‘Don’t Be Like Know It All Karen’: Woman’s Trick To Stop Squeaking Brakes Seems Simple Enough, But Mechanics Are Begging You Not To Try It

A viral TikTok video showing a quick fix for squeaking brakes has mechanics warning drivers not to try it. The video has gotten a lot of attention online, but it shows a method that could actually make your brakes dangerous instead of fixing them.

In the TikTok post, a woman wearing safety glasses says she has a simple answer for squeaky brakes. She puts bearing grease right onto the brake rotors and says this will stop the annoying noise. A repair shop called Shaz Autos saw the video and posted their own reaction, shaking their head at the bad advice. Their response got 1.8 million views and over 1,600 comments.

Shaz Autos wrote in their video caption, “Don’t be like know it all Karen. Come to Shaz Autos for your squeak free brakes.” The mechanic in the video did a facepalm while the theme song from Curb Your Enthusiasm played in the background. It was clear they thought this was terrible advice.

Sure, It Stops The Noise, But It Also Stops Your Car From Stopping

The big problem with this trick is that it gets how brakes work all wrong. Brake rotors are the parts of your car that create friction to slow down and stop your vehicle. When you press the brake pedal, the brake pads squeeze onto these rotors. That friction is what makes your car stop. If you add grease to the rotors, you get rid of that friction you need.

Bearing grease is meant for wheel bearings, which are totally different parts of your car. Car experts say wheel bearing grease should only go on certain areas like the wheel end’s inside surfaces, the housing, or the space around the bearing. It should never go on the rotors.

The comments on the reaction video were full of people saying how dangerous this would be. Just like how workers got mad about a boss who made a new rule forcing remote employees to check in every five minutes, people in the comments were upset about this bad car advice too. “To be fair they will stop squeaking and in fact that’s the only thing they’ll stop,” one person joked.

Another person wrote, “The squeaking will not stop, nor will the car.” Someone else said, “They will stop squeaking for the rest of the car’s life.”

One helpful person in the comments suggested what you should really do, writing, “Or replace your brake pads.” This is what mechanics actually tell you to do when brakes start making noise. Squeaking, squealing, or grinding sounds when you use your brakes mean your rotors or brake pads are worn out and need a professional to look at them.

The original video might have been a joke the whole time. A lot of people in the comments knew the woman in the video was Emelia Hartford, a popular car influencer who was in the Gran Turismo movie and builds custom cars. “That’s Emelia Hartford rage baiting y’all lmao,” one person pointed out. Since she works as a mechanic and races cars, it looks like the post was meant to get people riled up instead of being real advice.