That my daughter would change her own front brakes. The other day my daughter, Torrie (trainer in the video, [1] ““Basic Car Maintenance For Pretty Hands! ®”), made an attempt to learn how to change her front brake pads. How proud I was of her! Few men try to do their own maintenance let alone a young lady! She was driving her car home one evening and noticed that her brakes were grinding. What that means is whenever she applied the brakes. She could feel vibrations in the pedal and in the front of the car that were non-existent before. In addition, there was a definite metal-to-metal scraping sound, like someone dragging a knife across a sharpening hone. I believe that she has learned about this from her mother, who is very, very hard on brakes; she goes through a set of front pads every few months. Torrie has been with her mother, when she would drive with the brakes grinding. This Torrie did not do; and for a good reason! She has learned from her mother that a brake job costs much more money when the driver continues to drive the car when the brakes are grinding.Brakes are simple devices that incorporate some parts that have to wear out. It’s just the nature of the beast. Automobile brake shoes and pads are designed to take tremendous heat and pressure, which is required for stopping a car. When the pads wear out, the metal plates that the pads are mounted on are the only things to stop with: very bad position to be in. That is why it is always a good idea to have your brakes checked by a reputable automobile technician. The frequency of this check is covered in your vehicle’s operating manual. If you have your tires rotated by a technician, have the technician look at the brake pads while he or she has the tires off.