‘Don’t be like know it all Karen’: Woman shares trick to stop squeaky brakes. But mechanics warn it will destroy your car

A TikTok video showing a woman putting bearing grease on brake rotors to fix squeaky brakes has gone viral on social media. But car mechanics are now warning people that this trick is very dangerous and could cause complete brake failure.

The TikTok video shows car influencer Emelia Hartford doing the questionable trick. In the clip, she puts a lot of bearing grease right onto the brake rotors while wearing safety glasses upside down. The video quickly got the attention of mechanics across the internet, and many of them are seriously worried about what she showed.

Shaz Autos, a mechanic shop, made a reaction video that now has 1.8 million views. The shop warned people strongly not to try this. “Don’t be like know it all Karen. Come to Shaz Autos for your squeak free brakes,” the caption says. The reaction video shows a mechanic shaking his head and putting his hand on his face as the theme song from Curb Your Enthusiasm plays in the background.

Why you should never do this trick

The reason mechanics are warning everyone about this is really simple but super important. Brakes work because of friction between the brake pads and rotors. That friction is what slows down and stops your car. When you put grease on the rotor surface, it gets rid of the friction that the brakes need to work. This means your brakes might not work well or might not work at all. That creates a really dangerous situation for the driver and everyone else on the road.

Car experts say that bearing grease is made for wheel bearings, not brake rotors. Wheel bearings connect your car’s wheels to the axles and they need grease to work smoothly and not rust. But brake rotors are the opposite. They need to be clean and totally free of grease so they can create the friction needed to stop your car. Just like other dangerous viral trends that have spread on social media, this brake grease trick could cause serious problems if anyone actually tries it.

When your brake pads squeak, it usually means the pads are worn out and need to be changed. Putting grease on the rotors does not fix the real problem. Instead, it ruins both the rotors and the brake pads. Brake pads are like sponges and will soak up the grease. This mess is really hard to clean and you usually have to replace both the pads and rotors.

People who commented on the viral video quickly saw the danger. “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.” Many users pointed out that Hartford, who was in the Gran Turismo movie and builds really fast cars, was probably just making a joke video. 

“That’s Emelia Hartford rage baiting y’all,” one person explained. Hartford knows a lot about cars and even built one of the world’s fastest Corvette C8s, so the video seems like it was made as a joke and not real advice. Like many viral videos that have gone around on TikTok, the clip was probably meant to get reactions instead of giving actual car repair tips.