Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like this..

[Chris]

Had a chap pop into Chris' Cruiser Emporium today - for a brake tune up. Now you know I am not a commercial enterprise and any work is more 'help' than anything else. But this job was to swap in some new rear discs and pads. Well the off side went OK. Handbrake ok actually. Disc badly worn, pads down to the knuckle but not drastic. The we got to the near side. Jiminy Christmas! Well after finally getting the wheel nuts off with Irwin removers, a blowtorch, pen oil, a breaker bar and several broken wrenches, we got a look at the brakes. The fluid running down the tyre was a bit of a give away really. There was no pad in one side. Like, Zoiks, Scooby! NO PAD at all. Missing, nothing, no backing, zip, nada. Opposite pad was just the steel plate. Disc, well what disc - as you can see here

But the killer was this

A Britool 27mm socket inserted INSIDE the piston (which had come out of the caliper housing) and was sitting there lodged in the assembly. Pad sliders were missing, rubber gaiter was gone, sliding bellows were non existent. All braking was on the front with fluid in the master just covering the bottom of the res.
Now this is not the handy work of the owner - let's be clear. This is how they got the vehicle. I can't say more. I rebuilt what I could with parts from my stock cupboard, but it really wants some replacements on that side. It was a pretty good field repair and the brakes were pretty sharp afterwards. But I'm still in shock.
I have never seen such a collection of wheel nuts. Needed 3 different sized socket, plus the puzzle key and the Irwins. WTF?

Well that's a safer cruiser on the road and that's for sure.

Chris

 

[karl webster]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Ive had a disc the same chris on my latest truck when i brought it. First time i had seen it though. Makes you cringe on what could happen if a few more miles are done on discs that bad

 

[Chris]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

But it wasn't just the state of the disc Karl. It was the fact that it had been bodged and SOLD like that. No pad in one side and a socket used to extend the length of the piston to make up the difference? The whole caliper was like a wobbly tooth waiting to fall out. Which of course the piston already had!

I mean come on. That is so ... well, bloody unbeeelivble.

C

 

[sae70]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Wow Blimey Reminds me of a car a m8 of mine bought some 20+ years back Turned out it had a pair of mole grips clamping one of the brake line flexi lines due to the poor condition of the brakes, to stop all of the fluid just pizzing away with each pedal stroke

 

[karl webster]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Hadnt read the whole post properly at first. Even more

It wasnt one of my trucks was it

Seriously though. People need coming down on hard playing tricks like that when your messing with the peoples lifes and also other peoples who use the road

 

[J66P]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

shocking

 

[Dark Dude]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Surely the car couldn't have been sold with a valid MOT?

Regards

John

The Dark Dude

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Wow inner rear pads vanish down the back when they get low but the socket trick is a new one on me and I hope there will be some come back on the seller

 

[callum]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

wow, i thought mine looked bad when i lost a pad and had been braking using the piston instead.

looking at that i should have just kept going, could have had a few hundred more miles out of it!

 

[Red Oktober]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Shocking .....

 

[Ecoman]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

OMG how some people can sleep at night is beyond me. I would never sell a vehicle in that state. Jeez someone could have been killed

 

[Nick Shepherd]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

That's willfully endangering people, it's not just negligence, it's a deliberate attempt to cause a crash. How could anyone excuse that sort of behaviour?

I'm surprised the socket was as good as a Britool, that job looks like the work of a market stall tools guy

 

[AndyCook]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

blo&&y hell!

a socket used in the piston!!! crazy
thank goodness you got it fixed for them

had one of my back pads wear to metal the other week - but its nothing like this one!

 

[fridayman]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

What a waste of a socket. I'm sure a small rock would have done the job just fine.

 

[Rob]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

New rear pads from my local motor factors are £17 available same day! That's less than 0.5% of what the truck probably sold for, it makes you wonder what the thought process must of been like to decide that this was he best solution?

 

[Bat21]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Who did he buy the car from Chris?

If they are prepared to endanger someone’s life then they need to be named in public

 

[Andrew Prince]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

Not at all cool Good job for helping out, Chris! Not sure I wouldn't be easing round to the seller's place to "explain" the error of his ways to him... I would be livid as hell if I had carried my kids in a death-trap like that!

EDIT: There's a cheap single rear disc for sale on fleabay if he's looking for one, although I am not sure whether it's the same size as the one in your pic looks like one of the earlier, smaller discs? Or maybe the circumference has all been eaten away and just makes it look smaller...

 

[Chris]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

The point of the job was to replace discs and pads, so we had the big bits to hand. Had to dip into my stores to replace twiddly bits that had gone missing. Didn't have time for a full rebuild. Piston was corroded, boot missing. Cleaned up to get them away safely. No leaks under pressure or anything as clearly we were now on the good bit of the piston. But as the pads wear the rough bit will go through the seal again. New caliper required. Or a full refurb.

Not going to get into further details about the origins of the car or owners past and present. Not my business if you see my point.

Just glad that it's now a safer truck. Damn sight easier to get these brakes bled and sorted than it was my own!!

Chris

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

I used to be a scrutineer for an Off-Road club. On one occasion a Range-Rover was presented with a front brake hose replaced with a piece of plastic fuel line---non reinforced type---secured by a couple of worm hose clamps. The owner couldn't understand why i failed it.

Roger

 

[vrecha]

Re: Never, ever, in all my life have I seen anything like th

A socket between piston and the disc ...
... a good idea, must remember that!


Glad you found out this nasty thing and that the truck is finally in the hands of someone who deserves it. But just a thought - if this was the mindset of one of the past owners/mechanics of the truck, I would double check all there is to check, esp. the most important systems (and braking capability no doubt is an important thing). Who knows what else improvisations might be hiding here or there.