Brakes & Clutch Parts – Pelaez & Rivera

Brakes and Clutch Parts

Modern cars have brakes on all four wheels, operated by a hydraulic system.
The brakes may be disc type or drum type.

Brake hydraulics

A hydraulic brake circuit has fluid-filled master and slave cylinders connected by pipes. When you push the brake pedal it depresses a piston in the master cylinder, forcing fluid along the pipe.

Power-assisted brakes

Many cars also have power assistance to reduce the effort needed to apply the brakes.
Usually, the source of power is the pressure difference between the partial vacuum in the inlet manifold and the outside air.

Disc brakes

A disc brake has a disc that turns with the wheel.
The disc is straddled by a caliper, in which there are small hydraulic pistons worked by pressure from the master cylinder.

Drums Brakes

A drum brake has a hollow drum that turns with the wheel. Its open back is covered by a stationary backplate on which there are two curved shoes carrying friction linings.

The handbrake

The handbrake gives limited braking if the hydraulic system fails completely, but its main purpose is as a parking brake. All cars have a mechanical handbrake acting on two wheels – usually the rear ones.

Clutch

In a car, you need a clutch because the engine spins all the time, but the car’s wheels do not. The clutch allows us to smoothly engage a spinning engine to a non-spinning transmission by controlling the slippage between them.