But the question if things go wrong,
it might be trickier to get it resolved.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
No, not necessarily.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I mean with our business, for example, and many other
reputable workshops, et cetera, you'll get to get a warranty
on workmanship, and part suppliers usually give warranty on parts
as well. So I think if you have an issue
and you've got to you're working with reputable people, it
will be resolved as quickly, if not better than the
(14:29):
ease in some instances.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Okay, so now can we talk about the different breake
pad types? So you're ceramic versus semi metallic versus organic, like,
talk to me about the different ones and what we
should be looking out for, because it's I don't know
if unless you're like building your own custom car, you
can go and like now select what kind of breakpads
(14:51):
you want, but what should we be looking out for.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Yeah, so all those I guess there's compounds or materials.
It's like based on heat, so you can imagine the
friction that happens when you break is like it creates
a lot of heat. So at a sports car level
high performance, that's where you typically find your ceramic type
of breaks because ceramic can take a whole lot of heat.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
And then really and truly if you don't.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Have a sports car or a high performance car, you
would never need ceramic breaks at that point in time.
But yeah, I mean the organic obviously it's more eco
friendly so to speak. And there's obviously different types in
terms of like how hard it is, how soft it is,
depending on the on the on the vehicle specifications themselves.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah okay, di y versus professional servicing. So when is
it actually safe to check yourself or actually in terms
of to check for yourself if you like it is
time to replace or at what point would you say
a person must go to a mechanic?
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Oh okay, So actually we have an article we wrote
and then there's like four signs pretty much that your
brake system needs to be looked at. One is the
squeaking that we spoke about. Two there's a shaking of
the steering wheel when you break, then you.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Must know that.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
That's when you start knowing that maybe your break disc
needs skimming or replacement, because that means they probably want
Then you have like a brake light coming on, uh
and when you press on your brakes they feel spongy.
That could mean that either the breaking pressure, well, it
means that the breaking pressure is not at the right level,
(16:39):
meaning that either there's a leak of the break fluid
or maybe you need to top up your brake fluid.
And so those are the things that you you can like,
you'll feel, and you'll hear and see when when when
your breaks are running out. But if you talk about
dry checking, then everybody's allowed. But if you say dry replace,
(17:00):
I'll say be careful.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
So about how much should one be looking at when
it comes to replacing breakpads? And obviously the price of
cars are not the same. You're not gonna have a
city golf and a Posch spinning the same amount on breakpad.
But what kind of range are we looking at if
we look at the more lower entry level cars all
the way to your high end.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
So I think lower entry level cars you're looking at
between I'd say nine hundred and fifty and twelve hundred,
maybe on the upper side fifteen hundred, and then mid
range to premium anything from fifteen hundred rants all the
way again, I mean if you include when you start
(17:43):
including the disks, you can get upwards of seven eight
thousand rands. That's why it's so important that the minute
your break starts wreaking or giving you signs, sort them
out so that you don't have to pay for the
for the for the disks. So and if you're not
replacing disks, I mean, the most you should be paying
at the top top side and three three k okay.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
One question says, please ask listenach, I have a high
performance vehicle. However, besides from the manufacturer, there's little to
no shops that sell my pad. Do you know of
any reliable good places online or local I can try?
The con question is a Mercedes.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Oh yeah, I mean, so what happens is that if
the car is relatively very very new and they have
changed their break specifications, that would be the likely reason
that you can't find them in the aftermarket, because the
aftermarket has not picked up.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
On that as much and started creating them however, I.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Mean the really there's a master part on Goldwachen. Those
are really really really good suppliers that you can check out.
And there's other suppliers as well, like short Break just
break actually and then yeah, they might have your pad.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Thank you so so much for coming through. How can
people get in touch with Mychinic? Is an email address?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So our email address at Mechanic is high at Mechanic
m I C h A n I C dot co
dot z A and but if you want all our details,
just go to w w W dot Michanic dot co
dot z dot co dot z which is m I
C H A n I C and I mean the
team is always online, so they'll have you sorted
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Your rep name DP DP
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