One of those days...

lowbudget

lowbudget

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I went to change out shocks and noticed the Idler arm was shot. I ordered a new idler arm, rotors, bearings and brake pads. Swapped it all out and took it for a test drive last night. A couple miles from the house the right caliper locks up. I tried banging on it, stomping on the brakes to no avail. So I ease it on home. Needless to say the brakes, rotor and wheel were to hot to mess with and it is raining today. I suppose new calipers and lines are next. I'm thinking I probably warped the rotor and fried the pads. All in a days work. I said F. it and hopped on my bike.
 
it was only a couple of miles? the pads and rotors might still be ok. you ever see the rotors on a race car glowing bright orange? they can take quite a bit of heat and still hold their shape, especially if they're new
 
Don't look down, don't look back, look up, look forward.

Don't regret, don't worry about mistakes, the road has bumps & patches of smoothness-keep truckin' mother trucker, keep truckin'!

Best wishes buddy! You are doing better than many others, if that helps any.
 
jasperjacko said:
flex hose on caliper probably collapsed inside
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That was exactly what I thought, too. It's not that common but it does happen, and very often after a brake job. Never let your calipers hang by the hoses... that's the #1 cause of a collapsed hose. Once collapsed, the hose acts like a check valve and won't allow fluid to leave the caliper.
 
Monkeyed said:
it was only a couple of miles? the pads and rotors might still be ok. you ever see the rotors on a race car glowing bright orange? they can take quite a bit of heat and still hold their shape, especially if they're new
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Ever see the thickness of a rotor on a race car compared to our street driven, stock machines? They'll take a lot more heat.

But I agree, the rotor should be alright. Rub the pads down with some sandpaper to de-glaze 'em and they'll be alright.
 
These days, aside from NASCAR, most brake rotors on race cars are ceramic or carbon fibre. Both are quite different from the cast iron rods on street cars. Carbon fibre rotors work better the hotter they get, and ceramic rotors can withstand some very high temperatures that would crack cast iron rotors.

Closer to the original post, the only way to see what the status is, is to take off the wheel and look. You may want to measure rotor thickness to be absolutely sure, and to compare pad thickness to a new pad. You will feel warpage in the steering or when braking.

Kostas
 
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:happy8: well, the point was they shouldn't be warped that easily, but anything is possible. if you take them off set them on a flat surface, disc side up, so it looks like a bowl, then measure the height around the outside edge with a machinist scale, it should be pretty obvious if there's a low spot on it.
 
How's measuring thickness going to determine any warpage?

Dial indicator with magnetic base can find any runout, no need remove rotor.

Shit, put a new hose on and see if there is any pulsing in the brake pedal. Lets keep it simple
 
Measuring thickness will make sure the rotor isn't excessively thin/is within spec.. Looking at rotor will determine if there are gouges in surface deep enough to be of concern.. Driving it around determines warpage.

Never said to measure thickness to determine warpage. Excessively thin rotors do warp easier.

Kostas
 
Brand new rotor installed, drove a couple miles on a sticking caliper. No way that rotor would be below min spec thickness.
I didn't direct my post to anyone specific, please dont take it that way.
With a name like "Low Budget" , Im simply suggesting the minimum cost and parts replacement.
As others stated, replace the hose first. Then check for pedal pulsing. Even the pads can be deglazed and reused. All good suggestions.
 
Monkeyed said:
:happy8: well, the point was they shouldn't be warped that easily, but anything is possible. if you take them off set them on a flat surface, disc side up, so it looks like a bowl, then measure the height around the outside edge with a machinist scale, it should be pretty obvious if there's a low spot on it.
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How would there be a low spot?
 
Hoses and calipers are coming. I had the caliper wired up so it didn't hang by the hose. I got the name Lowbudget from the Kinks song that was playing when I signed up on slantsix.org many years ago. There is nothing lowbudget about my Mopar habit. lol I haven't pulled it apart yet. I've been playing with my bike as I have a Memorial run to in Wyoming Sunday.
 
MiradaMegacab said:
How's measuring thickness going to determine any warpage?

Dial indicator with magnetic base can find any runout, no need remove rotor.

Shit, put a new hose on and see if there is any pulsing in the brake pedal. Lets keep it simple
Click to expand...

Except a lot of rotors these days come out of the box with excessive runout. It's actually funny if you do this and see the variances in most new rotors. Most will be within tolerance but I've seen some, like NAPA's True Stops, that are junk out of the box. From what a friend who walks for NAPA as an outside salesman - going from shop to shop on commercial accounts - NAPA's doing away with True Thumps.

One of the reasons I won't cut rotors. Had a service writer one time complain that I was replacing too many rotors when we should be cutting 'em. I chucked a dial indicator up on the lathe and called him over. Got him the specs on the rotors on the car I was working on. Spun the lathe up and the run out on the lathe was 2-3 times the excessive run out on the rotor specs. Looked at him and said, "that's why I don't cut rotors." That and a lot of the rotors he wanted me to cut were warped because of excessive heat. Yeah, that's right, let's cut warped rotors for a customer who likes to ride his or her brakes down the hills and make 'em thinnner, so the customer can be back in within a week and we'll replace 'em for free.

Like most service writers this guy was mentally deficient anyway. The mark up the shop was making on new rotors was more than the labor charge on cutting them. Add into that the labor for brakes, the mark up on parts, the shop was profiting more and the customer was getting a better job. Oh, and we didn't have to comp some of the money back because he was warrantying brake jobs.
 
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Unless you're going to sandblast the rotor vents to get all the rust out, chances are you're gonna have warpage again in pretty short order. Turns out rust is a pretty effective insulator...
 
I picked up the parts, checked the rotor, pulled the old caliper. deglazed the pads and pulled the new caliper out of the box. The new caliper piston had a chunk out of it. Had to get a replacement out of Albuquerque. So I 'm waiting till Monday. I did get the other side swapped out.
 
It never ends. I went to Grand Junction to get my 77 Aspen I loaned a friend and it has a pinhole in the front brake line. Needless to say I just rented a trailer and loaded it up. Now to try and back it off the trailer. The fun never ends! lol
 
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