Brake Technician

Cars help people move quickly from one area to another, and brakes help those cars stop when the people have reached their destination. But brakes can squeal, screech, grab in strange ways, or fail altogether. It’s a good thing Brake Technicians are around! A Brake Technician diagnoses brake problems and repairs brakes.

If you’re a Brake Technician, when people come to your shop you first ask them about their brakes and the problems they’ve noticed. Then you jack up the car and look at the brakes yourself. You may spot the problem right away, but if not, you hop in the car and drive it around the block, trying to reproduce the problem. You’ll avoid following other cars too closely, though, so you can get the car back to the shop without causing yet more damage.

You then give the client an estimate, detailing how much it will cost to fix the brakes. If the client approves the estimate, you begin the repairs. You may replace parts such as brake pads or brake arms, clean and adjust the brakes, or pull them off and replace them altogether. When your repairs are done, you drive the car around the block once more to test the brakes.

Auto repairs are often much more expensive than people expect, and some clients may not have the money to have the repairs done. You tell those clients when their cars aren’t safe to drive without repairs, and you may work with them to secure financing so the brakes can be fixed. By working in this way with your clients, you help make the roads a little safer, and this helps you sleep soundly at night.