I think I set a record for a Series 80 and now I have a question (1 Viewer)

[danmcph]

The record is for shortest miles driven from point of purchase to major repair on an 80 series.

Story:

I just bought an 80 series and within 30 minutes of pulling it off the delivery truck I was headed to the DMV to register it. I drove 6 miles to the DMV and got it registered then headed home. Within 1 mile of my house I was braking and I heard and felt a clunk and the ABS light came on. I pulled into the driveway and crawled under to check it out. The two bolts holding the driver side caliper had come out and while braking the the caliber clamped to the rotor and followed it around the axle as the wheel rotated. This caused all kinds of fun and games.

So do I win? 11 miles and 1.5 hours into owning a series 80 I have an extensive repair project.

My question is this. The ABS harness is about $450 and I have no problem repairing it and spending the money to do so. Witts end has an "ABS delete kit". Would there be an advantage or reason to just delete the ABS? I know that he sells the kit mainly for those who got rid of the full time 4wd and can't have the ABS anymore.

 

[NeverFinis]

I would repair myself. Look for used harness or repair what you have.

There is a way to keep ABS and go part time 4WD.

 

[iwashmycar]

Id certainly have a word with the seller. Thats ridiculous. Bet they sold it toting 'new brakes' ?

 

[danmcph]

I plan to repair it.

I did speak to the seller. He is a 100% stand up guy and I have 0 issues with him. I truly chalk it up to my luck and I now have a great story.

 

[Malleus]

The front caliper mounting bolts have some of the highest installed torque values on the truck. They can't "just come loose" if installed properly.

Regardless of high much of a stand up guy the seller is, I'd be seriously pissed.

 

[danmcph]

When I bought the vehicle the seller gave me invoices of the repairs he had done on the truck. There was a seal replaced that would require caliper removal. It was done in 2019 by a shop. I assume the shop torqued them incorrectly and they came out after 4 years. I doubt the shop will own that issue.

Truck I bought

The builder and the seller are both on this forum. 0 issue with either. My post was 2 fold: 1- A funny (and sad) story. 2-A question about the ABS repair. I bought the truck as is and nothing was mis-represented. I get someone did work on it and probably torqued the bolts wrong. I feel that the seller had now clue, it was a shop that touched them last and there was no sign of an issue until suddenly there was.

 

[surfpig]

Nearly the same thing happened to me, but three months or so after I got mine.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Ouch! Not the greatest way to start a new ownership.

What was damaged?
ABS harness. What else?

I had a bottom caliper bolt fall out in one of my cruisers. Damage was limited to a gouge in the inside of a wheel rim.


@Malleus makes a good point about the torque on these. Guaranteed a lot of these never get torqued to those specs after being removed

 

[LandLocked93]

Aw hell. OK, Ill check mine too.

And to your inquiry regarding the fastest declination to ruin...I think a guy in my club may have you beat. I think he got 15 minutes away from picking up a diesel-swapped 80 when it died. Found those copper shipping staples in the turbo intake and head.
@wonderlc the whole story involves plane tickets, rentals, hotels, roadside nonsense...just too much for my anxiety.

 

[danmcph]

Damage Report (Actually not too bad)

ABS Harness-I love this forum. I had a member reach out and offer one of these and this is the big ticket item.
Superficial scoring on the inside of the rim
Destroyed dust shield ($35)
No Brake Line Damage
I need to really look the caliper over but it looks fine
Two replacement bolts.

I dodged the bullet pretty good. This turned out way better than the '07 KTM 300 that I bought and took straight to Baja before baselining it..........

 

[CharlieS]

Glad to hear you're getting it sorted and the repair is reasonable. I would 100% replace that brake line due to possible unspecified damage. Cheap insurance.

Vaguely related story: I had a brake line fail internally on a new to me used bmw motorcycle and if completely locked up a front caliper. Clearly more dangerous on a 2 wheeled vehicle, but what I want to mention is that there was no visible external problem or damage. Some of the inside of the rubber factory brake line had come loose and created a check valve of sorts allowing fuild to pass only in one direction.

 

[smritte]

In the repair industry, its possible to see a loose caliper bolt. I don't see them every day but in the last 40 years, I've seen ten or twelve that actually lost one bolt. I would prefer to see zero.

 

[bj70_guy]

the '07 KTM 300 that I bought and took straight to Baja before baselining it..........

Bold

 

[Saito]

Got a pump and sensors/harness I’ll sell ya. but lol my cousin lost a caliper bolt and had issues backing and braking. I told him what the issue was and it still took him a while to figure it out. Can’t imagine losing both of them

 

[Broski]

Losing one bolt is pretty common, to lose both at the same time
When I got my 80 in 2015 I made it home about the same distance only to find out that it had a bad HG.
The PO was a stand up guy and gave me back $750.00 towards the repair.