At Performance Unlimited, we help our customers to stay on top of their auto maintenance. We send out postcard reminders when service is due. These cards are based on auto manufacturer recommendations.

One service we’re especially diligent about, when it comes to reminding our customers, is when it’s time to have their brakes checked. As part of that process, we check the brake lines. We also check the emergency brake cables.

Many people don’t think much about their emergency brake cables. With an automatic transmission, you don’t usually need to engage the emergency brake to keep it from rolling down a hill. Even with a standard transmission, many drivers merely set the car in reverse and trust the transmission to keep the car from rolling away.

For those purposes, some people call it the ‘parking brake.’ Its actual name is the emergency brake. It’s not just there for parking. It’s also there for emergencies.

Brakes on cars, if they’re properly maintained, are pretty reliable these days. That, however, doesn’t mean they’re beyond failure. They can and do fail on occasion, which is why the industry recommends replacing emergency brake cables every 50,000 miles. In the industry, they know that brakes can fail and an emergency brake is essential.

Usually, a car’s brakes will fail because a brake line snaps. Other causes include failure of the master cylinder, a brake cylinder or a caliper. But, whatever the cause, you’ll never be happier to have a working emergency brake cable than the day your brakes fail and you need to stop quickly before going into on-coming traffic.

When it comes to brake cables, we think it’s a good idea to use a brake cable you can trust. The industry recommends a 10-second test under 1,200 foot pounds of pressure for most brake cables. Fortunately, we’re close by Bruin Brake Cables in Fox Lake, though their cables are available world wide.

Virtually every emergency brake cable Bruin Brake Cables makes passes that test. That’s not the case for other brands of brake cables. In fact, approximately 90 percent of other brake cables, often manufactured overseas, fail that test. Some simply don’t hold the pressure. Other’s snap completely under pressure.

Emergency brake cables are relatively inexpensive, as is the cost of installation. There’s really no good reason not to have your brake cables checked. It’s inexpensive emergency brake insurance.