My first girlfriend had an old blue Chevy Blazer, which served as the primary mode of transportation for both of us. I didn’t have a car of my own, and Audrey’s was in and out of the shop so often that we both came to dread the possibility of another expensive repair job. Such was our frame of mind when we began to hear a high-pitched creaking, grinding noise that seemed to be emanating from the front wheels as we drove around Loveland. We couldn’t tell for sure where it was coming from, and we didn’t hear it consistently at first. We both hoped that it would go away, because otherwise we might have to take it back to the auto repair shop only to discover some new problem we couldn’t afford to fix.
Our imaginations ran wild, conceiving of wheels about to fall off, misaligned axles, and all sorts of problems that we realized would not only be expensive to fix, but dangerous to ignore. The element of danger is what finally convinced us that we needed to pull our heads out of the sand and have an auto mechanic take a look at it. It turns out that while our estimation of the danger was correct, it was actually a pretty inexpensive problem: the Blazer needed new brake pads. When the pads get worn down, an exposed piece of metal begins to rub against the rotors, producing the grinding noise we heard. This noise is built into the brake pad design to serve as an indicator to alert the driver that their pads are getting low.
Obviously, ignoring the sound of her vehicle could have put Audrey in a dangerous situation. I’m glad we took it in when we did. It was an inexpensive fix, and we continued to enjoy the ability to stop in the absence of the unsettling grinding sound.
If your vehicle is making strange noises, your car may be trying to tell you something. Bring it over to Metric Motors, Loveland’s Top Rated Local® auto repair experts. We’ll diagnose the problem and get you back to driving safely. It may not be as expensive as you fear, but it could certainly be as dangerous to ignore as you would expect. Contact us today!
