Almost totalled it!

[swagfu]

Almost totalled my truck this week. Had new rotors and pads installed on monday. The brakes were awesome. On Tuesday, my brother and I were on our way to LKQ to see if we could find anything of use on the rams they had in the yard. I was really looking for power folding door modules. Anyway, when I went to turn into the place, the pedal went to the floor and I had nothing. Luckily, I am a pretty responsive driver and steered my way into the lot and missed hitting a building and fence head on. It was a very sharp right turn and it wasn't the smoothest of entry ways. Once turned in I put it in nuetral and pumped the brakes and got a little pressure to stop the truck and get in a parking spot. Anyway, I got it towed home (which was an ordeal with Allstate motorclub). I called my mechanic and he came to the house right away to fix me. He had turned the caliper when reinstalling it the wrong way and the brake line ended up rubbing the tire and it burned a hole in it. I went to O'reilly's and got a new brake hose. When he was trying to change out, he couldn't get it due to the rust that was on it He had to take the hard line off and it was rusted pretty bad as well. I started making the calls to find a new part. Called the dealer and they said the entire tube and hose only came together but they didn't have it. They also said it would about $150 for the part.Not in stock could get it next day. Called a dealer about 40 minutes away. They wanted $259 for the exact same part, but again not in stock could get it next day. Finally my mechanic called a friend that owns a shop and they told him $51!!! Still next day but so much cheaper. So he came early this morning and took care of me. What and ordeal to go through. I am so thankful that I didn't destroy my truck or hit another car at a stop light or something. I don't want to hurt myself or my brother, but I really don't want to hurt someone else. Even the guys at LKQ couldn't believe I made the turn in at the speed I was going. Brake fluid just poured out when it happened. Hopefully thats it for a while.

 

[rzr6-4]

Even if you had crashed, obviously the main thing is not killing anyone but as far as the bill for the damage goes, you coulda sued that mechanic out of existence. He should be buying you dinner tonight to thank you for your driving skills.

 

[seems fishy]

Are you sure your mechanic was a real mechanic..? ,..."he turned the caliper the wrong way when installing it"... and the brake hose(flex line?) rubbed against the tire?...That person should be and needs to be reported.(was he licensed?).And you should do it,so that doesn't happen again to someone else.And I recommend you follow up with this for at least that reason.
I am very happy you and all involved survived.Bless you.That could have ended very very badly Obviously your driving skill and luck saved you .Can't imagine how he could do that(obviously),and as you said,you could have been hurt or someone else.That scenerio could of had several different endings where someone was killed.

 

[Mojo88]

Well, you and the 'mechanic' are both very lucky. It always amazes me how casually people treat a brake job, as if there's nothing to it.

 

[4xdad]

just WOW. obviously your mechanic is just a friend and not a real mechanic. having just done the brakes on my truck. i don’t really see how he could have made that mistake. a real mechanic would know that the bleeders go on top i am not a mechanic but i ran heavy machinery all my life. my best friend is a mechanic and welder we used to wrench on old chevy trucks. i learned a lot from him and we were just kids.

 

[4xdad]

even though we were young and always drinking beer and smoking weed we never made mistakes like that

 

[4xdad]

our main entertainment was (going up the mountain)which meant also coming down so brake jobs were a common thing for us

 

[seems fishy]

even though we were young and always drinking beer and smoking weed we never made mistakes like that

It was probably ACID,he was on when he made a mistake,like that one.Thanks to God you weren't behind a,tanker truck full of gasoline,or,propane on the interstate.

 

[4xdad]

or a school bus full of nuns lol. seriously a mistake like that signals time for a new mechanic. brakes are pretty simple a mistake like that is unforgivable.

 

[swagfu]

To be fair to the mechanic, he isn't just some friend that I know outside of mechanic/customer relationship, and I have used him many times over several different cars. The caliper wasnt wrong, the line kinked somehow. Mistakes happen and he was very apologetic and ultimately worried about my well being. I will continue to use him. Luckily nobody got injured and I am sure he learned to be more careful going forward. I forgave him for his mistake.

 

[British Bulldog]

Yes. He DIDNT put caliper on wrong, he obviously undid it and hung it while doing brakes, then replaced it, twisted hose so it rubbed. He should have looked tho after finished job. Road test, crawl under and check.
I once had a Ford come into our garage, pulling brakes. Got it on ramp, rusty old vice grips still clamped round a front brake hose……..