So.....my car is jacked up

Post by **GirlRacerS14** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

So I'm driving down the interstate and I hear this clinking noise. I slow down, listen.....nothing else. Continue on driving. Start to get off the exit ramp when I hear LOTS of clinking, clanking, scrubbing, scraping and more noises than I care to ever hear out of my baby again. So I hit my brake pedal and it falls to the floor. Grab e-brake.....nothing there either. So I manage to downshift to slow down a bit and luckily the car held the turn onto the next road. I get into a parking lot and go to look at the car. NO REAR LEFT CALIPER!!! The son of a ***** just blew right off the car! WTF?!?! So we find it, try to put it back on, piston is blown out of it, bent all to hell. Brand new x-drilled/slotted rotor screwed, brand new Hawk pads gone. So after I calm down I call a tow truck and of course even though I requested a roll-back, they didn't send one. As the driver looks at my car telling me, "We'll have to have one of them there roll backs to get this here car towed", he says "I can't wait for this damn fast and the furious bullsh!t to be over with". Dear God the freakin ricers have ruined it for all of us. So another hour and 45 minutes later my roll back gets there. Of course this tow guy says the same thing......"damn fast and the furious bullsh!t" Friggin jerks. Anyways, just thought I'd share. Now I gotta get this fixed before I get to do my next set of upgrades. I think I'm gonna cry.

GR

Post by **Rockenreno** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

how the heck does a caliper blow off?! I mean really?! That's insane! I think it's amazing that you actually found the damnable thing, I would have left it for dead and just got a new one (you may have to anyway). Anyway, sorry to hear about your troubles, hopefully you can fix it back up and get your car back on the road. And you have an especially nice car to boot!

Post by **Cold_Zero** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

<rant>I would have told both of the tow drivers, "If it is too damn inconvenient to offer customer service to the CUSTOMER, I will call another company." I would be no skin off your back calling another tow company. Maybe they might get the point they are there to serve you, not the other way around. Why don’t people get what the service industry is all about? I don’t think you were too demanding by asking for something like that </rant>

Post by **Nathan** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

That sucks, at least it isnt a HUGE problem like something with the engine! And your car isnt even fast and furious looking

aholes.

Post by **BadMojo** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

I would never get my 240 hauled by anything but a rollback. IMO, towing it any other way presents too much risk of damage. Lowered car or not, rollbacks are the safest way to get the job done.

Call or write a letter to the towing company. Tell them you weren't happy with the way their employees treated you. Hopefully the company cares about customer satisfaction...well, it's worth a try. It might make you feel a bit better too.

Post by **UncleBen** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

You car looks alot sexier with rims instead of those base model 15's

Sorry about your luck though. I don't understand how that could happen. Very strange. Almost like some tried to kill you, which isnt' a pleasant thought at all. And yes I would do something about those stupid tow truckers. No one needs to be treated like that, just cause your car is nicer then their pos.

Post by **Spilk188** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Man that sucks, I was telling some of my friends about my new car and the first thing any of them said was, "You have to get a big spoiler and put some cool stickers on it!"

I swear, that movie was the worst thing ever for people.

Post by **MasterMan** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

gah... your car is sexy nothing rice about it.. i would of gone off at thos a$$holes... this one girl once said "so your car is a probe?!" i started yelling at that comment "NO ITS NOT A GOD DAMN PROBE, FORD IS A POS..." blah blah so on.. she got the point pritty quickly.. lol

Post by **574-240sx** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Dam that sucks. I know i had my share of break problems. Glad i got my problems fixed. I have never heard of a brake caliper just blowing off. I guess you could look at the bright side and say that i will fix it and i didn't wreak. Also MasterMan everybody things my car is a probe too. I am insulted for just one second that someone says my car looks like a Ford too. Nick

Post by **pcbootleger** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Ok that makes no sense as to why they would blame a female driving a stock looking 240sx having a broken caliper on Fast and the furious. Those towers are morons!! Anyways did you put the calipers back on yourself when you but the new rotors on or did someone else do it? If it was someone else I would make them buy a new one and have them pay for someone else to put it back on. I wouldnt trust their service again.

Post by **slw240sx** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

my caliper came off once, good thing i had a zip tie on it or else i would have lost it completely and prob damaged alot of stuff

Post by **DAEDALUS** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

I still want to know...how *does* a caliper come off? Do the bolts just shear off? Or does the caliper itself break where the bolts are holding it? I can't fathom either happening without a damn good (bad) reason.

Post by **AZhitman** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Scary stuff.

GR, hope it's not too expensive to fix. Sad to see an "owie" on one of the hottest 240's in NICO.

Post by **Thee 240sx Owner** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

i've blown a caliper before while i was driving... right one to be exact... went to hit the brakes and bam the car kept going... e brake i've noticed doesn't help much either cuz i was doing bout 50 and the car hit its brakes and i slammed on mine hit the ebrake and car was still going... thank god for power steering in this case... (and a median with no curb

)

Sorry bout your car... and those tow truck drivers better be glad that Fast and the furious came out or the wouldn't be working at all towing the hondas all day.. they are just mad cuz the one with the roll back gets the nice looking rwd cars... and the other truck gets the ricers...

