Much of the driving in and around Swadlincote is the stop-and-go kind that brakes feel. Once the A514 reaches its junction with the A511, it enters a built-up area and stays in one through the town until it meets the A444 on the western side. Buses stop and start along the way, delivery vehicles turn in and out of the retail park and the industrial estates, and a lorry heading for Derby on the A514 has to slow right down for the narrow, historic Swarkestone Bridge over the Trent. Brakes on a vehicle doing that every day work far harder than the mileage suggests.
Testing, not just looking
You can't judge a brake by its appearance. Linings can be glazed or contaminated, adjusters can stop adjusting, valves can hang up and air can leak away slowly, and none of it is obvious from beside the vehicle. Measuring brake performance is the only way to know what the vehicle will do when the driver needs it, which is why DVSA expects it at every safety inspection and why we do it every time.
At the Melbourne workshop we repair the whole braking system on HGVs, trailers, coaches, minibuses and light commercials. That covers the air side, from the compressor and air dryer through valves, reservoirs and pipework; the foundation brakes, meaning discs, drums, pads, shoes, chambers and slack adjusters; trailer couplings and relay valves; and spring parking brakes that won't hold or won't let go. Every repair is retested before the vehicle leaves and written up for your maintenance records.
Signs a driver shouldn't ignore
Brake trouble usually announces itself first. The vehicle pulls under braking. The pedal feels soft, grabby or slow. Air pressure drops quickly or takes longer than normal to build, or the low-air warning keeps sounding. There is a smell or smoke from one wheel, or the trailer drags or won't release. If any of that happens on the road, stop somewhere safe rather than trying to nurse it back to the yard, and ring 01332 916028 at any hour. Many air and brake faults can be traced and repaired where the vehicle has stopped, and if it can't be made safe there, we recover it.
Not every brake job needs a trip to Melbourne. Our mobile technicians fix plenty of air leaks, valve faults and walkaround brake defects at operators' premises, so a vehicle on an estate in Swadlincote can often be sorted before its next shift. Bigger work, such as renewing foundation brake components across an axle, is better done in the workshop with the vehicle on lifts. Before the frosts, a serviced air dryer and drained reservoirs keep water out of valves that would otherwise freeze.
Most operators have brakes tested as part of the PMI and before the annual test, so it costs one visit and one set of paperwork. Ring 01332 916028 to book; planned workshop work runs Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
