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NAPA OFFERS A FULL LINE OF BRAKE PARTS FOR NEARLY ALL VEHICLES ON THE ROAD TODAY
These are brake parts you can feel good about. Trust the brand that offers the top-quality brake pads, brake rotors, brake calipers, hydraulic brake parts and brake repair hardware that you want on your vehicle. No matter what you drive, NAPA Brakes offers a complete line of brake parts, from passenger cars and light trucks to emergency service and fleet vehicles, and most everything in between. From a brake pad replacement to a premium brake pad upgrade, count on NAPA to provide the highest quality parts for your next brake job.
Disc Brake Pad Parts
Drum Brake System
Brake Pads & Shoes
NAPA has the brake friction specific to your vehicle for peace of mind from quality-tested formulations and friction material.
Brake Rotors & Brake Drums
NAPA rotors and drums deliver quality without compromise, including added defense against rust and corrosion.
Brake Components
From a leaking brake line to a replacement brake pedal or brake light, NAPA offers the brake hydraulic components you need to complete the job right the first time.
THE PERFECT BRAKE JOB
Never underestimate the importance of performing a complete brake job. Your brake system is only as strong as its weakest parts. Follow the procedures outlined in The Perfect Brake Job to install quality NAPA Brakes, and restore your system to like new condition.
THE PERFECT BRAKE JOB
Never underestimate the importance of performing a complete brake job. Your brake system is only as strong as its weakest parts. Follow the procedures outlined in The Perfect Brake Job to install quality NAPA Brakes, and restore your system to like new condition.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET THE BRAKING JOB DONE RIGHT
NAPA Brakes comes with professional Know How. NAPA offers all the parts and tools you need to complete the perfect brake job. From a new brake controller or ABS module to a brake master cylinder or brake rotor, gain peace of mind knowing that your local NAPA Auto Parts store has the quality replacement brake parts you need, available now.
0:04 – SUPER: MASTER CYLINDER BENCH BLEED
0:08 – VO: OK what we’re going to do today is bench bleed a master cylinder. There are two methods of bench bleeding a master cylinder. This version is plugging the ports and cycling the piston.
0:20 – VO: First thing you want to do is fill the reservoir with brake fluid. Allow the master cylinder to gravity bleed, then plug the ports.
0:40 – VO: Once you plug the ports, you can cycle the piston within the master cylinder. You want to make sure you use the appropriate tool. Don’t use a tool that’s a screwdriver or sharp on the end. If it slips off the piston, you could damage the bore.
0:55 – VO: We’ll cycle the piston now, and you’ll see bubbles will raise within the master cylinder. Once all those bubbles are gone, you’ll find that you cannot push in the piston anymore. At this point you’re ready to install the master cylinder.
1:19 – VO: The second method of bench bleeding is using recirculation tubes. Fill the master cylinder up, install the tubes, make sure they’re submerged in brake fluid. The next thing you want to do is, once again, make sure you use the proper tool so you don’t damage the bore. You don’t want a sharp object in case this slips off and you damage the bore.
1:41 – VO: Install the tool and cycle the piston. Continue to cycle the piston until all the air bubbles are gone.
2:30 – VO: OK you’re ready to install the master.
2:32: – SUPER: NAPA BRAKES; For more information visit NAPAbrakes.com
0:04: Today we’re going to talk a little bit about how rust can affect the overall performance of your brake system.
We’re also going to install some NAPA Ultra Premium Coated Rotors. And, we’re going to talk about how these coated
rollers prevent those issues.
0:20: This vehicle is typical of the ones we see in the Midwest Rustbelt area. We’re going to completely disassemble it, and do a good inspection. One of the inspections you should perform is looking at pad wear.
0:36: Now in this case, the inboard pad is wearing a bit more than outboard pad. Not real unusual, but sometimes it’s caused by either the pad not being able to slide properly. You can see this pad was never lubed; it was rusted right into that slide assembly or the actual caliper brackets. Now this one pin here moves pretty freely, but this one is rusted solid. So that can contribute to the uneven pad wear that we’re seeing in this vehicle.
1:06: As you can see, the corrosion build up on this rotor is very excessive, not only in the vane configuration here, but also in the back swept area. The reason this gets corroded faster than the front of the rotor is because you have less airflow in the back of the rotor to dry off the backing plate here. So, you can see here, rust buildup here, same thing in the inside of the rotor.
1:32: As we discussed earlier, you can see this side of the rotor is wearing pretty normal. This is a normal pattern. Let’s look at the inside of the rotor. Now, you can see the difference. This difference comes from a lack of airflow from the inside of the rotor here. And what happens is the rust creeps underneath the friction material, and actually causes even the brake pad to wear a little bit differently, as you can see. Now, this will definitely affect your brake performance.
