How to inspect air disc brakes on a daily basis?

What's the industrial standard for truckers to inspect air disc brakes on a daily basis? There's no way to confirm if it actually works unless you take the wheels off.

 

Any signs of irregular rotor wear.

 

I'm not an expert but it's probably hard to do that without taking the wheels off.

 

Wrong, visually inspect what you can. That's what DOT does. And that is what they are checking for...improper wear on the rotors.

 

Sure you can check that. But how do you confirm the caliper pistons are actually actuated when you press the brake pedal without taking the wheels off? There are many reasons the caliper pistons get seized.

 

If the rotors ain't shiny, they're probably not working.

 

good point.

 

You look for rust on the disc. The advantage of disc brakes work better but also almost never fail to work. No slack adjuster, and all the other parts drums had that could fail.

 

Google "how to inspect air disc breaks" and you will find everything you want to know.

 

Most are for the mechanic annual inspection where they take the wheels off.

Air Disc Brakes: You Can't Inspect What You Can't See