A few tips on braking

Many areas in Thailand are still affected by the floods, although the water level may not be as high as before. This means many routes are now passable but still covered with a certain amount of water. However, if the driver does not know how to brake properly when driving through flooded areas, the vehicle may suffer braking problems and run into accidents.

When driving through flooded areas, make sure there is no traffic following you closely, or oncoming traffic. Use the low gear and drive at about 15km/h. Hold the steering wheel firmly and while maintaining the mentioned cruising speed with the right foot on the accelerator, use your left foot to depress the brake pedal lightly. Make sure you feel that the brake pads are pressed against the brake discs.

Initially, you may not feel that the vehicle is losing speed so much, and sometimes the vehicle may steer left and right a bit. If this happens, just ease off the brake pedal and carry out the same procedure once again. Repeat this a few times until you feel that the brakes start to operate normally and the vehicle does not steer out of direction. Now the brakes are ready to be used as they should be and you can continue driving safely.

Apart from driving over flooded areas, a large number of motorists in Thailand will be driving upcountry to the North and the Northeast during the holidays. They will likely drive through mountainous areas where the weather is much colder than in other parts of the country.

A sure thing is that with a large number of tourists travelling to the mountains, there will be a lot of accidents taking place on the winding roads. This is most often due to brakes fading, which happens when the brakes are used incorrectly and start to overheat.

When driving downhill, one should help lower the load on the brakes by using engine braking as well. When the brakes are used too much over a short period of time, the brake pads and discs can overheat, and this heat will be transferred to the brake fluid. As the brake fluid starts to boil and vapourise, it loses the ability to create sufficient pressure to push the brake pads against the discs.

So, when driving downhill for long distances, make sure you do not press the brake pedal lightly for a long time because it will create that excessive heat. What you should do is shift into low gear and only when the engine revs start to increase towards the red line, step on the brakes hard in short rhythm to lower the speed. Then continue using the engine braking.

When the engine speed starts to increase, repeat this braking alternately to maintain the right vehicle speed and engine speed. Remember that it is better to brake hard for a short time than brake lightly for a long time, as when the vehicle moves ahead without the brakes being engaged, they are cooled down by the wind.

Also watch out for the engine temperature. If you smell something burning or if the temperature gauge starts to rise, find a safe spot to park and let the engine and brakes cool down before continuing. Do NOT keep on driving.

After you have passed through the mountains to your destination, if you feel that the brakes do not perform as well as usual or if there is a burning smell, have the vehicle inspected right away.

What you should do in this case is to have the brake fluid replaced, since brake fluid that has overheated even once will contain a small build-up of water drops. This water, despite the small amount, would lower the capability of the brake fluid in terms of heat resistance, which is very dangerous for the braking system.

Then have the brake pads inspected. If there are any burn marks from overheating, have them replaced. DO NOT try to save money here, because brake pads that have been burned would become softer and can easily break apart when they are used again.

Also check the brake discs for burn marks. See whether the marks are deep into the brake discs. If not, you can just have the discs scrubbed, particularly at the burn marks. But if they are deep into the discs, then it is much safer to replace them.

For the brake boosters, especially the rubber parts, if the brake fluid has overheated and you replace them, also overhaul the brake boosters at the same time so you wouldn’t have to pay for labour cost twice.

This is how you should take care of the braking system when driving through different situations in order to maintain the highest safety level as well as minimising maintenance cost.

I wish you a happy and safe motoring during this festive season.