A customer told me my brake jobs were too quiet and now I listen for a different sound

I had this older guy bring his F-150 back three times for a brake squeak I couldn't hear on the test drive. After the third visit he said 'you guys make them too quiet these days, I need to know they're working.' So now I actually pay attention to the rotor feel and pad bite during bedding instead of just chasing silence. Has anyone else had customers ask for brakes that feel or sound a certain way?

3 comments

3 Comments

rodriguez.felix18d ago

Stella_lane you nailed it with that "silent brakes feel like they're not grabbing" bit. I had a customer last month who kept saying his truck felt unsafe because the pedal had "no feedback" after a pad swap. Have you ever had someone ask you to intentionally leave a little drag or vibration just so they could feel the brakes working?

alice26917d ago

One 92-year-old farmer I know actually asked me to wire-brush his rotors so they'd "grab better" after I showed him his new ceramics were stopping him fine. @stella_lane I think we're fighting against decades of muscle memory, not just noise preference. People will literally choose a worse performing setup just because it feels familiar.

stella_lane18d ago

...and I told my wife I finally got a customer complaint about my work being too good, she about fell off her chair laughing. I've had a few older fellas say the same thing though, that silent brakes feel like they're not grabbing. Had one guy with a 90s Chevy who swore his truck stopped better when the pads squealed. I ended up just showing him the pad thickness readings and taking him on a test drive so he could feel the pedal pressure himself. Funny how we get used to certain sounds and sensations over the years, even if they don't mean anything about how well the thing actually works.

-1