Roads that ask a lot of the brakes
Loughborough traffic does a great deal of stopping. The A6004 ring road is a chain of junctions from just south of the town round the western and northern suburbs to the railway station, the A6 brings traffic through Hathern and Kegworth, and the A512 heads west towards the M1 and Shepshed. A rigid making drops across town, or a coach working the routes out to the villages, slows and stops many times in a shift. That kind of work wears linings, drums and discs and keeps the air system busy, which is why brakes deserve more than a glance through the wheel.
A visual check is not enough
Brakes that look fine can still underperform. A seized adjuster, contaminated linings, a sticking valve or a slow leak in the air system all take stopping power away without leaving anything obvious to see. DVSA expects brake performance to be measured at every safety inspection, and that is how we work: performance first, then the components that explain the result.
What we put right
On the air side, that means compressors, dryers, reservoirs, valves and pipework, and the leaks that drag pressure down. On the foundation brakes, pads, discs, drums, shoes, chambers and slack adjusters. Trailer brakes get their own attention, because couplings and relay valves are one of the most common reasons a trailer refuses to move. Spring brakes that won't release or won't hold are dealt with too. After any brake repair the system is rechecked before the vehicle goes back to work, and the job is written up for your maintenance file.
When the problem shows on the road
A driver who notices the vehicle pulling under braking, a pedal that feels spongy or grabby, air pressure that falls quickly or builds slowly, a low air warning that won't clear, or smoke or a smell from a wheel should stop somewhere safe rather than push on to the next junction. Ring 01332 916028 at any hour. Many air and brake faults can be found and fixed where the vehicle stands, and when they can't, we recover it safely.
Water in the system
Moisture is the air brake's enemy. A worn dryer lets water through, and in cold weather it can freeze in valves and pipework; the rest of the year it causes corrosion and sticking. Servicing the dryer and draining reservoirs as part of planned maintenance prevents a lot of winter call-outs.
Booking brake work
For most Loughborough operators, brake testing sits inside the PMI and the run-up to the annual test, so the vehicle makes one trip to our workshop at Melbourne for both. Smaller brake faults can often be dealt with at your yard by our mobile technicians. Ring with the registration and the symptoms, and we will advise which makes more sense. The workshop is open Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