1:59: Now let’s look at the NAPA Ultra Premium Coated Rotor. This rotor is fully coated. Now, the coating itself will come off where the brake pad will hit the rotor area. But what we’re concerned about is that very edge, again here, where that rust crept down this one, crept underneath the material, that won’t happen with a coated rotor. What will happen is you’ll get full contact points of the pad against the rotor. You’ll get better braking performance, and your pads will last longer.
2:39: Okay we got all our parts on. We’re going to take it for a road test, but I want to show you one more thing. Remember that rust buildup we had on the inboard of the rotor right here? See this dust shield right here? That prevents any airflow from really getting to the backside of the rotor. That’s the whole purpose of a coated rotor, to prevent that little area right there from rusting.
3:01: So the outboard member of the rotor, that seemed to be okay. It’s that inboard we’re really going for. Also remember the cooling vanes. When these started to build up with rust, it affects the performance of the rotor. So we’re going to go ahead and put this wheel back on. Take it for a road test. Come back in. We’re going to pull the wheel back off and show you.
3:22: As you remember, the rotor we installed was a fully polymer coated rotor like this one. Now you can see, after our test drive, that polymer coating was worn off by the brake pad, right in this swept area. This is normal wear, this is okay. But you can also see that polymer coating stays on the corner right here and here to prevent that rust building and creeping up underneath that swept area, causing premature brake pad wear, and also really lowering the performance of the whole brake package. Also, we see that polymer coating is still in the cooling vane area, which will prevent that rust buildup, which will definitely affect brake performance.
0:20: This vehicle is typical of the ones we see in the Midwest Rustbelt area. We’re going to completely disassemble it, and do a good inspection. One of the inspections you should perform is looking at pad wear.
0:36: Now in this case, the inboard pad is wearing a bit more than outboard pad. Not real unusual, but sometimes it’s caused by either the pad not being able to slide properly. You can see this pad was never lubed; it was rusted right into that slide assembly or the actual caliper brackets. Now this one pin here moves pretty freely, but this one is rusted solid. So that can contribute to the uneven pad wear that we’re seeing in this vehicle.
1:06: As you can see, the corrosion build up on this rotor is very excessive, not only in the vane configuration here, but also in the back swept area. The reason this gets corroded faster than the front of the rotor is because you have less airflow in the back of the rotor to dry off the backing plate here. So, you can see here, rust buildup here, same thing in the inside of the rotor.
1:32: As we discussed earlier, you can see this side of the rotor is wearing pretty normal. This is a normal pattern. Let’s look at the inside of the rotor. Now, you can see the difference. This difference comes from a lack of airflow from the inside of the rotor here. And what happens is the rust creeps underneath the friction material, and actually causes even the brake pad to wear a little bit differently, as you can see. Now, this will definitely affect your brake performance.
1:59: Now let’s look at the NAPA Ultra Premium Coated Rotor. This rotor is fully coated. Now, the coating itself will come off where the brake pad will hit the rotor area. But what we’re concerned about is that very edge, again here, where that rust crept down this one, crept underneath the material, that won’t happen with a coated rotor. What will happen is you’ll get full contact points of the pad against the rotor. You’ll get better braking performance, and your pads will last longer.
2:39: Okay we got all our parts on. We’re going to take it for a road test, but I want to show you one more thing. Remember that rust buildup we had on the inboard of the rotor right here? See this dust shield right here? That prevents any airflow from really getting to the backside of the rotor. That’s the whole purpose of a coated rotor, to prevent that little area right there from rusting.
3:01: So the outboard member of the rotor, that seemed to be okay. It’s that inboard we’re really going for. Also remember the cooling vanes. When these started to build up with rust, it affects the performance of the rotor. So we’re going to go ahead and put this wheel back on. Take it for a road test. Come back in. We’re going to pull the wheel back off and show you.
3:22: As you remember, the rotor we installed was a fully polymer coated rotor like this one. Now you can see, after our test drive, that polymer coating was worn off by the brake pad, right in this swept area. This is normal wear, this is okay. But you can also see that polymer coating stays on the corner right here and here to prevent that rust building and creeping up underneath that swept area, causing premature brake pad wear, and also really lowering the performance of the whole brake package. Also, we see that polymer coating is still in the cooling vane area, which will prevent that rust buildup, which will definitely affect brake performance.
0:03 – SUPER: NAPA BRAKES; ISOLATION TEST
0:08 – VO: One of the biggest challenges in the repair business is diagnosing a low spongy brake pedal. This is very easy to accomplish by doing what’s called an isolation test. An isolation test consists of clamping off all the rubber hoses on the vehicle, whether there’s three or four, and evaluating the brake pedal.
