Fun times the other nite

GoldnGT · 08-18-2009, 02:16 PM

Was coming home from the galleria the other nite and heard a clunk sound under the car.. typical sound if you hit a rock and threw it up under the car.. just bouncing through the wheel wells. about a mile later, i heard it again and decided that it wasn't a coincidence.

I hit the brakes to pull off on the shoulder and heard an awful... bam! from the front right side. I hit the brakes and they were very spongy. I hit them again, and they were solid and slowly went down, hit them again same thing, finally got off the side of the road and heard another loud bam!

i got out and went around to the front passenger side where the air was leaking out of my tire, and i noticed a funny thing. The caliper was in FRONT of the rotor, leaking brake fluid of course.

I had to get it towed and dropped it off at Tire Engineers on Southside.

Got a call from them yesterday and i've gotta get the backing plate and caliper replaced... as well as the rim, where the caliper cracked the inner wall (pic below) and since the tire was flat and pretty well locked up, gotta replace the tire as well =(

Wondering if any of you could think of any reason that would happen. I replaced the brakes in the front about two years ago, and torqued everything to spec... could the bolts just worked their way back out over time, or do you think they actually snapped? I would have gotten a pic, or taken the tire off and looked, but it was just as all of that hard rain moved in on Sunday, so I was just happy to get it on a flatbed and off of the side of the interstate.

evrae205 · 08-18-2009, 02:46 PM

No idea how that could happen but,

tell michael johnston you're friends with mooses grandson. he might hook you up. freddy and michael are old friends of the family.

jonosranger · 08-18-2009, 03:52 PM

Dang man sorry bout the luck. Just glad everybodys ok

GoldnGT · 08-19-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evrae205

No idea how that could happen but,

tell michael johnston you're friends with mooses grandson. he might hook you up. freddy and michael are old friends of the family.

Yeah my dad went to HS with Michael as well. He usually gives our company and us as well a decent break on service. =)

coupe · 08-19-2009, 02:59 PM

Yes.. the bolts could work their way out. Had that happen on my wife's Honda Accord several years ago...and they were still factory brakes!

Always good to check them routinely... and wouldn't hurt to have a dab of loctite on there to keep it retained.

Sendero · 08-19-2009, 03:46 PM

The two "clunks" were most likely the bolts falling out of the spindle/caliper mounting bracket. When you get your car home remove the brackets and use Loctite Threadlocker Blue on the bolts and re-torque them. Make sure you do both sides of the vehicle. It might not be a bad idea to do the rear caliper bolts while you're at it.

I've known some people to safety wire these exact bolts, but they put their cars under extreme stress.

08-18-2009, 03:52 PM	#3
jonosranger Boost! Its wats 4 dinner Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bridgeport,AL Posts: 811	Dang man sorry bout the luck. Just glad everybodys ok __________________ 06 F150 crew cab 4x4 leveled on 35s 94 Lincoln Mark VIII, 3000 stall, shift kit, 3.73, hub swaped, 98 cobra wheels 06 yLincoln Zephyr- Wifeys DD

08-19-2009, 02:59 PM	#5
coupe Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,313	Yes.. the bolts could work their way out. Had that happen on my wife's Honda Accord several years ago...and they were still factory brakes! Always good to check them routinely... and wouldn't hurt to have a dab of loctite on there to keep it retained. __________________ " If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. " - Albert Einstein

08-19-2009, 03:46 PM	#6
Sendero Im gonna show her my... Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere providing FREE tech support. Posts: 4,269	The two "clunks" were most likely the bolts falling out of the spindle/caliper mounting bracket. When you get your car home remove the brackets and use Loctite Threadlocker Blue on the bolts and re-torque them. Make sure you do both sides of the vehicle. It might not be a bad idea to do the rear caliper bolts while you're at it. I've known some people to safety wire these exact bolts, but they put their cars under extreme stress. __________________ I heard it on the internet, so it must be true. "I believe that a person's moral compass can be determined by how he references free men the right to defend themselves." T. Nugent "An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." R. Heinlein "Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." -Unknown

08-18-2009, 02:46 PM	#2
evrae205 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: irondale Posts: 254	No idea how that could happen but, tell michael johnston you're friends with mooses grandson. he might hook you up. freddy and michael are old friends of the family.