A typical brake system is composed of disk brakes which are commonly used in the front wheels and the drum brakes which are used in rear wheels. They are connected via a series of tubes and hoses that attaches the brake to each wheel and to the master cylinder. This mechanism is responsible for stopping or slowing down the moving vehicle. This is done by absorbing the kinetic energy of the vehicle and converts it into heat which is created due to friction as the brake is engaged. The disc brakes consist of the brake caliper, piston, brake pads, and the disk rotor. While in your Mazda having the drum brakes, it is composed of the backing plate, brake drum, wheel cylinder, return springs, automatic or self-adjusting system, and the Mazda brake shoe. On a disk brake, when the brake pedal is depressed, the hydraulic fluid from the master cylinder is routed into the brake caliper where it pushes on the piston and allows it to compress the two brake pads against the brake rotor. As the pads rub against the rotor, friction is created which is enough to stop or slow down the rotation of the wheels.
With drum brakes, the process is executed in a different way. When the brake pedal is engaged, the hydraulic fluid is forced under pressure into the wheel cylinder and allows it to push the Mazda brake shoe out so that the friction linings rubs against the drum, causing the wheels to stop. When the pressure is released, the return springs draws the brake shoe back to its rest position. Since friction is created every time the linings makes contact with the drum, they wear out and eventually causing the shoe to travel a greater distance in order to reach the drum. If the distance reaches at its pre-determined point, a self adjusting mechanism will automatically react and will do the job of adjusting the shoe's rest position so that it is closer to the drum to achieve proper braking operations. The brake shoe consists of a steel shoe that is geared with a friction material riveted or bonded to it. Like the disk pads, the friction linings may wear out over time and a replacement will be needed. If the lining is not checked in a regular basis and is allowed to wear down to the bare metal shoe, it will cause serious damage to the drum.
The most common service required for drum brakes is replacement of the Mazda brake shoe. Some drum brake design have an inspection hole located at the back side which allows you to see how much friction material is left so you will determine if a replacement is already necessary. The brake shoe is recommended to be replaced if the friction material has worn down to within 1/32 inch (0.8mm) of the rivets. In case the friction material is bonded to the backing plate (no rivets), it is advised that the brake shoe be replaced when it has only 1/16 (1.6mm) of the friction material left. Using a worn out brake shoe for quite an extended time can allow the rivets that holds the friction material to the backing to cause wear grooves into the drum. A badly punctured drum can be repaired by smoothly machining its surface. However if machining it would exceed its allowable thickness, then it is required to have it replaced.
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George Wiggins is a business man and also a part-time bartender. He is a car enthusiast and been exploring different kinds of car modifications for the past years.
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