0:25 – VO: You want to use the appropriate tools as you see here on the bench. You want to use a tool that will not flatten out the brake hose and has a radius in this area. What you do not want to use is a pair of vise grips. Let’s install a clamp on a wheel here and we’ll diagnose it.
0:41 – VO: OK now we’re gonna clamp off this brake hose in this area. Next you want to clamp off the other three wheels.
0:53 – VO: Now that we have all the hoses clamped off, the next step would be, start the vehicle and evaluate the pedal height. Could you start the vehicle please?
1:06 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
1:10 – VO: That feels great.
1:11 – VO: OK so we have a good brake pedal right now, so that tells us that there’s a problem in the vehicle below the clamps. The next step would be to remove one clamp at a time. So what we’ll do is remove the clamp.
1:27 – VO: Now we’ll start the vehicle again and evaluate it. Would you start the vehicle please?
1:34 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
1:38 – VO: Still good.
1:40 – VO: OK. Next step would be to put the hose clamp back on that particular hose and go to the next wheel.
1:50 – VO: OK now we’re going to take off the clamp on this next wheel here and evaluate it. Remove the clamp, let’s start it up and evaluate.
2:03 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
2:06 – VO: Pedal’s soft.
2:07 – VO: Ok, so we’ve diagnosed it, and the problem is in the left front wheel of this vehicle. And it’s telling me that there’s a problem between the clamp and the caliper. It could be a mechanical problem, a pad problem or even a hydraulic problem in the caliper.
2:23 – VO: Scenario number two, we’ve clamped off all the brake hoses, and we’ll evaluate the brake pedal. Could you start it up please? And evaluate it. How’s that pedal feel?
2:37– VO: Still soft.
2:39– VO: Ok, we’ve clamped all four brake hoses and the pedal is still soft. What that tells me is that the problem is above the clamps. The next step would be to remove the brake lines from the master cylinder, plug the master cylinder, and evaluate the brake pedal. If the pedal is high and hard, what that tells me is that the master cylinder is good, and the problem lies between the master cylinder and the clamps. It could be an ABS unit, it could be a bad brake line some place in the vehicle.
0:08 – VO: One of the biggest challenges in the repair business is diagnosing a low spongy brake pedal. This is very easy to accomplish by doing what’s called an isolation test. An isolation test consists of clamping off all the rubber hoses on the vehicle, whether there’s three or four, and evaluating the brake pedal.
0:25 – VO: You want to use the appropriate tools as you see here on the bench. You want to use a tool that will not flatten out the brake hose and has a radius in this area. What you do not want to use is a pair of vise grips. Let’s install a clamp on a wheel here and we’ll diagnose it.
0:41 – VO: OK now we’re gonna clamp off this brake hose in this area. Next you want to clamp off the other three wheels.
0:53 – VO: Now that we have all the hoses clamped off, the next step would be, start the vehicle and evaluate the pedal height. Could you start the vehicle please?
1:06 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
1:10 – VO: That feels great.
1:11 – VO: OK so we have a good brake pedal right now, so that tells us that there’s a problem in the vehicle below the clamps. The next step would be to remove one clamp at a time. So what we’ll do is remove the clamp.
1:27 – VO: Now we’ll start the vehicle again and evaluate it. Would you start the vehicle please?
1:34 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
1:38 – VO: Still good.
1:40 – VO: OK. Next step would be to put the hose clamp back on that particular hose and go to the next wheel.
1:50 – VO: OK now we’re going to take off the clamp on this next wheel here and evaluate it. Remove the clamp, let’s start it up and evaluate.
2:03 – VO: How’s that pedal feel?
2:06 – VO: Pedal’s soft.
2:07 – VO: Ok, so we’ve diagnosed it, and the problem is in the left front wheel of this vehicle. And it’s telling me that there’s a problem between the clamp and the caliper. It could be a mechanical problem, a pad problem or even a hydraulic problem in the caliper.
2:23 – VO: Scenario number two, we’ve clamped off all the brake hoses, and we’ll evaluate the brake pedal. Could you start it up please? And evaluate it. How’s that pedal feel?
2:37– VO: Still soft.
2:39– VO: Ok, we’ve clamped all four brake hoses and the pedal is still soft. What that tells me is that the problem is above the clamps. The next step would be to remove the brake lines from the master cylinder, plug the master cylinder, and evaluate the brake pedal. If the pedal is high and hard, what that tells me is that the master cylinder is good, and the problem lies between the master cylinder and the clamps. It could be an ABS unit, it could be a bad brake line some place in the vehicle.
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