brakes

Preventing School Bus Brake Mishaps with Regular Inspection, Maintenance, and Repairs 

The brakes on school buses withstand an unprecedented amount of wear and tear each year. These vehicles make repeated stops during their regular routes. They also encounter road conditions that are not conducive to maintaining good brakes.

Are the school buses in your fleet suffer repeated problems with their brakes? It may be time for you to have them serviced by a licensed and trained school bus mechanic. With our professional bus services, you can keep your buses on the road and avoid the biggest mishaps with brakes.

Crumbling Brake Pads

One of the most common problems that school buses encounter while on the road is crumbling brake pads. Brake pads often crumble after they are exposed to de-icing agents used to thaw and treat snowy and icy roads. De-icers like magnesium chloride and calcium chloride eat away at the brake pads until they crumble and wear away completely.

When school buses regularly travel over roads that are treated with these chemicals, it is important to keep an eye on the condition of their brake pads. If you see signs of crumbling, it is crucial for the sake of safety that you have a skilled school bus mechanic replace them immediately.

Uneven Brake Pad Wear

Another common issue with school bus brakes involves unequal or uneven wear and tear. This problem is often caused by calipers hanging up or pin sliders seizing. When it occurs, you lose the performance you need out of your school bus brakes.

However, this issue can be a relatively easy fix as long as you act quickly and get your school bus towed to one of our licensed and ready school bus mechanics. We can replace or repair the calipers or pin sliders and also change out brake pads that have uneven wear and tear on them.

Out-of-adjustment Brakes

When the brakes on your school buses are out of adjustment, they need to be serviced quickly. This problem is often caused by issues like slacks, broken brake components, problems with the actuators, or problems with the drums or hubs. Detecting these causes can be difficult unless you are trained to work on school bus brakes and know where to look to identify the underlying issues.

Our mechanics are trained to handle these problems with out-of-adjustment brakes. They can get them adjusted and replaced if necessary so you can get your school buses back on the road quickly.

Other Common School Bus Brake Issues

School buses can suffer from a variety of other brake issues that include:

  • Cracked or bent brake chambers or camshaft support brackets
  • Hoses with kinks, chafing, and cracks
  • Camshaft heads with flat or worn spots
  • Bearing journals with rust, pitted surfaces, and excessive wear
  • Automatic brake adjusters that are not working properly

Preventing these and other school bus brake issues can be as simple as bringing your school buses to us to inspect, maintain, and repair. Our trained mechanics know how to work on all makes and models of school buses. While your buses are here, our mechanics can:

  • Inspect the condition of the brake lining
  • Examine the rotor plate thickness
  • Check the brake hose flexibility
  • Check and refill brake fluid
  • Replace camshaft bushings and brake shoes
  • Install new brake drums
  • Perform air dryer maintenance at least once a year

These services are crucial to keeping your school buses in safe driving condition. They also help the brakes last longer and avoid some of the more common issues that can cause brakes to wear down and need to be replaced sooner.

The brakes on your school buses can undergo unheard of stress during a regular school year. Depending on the road conditions these vehicles face, they could need their brakes serviced, maintained, and replaced on a frequent basis.

If you want to get the most out of your brakes, it is critical that you entrust their upkeep and repair to mechanics who are trained and licensed to work on school buses. Our school bus brake services are designed to keep your buses as safe as possible throughout the school year.

Cloverdale Auto Service