The braking system on your vehicle is the single most important item that needs to work at its best to ensure a smooth safe stop. In order to accomplish this, regular brake maintenance is needed.

General Motors has included a comprehensive brake inspection with every vehicle health check which is to be performed twice per year.

Your vehicle has many components that make up its braking system but the three that see the most heat, water, salt and sand are brake pads, rotors and calipers (drums and shoes on some vehicles).The pad must move freely and evenly along the surface of the caliper to squeeze on the rotor. If the pads get hung up due to the excess build-up of dirt, salt, brine, and sand, they can no longer provide maximum braking efficiency and can cause expensive repairs if left. A brake caliper service or a rear drum service cleans the debris out of the calipers slides and lets the pad move freely to the rotor. Having caliper services performed will allow you to get the most out of your brake pads and help stop build up or uneven wear on your rotors.

If you experience any whistling noise, chirping noise, grinding noise or a brake pull when brakes are applied, you will need to have your brakes inspected as these are all indicators of a problem.