Bryan Auto Repair

Are all Brake Pads the same? Why are there so much difference in prices of Brake pads? What is different about your Brake Pads? These are all great questions that we are asked all the time, so lets see if we can answer them. There are many types of friction material out there and it gets confusing. They all do the same job, but some do it better. There are 3 main types of Brake Pads out there. Organic , Semi-Metallic, and Ceramic. We will start with the organic pads. The good is they are cheap, they make no noise, and stop ok. The bad They do not last very long and tend to fade as they get hot. We are in Texas so we have heat to deal with before the brake pedal is touched so these are not my favorite. They are ok on small cars but would not use them on trucks or full size cars. Next we have the Semi-Metallic. As the name implies they have metal in them. The material has bits of iron and other metal embedded in the pad. They are the best stopper. They deal with heat real well, in fact ... read more

Do oil additives really work? Are oil additives worth the extra money? These are questions we get all the time. Tom at Auto Car Correct Car Care, a great friend of the B&B Automotive Family, asked the question after the last blog. Ding!! The light bulb went off…maybe we should look into it more so here we go! Now Tom asked specifically about BG’s MOA. We do sell BG (shout out to Ryan of BG for helping us out!) If we sell it we should test it! Armed with a oil friction tester,a can of MOA and a test sample of used 5000 mile standard oil, we got started. We set it up with a fresh spot on the bearing so we could test the wear as well as the friction. Added the used oil to the machine and turned it on. With much noise it screeched to a halt at 15ftlbs of torque. We removed the bearing to find a divot approximately 3mm x 2mm had worn into the bearing. After a quick reinstall the bearing was on a new spot and ready for further testing. Same oil sample was used, but 2 eye dr ... read more

Do I really need to change my oil? How often do I need to change my oil? With the modern cars we have today, there is so much information out there even the Professional Mechanics don’t all agree! We have lights that say Change Now!! Information centers that give percentages or miles till due… So how do you really know? Well we reached out to Ryan Schlichting of BG Prouducts to see if we could get some answers ourselves. The guys at B&B Automotive took samples of oils when they came in for changes. All mileages and types of oil were documented and Ryan stepped in with his friction tester. The friction tester is a electric motor driven bearing with an oil sump. You load the bearing and measure how much force it takes to stop the bearing. The force is measured in ftlbs of torque. First sample was a conventional oil with 3000 miles on the change. Machine fired up and it locked down at 15ftlbs. Next sample was again a conventional oil with 5000 miles on the change. To m ... read more