warrendanz

This morning driving to work, I must have driven over something going about 45 MPH. I heard a loud boom and then the car was fighting me and slowing down quickly. I immediately pulled off the road. This is what I know so far after bringing it to my mechanic, a great trustworthy friend. I could see the tire was flat and the rear left wheel would not roll forward. The break caliper had sheered in two and fallen to the lower part of the wheel. There was a slice in the outside of the tire. From the outside the car looks fine. My mechanic called me and said, 'call your insurance', the caliper went thru the wheel and rear. I guess the debris hit the caliper and dislodged it at a fast speed and then it went into a fast moving wheel, but to go thru the wheel???

Has this happened to anyone? Any advice from the pros for my mechanic. I will update this later today after I see my mechanic in case I messed up what he said. BTW, this was a 98, 400 with 17's, 58K miles and no mods. I got it 6 months ago and everything has been mint.

chuckb

someone needs to post a pic of a nice Homer "Doohh"

alexulan

you got to post some pictures of this. WOW

Lexis11

This did not happen exactly although one time on my way home from NY about 3 hours, my caliper froze and I didnt realize it, well it was rubbing against the rotor the whole way. Needless to say, my car was covered in rust (raining) from the rotor. That cost me a pretty penny for the detail to get out the rust on the car a new rotor(s) and a new loaded caliper.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

sorry to hear that man

but it could happen. 45mph is very fast compared to something at rest. and with the weight and size of the caliper, it can damage quite a bit of stuff

00lexondub

iTrader: (2)

i knwo how you feel on this one.. i bought my car adn started to drive it home, when all the sudden the pasenger rear caliper broke off on the interstate.. the caliper then floew through the wheel and hit another car.. i pulled over and had huge cashes in the 1 of te factory wheels (which is now my spare).. and 1k later out of my pocket because i dont want to claim on insurance.. it was all fixed.. we determined.. the breakes were replaced recently and the caliper bolts werent tight enough..
it happens though
so dont feel like its only you

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

I had something similar happen. I put my old black GS back to stock and sold it to a friend. He was rushing me to get it back together so he could make the trip back to CT from MD. He got up on the Jersey Turnpike when he kept hearing this grinding noise. He pulled over and noticed the front right caliper was hanging down and dragging on the inside of the wheel. One of the caliper bolts worked itself loose and fell out, thus the caliper dropped down. Thank god it was still held on by one bolt. I guess I didnt tighten it down enough in the mad rush to get it done. It could have been a real bad situation, fortunately, it was a $60 fix for towing and a new bolt and he was back on the road.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

damn that was really lucky jeff. thank god he found out the problem soon ernough!

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, he was really lucky he noticed it. He said he was hearing a thumping noise for a few miles before the grinding, so Im sure he was hearing the loose caliper moving around before the bolt actually came all the way out. I felt really bad about it since I was the one that put the brakes back on the car, but thank god it wasnt as bad as it could have been. This was the first time I have ever heard of this happening to anyone.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

on the other hand i heard about it before already, but on acura. even worse, the dealership changed the pads for him and they didn't put it back correct. too loose, and it damaged the aftermarket wheels. very bad idea