Well now, that was fun

[beaterjeep]

Let me start off this way; I've known for the past almost 2 months that I need new front brakes on Baby. The left front has been grinding when taking left hand corners as well as when braking. Today I had to make the about 45 minute (mostly country roads) drive to my uncle's house for my lil cousin's birthday party. I get about half way there, when I come up on a 35 mph right hand curve. Shift into neutral, start to hit the brakes a lil bit to slow down enough, they don't grind. At this point, the only thought I had was "Oh great, this isn't right; I'm not gonna make it there." Half way into the corner, the left front wheel LOCKED UP! :eek: It shot me clear cross the road (across oncoming traffic (good thing no one was there)), and I ended up with the back half still in the road.

 

Called my mom at the party to talk to her b/f to see if he could come get me. He goes back to his place to get his truck, and borrows a friends trailer, and gets back to me and Baby. Look it over after we skid it onto the trailer, and the pad welded itself to the rotor from the heat. So, I am now MJless for the time being, and will have absolutely no money to make the badlands trip. :mad:

 

I swear I'm just bad luck to everyone, since I was with Jeepco when his wheel fell off. Maybe it's for the better that I won't be at the badlands.[/rant]

[BLHTAZ]

:hmm: Kind of hard to call it bad luck when you knew there was a problem that needed attention...but...either way, it sux. :cry: ;) Brake problems are NOT something to press your luck with or just try to get a few more miles out of as you well know now.

 

I'm glad that you or anyone else was not hurt :cheers: .

[reson46]

I swear I'm just bad luck to everyone, since I was with Jeepco when his wheel fell off.

 

Thankfully you weren't bad luck to anybody else!!! :eek: Sorry for your little inconvenience, but at least you didn't plow into another innocent person who just happened to be near you when your brakes failed! That is completely irresponsible. Hopefully you learned something and will never put anybody else's life in danger by doing something like this again. :roll:

 

Willy

[JeepcoMJ]

unfortunately, when you're on permanent disability and your budget is QUITE restricted, you cannot always 100% maintain your vehicle.

 

I'M glad no one got hurt, and glad that the MJ is just fine.

 

and Joe, I should have a front axle complete with good brakes by the badlands trip (which I myself am about 90% sure i'm not gonna make it...I'm sick of jeeps entirely, I do not want to work on anything this weekend, and am not going to FORCE myself to do stuff so I can go broke having "fun" in a vehicle that I haven't even driven a full week)

[beaterjeep]

Brent, you have a very valid point; can't necessarily call it bad luck when I've been aware of it for some time now. And, thank you, I'm glad I or anyone else wasn't hurt as well.

 

Willy, I full well admit irresponsibility, hence why I started out the original post as I did. I've learned many years ago about responsibility and the consequences of trying to be above it; it rarely works out correctly. But when you only get $650 a MONTH to live off of, some things have NO CHOICE but to be put on the back burner until it can be afforded to be fixed.

 

Pat, thanks to you as well. Without your help so far, I wouldn't even have an MJ to drive at all.

 

 

Now, for an update. I have Baby back at home, but am only going to be using her for extreme emergencies and only if the trip is very short. We took a BFH to the caliper and the rotor and were able to break it loose enough to spin. I took it for a short run up to about 25 mph (off of any roads, so I don't wanna hear about irresponsibility on that one) and it grinds all the time now. I didn't dare use the brakes, so I was downshifting and letting the tranny/motor be the brakes.

[mvusse]

I've learned from experience (my own as well as others) that you can't safely "go just one more week" before fixing anything having to do with brakes or steering.

 

And yet I find myself doing just that at least once every few years, just because I can't be bothered to fix it "today".

 

Sorry to hear about your luck. You seem to have quite a bit of it, but just like me it's usually bad luck. Hopefully somebody can fix you up with new front brakes.

 

As for the Badlands trip, there's always next year, right?

[89eliminator]

As for the Badlands trip, there's always next year, right?

 

thats what they said last year...(i understand that this time it is different circumstances)

[Oizarod115]

don't EF with brakes.

 

i don't wanna be a fool or anything about it but if you can't afford or can't put brakes on your vehicle then you don't need to drive it. thats ridiculous, and it puts other people at risk of being disabled

 

glad noone was hurt.

[jaekl]

Anybody have any used pads and rotors to give him. It doesn't matter if they don't match and are grooved. It's better than metal to metal.

[JeepcoMJ]

Anybody have any used pads and rotors to give him. It doesn't matter if they don't match and are grooved. It's better than metal to metal.

 

I have a whole axle beam with rotors and good ball joints for him

[Oizarod115]

brake pads can be resurfaced, just take them and pad-down on the concrete rough them up til the wear patterns are gone and viola! like new half gone pads 8)