Post by **Onizuka** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

roll-back? is that a flatbed? i dont know towtrucks :pface

Post by **GirlRacerS14** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

AZhitman wrote:Scary stuff.

GR, hope it's not too expensive to fix. Sad to see an "owie" on one of the hottest 240's in NICO.

I love Hitman.....hehe :pface

I honestly don't know what happened. My friends and I looked at it forever in total amazement. I have no idea how in the hell it came off, but it did. Nothing I can do but fix it now.

As for the tow truck drivers, I gave em a piece of my mind.

Jerks.

GR

Post by **slw240sx** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

the bolts that hold the caliper in will ether come loose and fall out or shear off, i know i had one sheared off and the other fell out,

Post by **Nathan** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Jon, why am I not at all suprised about that? For some reason I'm not suprised about you having it zip tied either. (I would have used duct tape though) GR: was it still the stock old caliper? You had'nt upgraded the rears yet had you? Thats really weird and kinda rules out you screwing things up on the install...(not that you would!)

Post by **skydragoness** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

that's a freaky situation. and glad to hear you made your way out of it in one piece, you and your car. and you were able to safely get off the road. *thumbs up* good job!

good luck with your caliper fix. if it's any consolation. i got ripped off by a Z car dealership that charged me $280 for re-manufac. rear calipers that i didn't really need.

Post by **Anand** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

damn... that must have been hella scary not to be able to stop..

I know I have a nightmare about that sheit once in a while..I'll be driving and I hit my brakes and the car will just not stop... yikes...hate that... but I'm glad to ehar that nothign else happened to you or the car!!!

brakes adn stuff can be repaired... but lives can not and for that matter... it's good that you didn't get into a wreck or antyhing as well... good luck with the fixup job...

Post by **trpower7** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Since I was the last one to install that particular caliper, I believe I have a coherent explanation for the problem. When I first looked at the car to put the x-drilled rotors and HawkHPS pads on there I noticed that one caliper had become completely seized and the other was fast on the way. Since I HAD to complete all the work in a day, we had little option but to go get a pair of junkyard calipers, no where had stock S14 rears in stock. While they looked fairly old the piston retracted all the way and the install wasn't really a problem. I re-used the bolts from the previous caliper, which I believe may have been damaged from the previous seizing (undue stress on the sliding pins, etc).

To be exact, the outer half of the caliper came off, not the one that is bolted to the spindle, the part that the lines connect to. I believe the bolts for the sliding pins were stripped after several hard stops the threads were pulled clean off, ala brake caliper explosion. I've seen it happen before, but that was with a seized caliper. I'd have much rather put on new calipers and bolts from Nissan, but the situation just didn't allow it. The good news is that at most it should only cost a new loaded brake caliper, possibly a line, and one rotor. I would however, suggest replacing the caliper on the other side, if not at least the bolts and mounting hardware.

While a real simple explanation could be that I left the bolts loose, I HIGHLY doubt that as I am VERY positive I gave them the twice over, and they certainly wouldn't have lasted for weeks if I'd left them loose.

As others have said, at least it's not engine related. Suspension and brake problems are easy.....if not somewhat frightening. I'm glad our most valued female member (and her car) lived through the occassion

.

Post by **GirlRacerS14** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Thanks for the more technical explanation TR. It had to be the calipers from the junkyard or the old pins and bolts. I had several problems with the previous calipers in the past but we didn't have a lot of options available during the install. I'm still very happy with the upgrade and TR did an excellent install job. Things are going to happen when doing a lot of upgrades and at least this was more minor than my previous problems.

(i've been through 4 engines compliments of my exes horrible installing and tuning capabilities) Oh, and for the record, engine is done right this time.

I'm going to buy a new set of rear calipers and pads and have them put on. Then I can be back on the road and get ready for my next set of upgrades. (KOYO radiator, electric fan, rear sway bar, LSD)

GR

Post by **WDRacing** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Guess thats what happens when females try to help fix cars....things just fall apart...just kidding GR, u know I luv ya.

WD

Post by **Thee 240sx Owner** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

WDRacing wrote:Guess thats what happens when females try to help fix cars....things just fall apart...just kidding GR, u know I luv ya.

WD

:withstup

Post by **trpower7** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

Hah, to be perfectly fair, when I did all the work I demanded total silence and only me to touch it. I'm well versed in what happens when you let a girl touch a car.....

Post by **GirlRacerS14** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:36 pm

trpower7 wrote:Hah, to be perfectly fair, when I did all the work I demanded total silence and only me to touch it. I'm well versed in what happens when you let a girl touch a car.....

See what you started WD!!!!!! You owe me now.

And I'm very careful with my car. I always pay someone experienced to do major modifications.

heh

GR

So.....my car is jacked up

So.....my car is jacked up

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