I'm just a shade tree mechanic, but something...

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seems off with this caliper!

I belong to a sub-group in my church that does free auto repair for those in need in our community. A lady wanted someone to look at her brakes because they "sounded funny" . This is what I found...subject was a 2007 Chevy Express 3500 van. She is a single mom of 8...

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WOW!! Never seen that before. How big are these kids? And EIGHT?? Wow again. Was the pad worn way down? Maybe the piston was very extended.
 
Originally Posted by NYEngineer
WOW!! Never seen that before. How big are these kids? And EIGHT?? Wow again. Was the pad worn way down? Maybe the piston was very extended.


The pad was gone...piston was pushing on the rotor. The slide pins had frozen...this was the right rear. All other pads on all four corners had more than 50% life left.

I have only seen a couple of her kids...one was a teenager, the other about 5. I don't know any history/backstory...I just contribute by fixing cars ;-)
 
I was kidding about the size of the kids. A 3500 series van should certainly carry them all.

Makes way more sense that the pad was gone. Many years ago, I was driving a Ford E250 in NYC and as I was rolling up to a red light with my foot applying the brakes, Suddenly, the pedal went halfway to the floor and then caught again which almost gave me a heart attack. The pad material separated from the backing and must have shot out. When the backing contacted the rotor was when I got the pedal back. Same thing could have happened to her.

That's an excellent thing you guys do. Good on you. I don't belong to a church but I help older people who ask for help with their cars. My next door neighbor is 87 and a Navy vet. He always starts to try and do repairs himself. I always take over and finish. He keeps telling me he owes me a steak dinner. I just tell him have a cup of coffee with me.
 
I'm a Pastor and I do some work for single Mom's and Widows in our church. Just tune up stuff, oil changes and such. I don't do brakes as I am concerned about me screwing up and causing an accident and me being liable if someone is hurt. Do you have the people sign some kind of waiver when you do their repairs?
 
No, they get what they pay for ;-)
My wife and I usually foot the bill for the parts, and obviously the labor is free...so I guess I just rely on the good will of people for it to not come back and bite me.
 
I admire you and your wife. Great job!

I just supply labor for free for all. I only buy parts for one of the ladies. The rest are ok. They just really need someone to keep up with their maintenance for the most part.
 
Makes since that if a caliper pin was frozen and ratcheting the brake pad into the rotor every stop it would grind the pad down to nothing while the others were at 50%.

Its actually quite surprising that the others were at 50% which means the van was serviced at some point in its life. easy enough fix to sand clean sand and regrease the pins with a good grease (sylglide)

Probably needs a new rotor as well.
 
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
Makes since that if a caliper pin was frozen and ratcheting the brake pad into the rotor every stop it would grind the pad down to nothing while the others were at 50%.

Its actually quite surprising that the others were at 50% which means the van was serviced at some point in its life. easy enough fix to sand clean sand and regrease the pins with a good grease (sylglide)

Probably needs a new rotor as well.


yeah, it had over 270k miles on it...and all the parts came right apart no problem, so it had obviously been serviced in the past. New caliper, new pads, new rotor, bleed the brakes on that corner and good as new.
 
Originally Posted by DriveHard
Originally Posted by NYEngineer
WOW!! Never seen that before. How big are these kids? And EIGHT?? Wow again. Was the pad worn way down? Maybe the piston was very extended.


The pad was gone...piston was pushing on the rotor. The slide pins had frozen...this was the right rear. All other pads on all four corners had more than 50% life left.

I have only seen a couple of her kids...one was a teenager, the other about 5. I don't know any history/backstory...I just contribute by fixing cars ;-)


The slide pins frozen or the ears frozen? If it was the slide pins then why? Damaged boot or boot not seated at one or both ends?
 
Get some yard work from them. Not necessarily "as payment". More to let 'em know that nothing is "free" in this world.

Planet Earth deserves the balance. You deserve the teamwork....they deserve to learn teamwork etc.

Anyone who wants to criticize me isn't getting the point.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Originally Posted by DriveHard
Originally Posted by NYEngineer
WOW!! Never seen that before. How big are these kids? And EIGHT?? Wow again. Was the pad worn way down? Maybe the piston was very extended.


The pad was gone...piston was pushing on the rotor. The slide pins had frozen...this was the right rear. All other pads on all four corners had more than 50% life left.

I have only seen a couple of her kids...one was a teenager, the other about 5. I don't know any history/backstory...I just contribute by fixing cars ;-)


The slide pins frozen or the ears frozen? If it was the slide pins then why? Damaged boot or boot not seated at one or both ends?


slide pins were frozen...boots were not seated on one side.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
Get some yard work from them. Not necessarily "as payment". More to let 'em know that nothing is "free" in this world.

Planet Earth deserves the balance. You deserve the teamwork....they deserve to learn teamwork etc.

Anyone who wants to criticize me isn't getting the point.



I agree 100%.
 
Originally Posted by NYEngineer
Originally Posted by Kira
Get some yard work from them. Not necessarily "as payment". More to let 'em know that nothing is "free" in this world.

Planet Earth deserves the balance. You deserve the teamwork....they deserve to learn teamwork etc.

Anyone who wants to criticize me isn't getting the point.



I agree 100%.



When it is raising your children, this is a sound policy.

When it comes to charity to strangers, those less fortunate, a mother of eight in need - it is misplaced.

Your sentiment has its place, but not in this particular case.
 
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