Well I guess I WON'T be selling my ARB bumper Nowwwwwww....

[CodyRx7]

So I'm coming down from Jerome, just left the "town" part heading towards Clarkdale/Cottonwood at the bottom of the hill.

There is that really long straight decline which ends with a 15mph left hairpin turn.

Well, about 500 feet before the turn I start to touch the brake pedal and feel no slowing. The brakes just don't exist. My e-brake LAUGHS at my attempt to use it while I'm building up from 45mph to 50, 55, maybe 60mph.

I was about to slam into the back of a C5 Corvette just entering the turn. I didn't have much choice but to plow through the trees and ride the banked turn violently, since trying to steer through a hairpin turn at 60 isn't very effective in this heavy, no-sway bars, lifted beast.

I had about 10 seconds to process that I wasn't gonna stop, probably wreck hard, and roll it or worse.

Somehow I just crashed through splintering all the trees, and the combination of the berm angle and bouncing off the biggest tree actually left me facing the correct direction on all 4 wheels on the road. Engine was still running - just shifted itself into neutral (or I did somehow in the impact) so I put it in drive and moved it to the dirt turnout nearby.

I took pics of the aftermath which doesn't look as bad. The locals appear to have hauled away a lot of the bigger thick logs that myself and another passing driver cleared off the road. I'm quite confident that would have totaled any other car that attempted the same path.

I haven't torn into the brakes yet, but I could see the inside of the driver's front rotor is basically paper thin. The other side looks perfect with plenty of pad material. I know my truck is loud but it never acted up in braking or loss of braking or gave any tell tale sign or sound that that one surface was eating itself away. I'll post pics of the rotor and parts tomorrow. Anyhow, here is a bunch of pics I took.

I definitely got some more projects to work on now. Impressed I was able to drive the rest of my band gear to Cottonwood for our gig (albeit at slow speeds and using the e-brake and side streets). Got it towed back to my place in PV already by a buddy.

 

[ttubb]

Obviously masterful driving

Glad you are OK.

 

[enterconnect]

WOW, I'm glad your OK, that's a gnarly turn.

 

[DSRTRDR]

ouch

 

[tlin]

Glad you're alright and the only casualty is the truck.....that's scary just reading. Can't imagine experiencing it - and hoping I never have to.

 

[Dissent]

Wow! Great driving and a solid truck saved the day. That should buff right out. Definitely wouldn't have done as well with a lesser truck.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[murf]

Yikes!

 

[inkpot]

Wow! Looks like the bumper came loose from the passenger side frame. If it had held, maybe the driver's side would not of made contact with the sheet metal. John

 

[CodyRx7]

yeah definitely did.

This bumper was already a part of a rolled 60 series, and then was grafted onto some heavy metal stock so it could bolt onto an 80 series. I bought it years ago off craigslist just to have something on there after jettisoning my stock bumper bits.

I'm quite confident that an 80 series ARB which is more stout and not piece-mealed together might just have some dings and little bends from the larger diameter trees I exploded through.

we'll go with this being the no brakes issue:

and slowly but surely getting it all ironed out.

 

[Dissent]

Wow! You weren't kidding when you said paper thin. Surprised it didn't just melt away the rest of that. Looks like you've got a bad caliper with that odd wear. Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[Rocky_LC]

That's a wild tale. Glad you made it out unscathed (relatively)

Rocky

 

[Living in the Past]

we'll go with this being the no brakes issue:

First let me say I'm glad your okay and the damage to the vehicle isn't that bad. But when I see a possible safety issue I can't keep my mouth shut. Unless your master cylinder was low on fluid your three other wheels should have worked. The rear axle has it's own circuit. If the driver's brake failed it should have pulled to the right when applying the brake. My guess is the brakes were hot. You never mentioned shifting to a lower gear to try and help slow you down. My folks lived in Clarkdale right off a 89A. Been down that hill many times. I down shift the transmission and use the brakes sparingly. With larger tire it's even worse because for ever rotation you travel further requiring more braking power to stop in the same distance. Sorry for being a a$$ and again glad your okay.

 

[CodyRx7]

I wish it was just low on fluid.

The front pads were due for replacing...but only the DS inner had that disaster. Fluid level was at max in reservoir when I pulled over to check it all.

I dont know if the pad material crumbled or it was just a slow drag process but only that DS inner pad had no pad material. ive had vehicles before where Ive driven them into the wear indicators and on that for a few weeks until I could find time to work on them...but it was loud....obvious... Annoying. This had no grindy or squealy brake feel or sound. Not even the telltale brake lathe rotating "chhhh chhhh chhhhh" noise.


Anyhow....does anyone happen to have a spare forward steering bar? Mine arched itself around a tree or 5.

 

[medtro]

I wish it was just low on fluid.

The front pads were due for replacing...but only the DS inner had that disaster. Fluid level was at max in reservoir when I pulled over to check it all.

I dont know if the pad material crumbled or it was just a slow drag process but only that DS inner pad had no pad material. ive had vehicles before where Ive driven them into the wear indicators and on that for a few weeks until I could find time to work on them...but it was loud....obvious... Annoying. This had no grindy or squealy brake feel or sound. Not even the telltale brake lathe rotating "chhhh chhhh chhhhh" noise.


Anyhow....does anyone happen to have a spare forward steering bar? Mine arched itself around a tree or 5.

Glad you are okay. I cannot believe there was no noise from the rotor. Do you always drive with windows up? Can you please post picture of the pad?

You may need to have your ears checked after this

 

[Safado]

Glad you're ok...I was driving my Brother in Laws 80 down steep rocky mining road in UT over the summer, hitting the brakes occasionally as needed, but not riding them at all. From one depress to the other, boom...to the floor. It was crazy how fast it happened. Good thing I had time to apply the parking brake, and downshift before the turn and wasn't going as fast as you were since I was off road. Limped along until we got to the bottom of the hill and back in the small town. Checked everywhere and no leaks or problems...had a bite to eat and worked fine from then on. I'm no expert on the heat issue, but my experience is I had 100%-0% in seconds and it's the only thing I can explain it away with. I think your rotors and pad definitely needed to be replaced, but leaves me scratching too...anyone have a better explanation on the heat up? My BIL swapped out the brake fluid as a precaution...but it still lingers there in the back of his mind.

 

[Pinetop Cruiser]

Glad you're ok. I've got a bar if you want to come to Pinetop to pick it up. Free.

 

[inkpot]

Yesterday I went thru that curve twice, hauling some relatives back and forth between Sedona and Jerome. What the pix don't really show is the large turn arrow sign that you just barely missed when you came down off that embankment. I failed to follow your track thru the curve in my Scion.

Anyone check in on the Land Cruiser collector that lives right above that turn? He still has that FJ55 out in front and several FJ 40s in his back yard. John