Brake Adventures!

"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii) 07/16/2015 at 20:16 • Filed to: None

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I’ve been putting off the rear brakes on the Nissan for a few weeks (shame) and today was the day to finally get to it. After buying the parts, I take it to my parents house (concrete driveway, many tools) and discover that many of their tools have mysteriously disappeared. By mysteriously I mean an under the table contractor my mom has remodeling. After being unable to find the crosswrench or breaker bar (not to mention the air compressor that disappeared a few months ago) I had to take it to my FIL’s house a half hour away. I needed the pneumatic impact wrench if I was going to undo what those tiremonkeys did when installing the tires. Hey, tire shop workers, there are things called torque wrenches, use them.

After spending way too long navigating a mostly alien garage to get all the needed tools I was finally ready to jack the car up. Forgetting that a Nissan Murano is not a Miata, I attempt to jack up a whole side. After breaking loose the driver’s side wheels I realize that I really only need to do the rear brakes. The fronts have plenty of material and are otherwise behaving regularly. Good. I’ve spent way too much of the day just getting started. I deal with the problem child left rear, needing to bust out the BFH to knock the wheel off the hub. As I’m swapping out pads, I notice the bolt on the bottom of the bracket is...strange. It is threading properly but the caliper moves when I tighten or loosen it. Hm.... well, everything is tight and stable when all easily put together. Maybe, that explains the slightly higher wear on the left or today is going to get much more expensive. But it worked decently since the last person changed it, it’ll probably be alright. I put the wheel back on and double check lugs are torqued properly. The right side goes by in a flash as I have all my parts and this is a simple job. Once again properly set and check the lug torque and it’s time for a test drive and smooth noiseless braking.

WHATTHEFUCK.

It has an awful loud clunking whenever I hit the brakes and even when I don’t. This fucking sucks. I did everything right and this is how you treat me. FML. My wife convinces the FIL to get a new LR caliper when he gets off work. Fortunately this will be quick since almost all the needed bolts are already loose. When I take out the lower caliper pin I notice that it is bent. I’d have taken a picture but my littlest one decided she didn’t like my phone anymore and it broke. Anyways, this bolt was off by just enough to fuck things up, but still fit. Great! A $113 dollar fix became a $6 fix. Awesome. Put a bit grease on the new pin (after a return trip back to the auto parts store because, of course) and it’s all good once again! Nothing strange at all! Triple check that lug torque!

Test drive #2: The Revengence.

HOLYFUCKINGSHIT.

It is even worse! How can this be possible!?!? This is a simple job that I have done many times before. What in the actual fuck....As I hold back tears of frustration returning from the too short trip, I remember.

I loosened the left front wheel lugs. I never tightened the left front wheel lugs.

!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!

I crawl into the driveway, hop out and quickly jack up the left front. Then I properly tighten the lugs. You know that feeling how pride and joy a successful test drive can bring? I didn’t get that. Mine was just filled with shame and the expectation that there was something else I looked over was going to rightfully bite me and my car in the ass.

This job sucked but I’m glad it’s all repaired, braking smooth and obviously that my carelessness didn’t cause any serious damage other than to my pride.

TL;DR: I am a horrible mechanic and you should always check your lugs whenever you touch them.

46and2aheadofme > LongbowMkII 07/17/2015 at 00:51

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Anyone who's here... has probably been there :)

TheRealBicycleBuck > LongbowMkII 07/17/2015 at 08:56

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TL;DR: I am a horrible mechanic and you should always check your lugs whenever you touch them.

The truth is that every mechanic is a horrible mechanic and you should always check the lugs whenever ANY mechanic touches them. I’ve found loose lugs after many trips to the shop, including my own. :(