Brake Lining

A brake lining is the friction material bonded or riveted to a brake shoe or pad that presses against the drum or rotor to stop a vehicle. For much of the 20th century most linings contained chrysotile asbestos, and brake work exposed mechanics, home mechanics and their families to asbestos dust.

Origin

Asbestos was used in brake linings from the early 1900s because it resists heat and wear. U.S. makers moved to non-asbestos linings mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, although asbestos brake parts remained on the market, especially as imports and aftermarket parts, for years after.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Brake jobs created exposure in several steps: blowing or brushing dust out of drums, grinding or arcing new linings to fit, sanding and filing, and sweeping up. Home mechanics often did this in small garages, and dust traveled home on clothing. Brake cases are among the most heavily litigated asbestos product cases. Defendants commonly argue that chrysotile in brakes is less potent, that heat during braking changes much of the fiber into non-asbestos minerals, and that mechanics as a group do not show raised mesothelioma rates; plaintiffs respond with fiber studies, simulations and individual case evidence, and courts and experts remain divided. Product identification (which brands of linings, boxes and parts stores) is usually critical, and several former brake makers pay claims through trusts.

Example Sentence

Every few months he relined the family car's brakes in the garage, blowing out the drums with an air hose before grinding the new shoes to fit.

Related Terms

Friction Products, Chrysotile, Chrysotile Defense, Forsterite, Bendix Corporation, Bendix Friction Materials Trust, Work Practice Simulation, Consumer Product Exposure

Notes

• Write down the brands of brake parts you remember, where you bought them, and what the boxes looked like.
• Home brake work counts; tell your lawyer about it even if you were not a professional mechanic.
• Never blow out brake dust with compressed air; even with modern parts, use wet methods or a brake washer.