Brakes on a commercial vehicle working around Ashby-de-la-Zouch earn their keep in two quite different settings. On the A42 they bring a loaded artic down from dual-carriageway speed for the slip roads at junctions 12 and 13. Off the bypass, they work hard at roundabouts, junctions and in slower traffic through the town and its lanes. Once a year the town adds its own twist: Market Street, the old A50 trunk road, closes for nearly a week in September for the Ashby Statutes fair, and traffic is diverted onto narrower roads where a heavy vehicle has far less room to stop.
Problems you can't see
A brake can look perfectly healthy and still fall short. An adjuster that has seized, linings soaked in oil, a valve that sticks or a slow leak in the air system will all add to stopping distance with nothing obvious to show for it. That is why we measure brake performance rather than just looking at the parts, and why DVSA expects it at every safety inspection.
In the workshop at Melbourne we deal with the whole system. That includes compressors, air dryers, reservoirs, valves and pipework; pads, discs, drums, shoes, chambers and slack adjusters; trailer couplings and relay valves; and spring parking brakes that won't release or won't hold. After any repair the system is checked again before the vehicle goes back out, and the work is written up for your records.
When something changes on the road
Drivers usually feel brake trouble before anything fails. A pull to one side, a pedal that goes soft or snatches, air pressure that falls fast or is slow to build, a low-air buzzer that won't clear, a hot smell or smoke from a wheel, or a trailer that drags: any of these is a reason to stop somewhere safe rather than press on towards the next junction. Ring 01332 916028, at any hour. Many air and brake faults can be traced and repaired where the vehicle stands, and if it can't be made safe there, we recover it.
Water is the quiet enemy of air brakes. Moisture that gets past a tired air dryer can freeze in valves and pipes on a cold night in the yard, and causes corrosion and sticking valves the rest of the year. Servicing the dryer and draining reservoirs routinely heads off a good share of winter brake calls, so we look at both whenever the vehicle is in.
For most operators in and around Ashby, brake testing simply forms part of the PMI and annual test preparation, which means one visit and one set of paperwork. Book it on 01332 916028; the workshop takes planned work Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
