Went to Death Valley this weekend and visited the Ghost Town of Lida just North of the park. Had a great time until heading down a dirt road to Eureka Dunes when I hear a clanking and my brake pedal is mooshy. Not a good sign. We get out and take off the driver’s side front tire to find that the caliper bolts are gone and the caliper is free floating on the disk. Every time I would stop the caliper would grip the disk and slam into the dust shield. This was my first trip with a different set of people outside the Landcruiser community. All of them were American vehicles or Jeeps. No one had spare bolts to secure the caliper. I carry spare bolts but all of them were too small. I was able to get two smaller bolts into the holes and wire them in place to at least get down the hill. Luckily I didn’t have to use the front brakes. I used engine braking and parking brake to make it into camp. Next morning I find a puddle of brake fluid on the ground. Turns out the hard line from the axle to the caliper had been fatigued during all the slamming when it was loose and now I have spongy useless brakes in the middle of Death Valley. One guy had spare brake fluid so the goal was to remove the caliper and somehow plug the brake line allowing me to get home on three brakes. I removed the bad brake line and used the Jeep guy’s welder to turn the companion end fitting into a cap by welding over the hex hole end. Now I had a plugged brake line and I was good to go. Moral of the story: Don’t let other people work on your brakes unless you trust them. P.O. had the birfield seals and the brakes redone by a well known Land Cruiser specialty shop in the L.A. area. I bet the mechanic hand tightened them with a wrench and forgot to torque the bolts in place. For a normal vehicle it probably would have been ok. Not for me, this had been my third trip to Death Valley and washboard roads are common.
Warning to all, carry some sort of spare brake parts, brake fluid and spare bolts because things happen.
Pictures to come within a day or two.
Warning to all, carry some sort of spare brake parts, brake fluid and spare bolts because things happen.
Pictures to come within a day or two.