As the title indicates, those of us north of the Mason/Dixon line have this fun thing called rust we need to contend with. This fun iron oxide mixture makes even the most mundane job an adventure not for the faint of heart. Case in point, my brake job, which should be an afternoon and a couple beers is now well into weekend two (time delay for ordering additional parts). Follow along my picture journey if you dare. I'm warning you now, it's not for the faint of heart - be afraid. Be very afraid.
So after our trip to Snowshoe my brakes started making a horrible grinding noise. Having smelled how hot they were in the mountains I figured I cooked them so let's replace them. And surprisingly it's been 45,000 miles since the last brake job. Order up new pads and rotors and get to work. A couple hours and I'll be done, right. Maybe in the south, but not here. Here my impact wrench can't remove the caliper slide pin. Here, my pry bar snaps the caliper slide pin.
View attachment 232071
Well doesn't that just stink. Put it back together, move the cars to their normal spots and give Rock Auto a bunch of money the last day my 5% discount is still good. Order front and rear rotors, pads, calipers, rubber lines and a bunch of other things. By Thursday my foyer looks like a Rock Auto distribution center.
Today's the day, let's get 'er done. Hit everything with a good dose of penetrating oil and move on to a few few "easy" things while it soaks in. Easy thing number one - replace the ground strap from the hood to the fire wall. That'll give me some good vibes, right? Oh you're fooling yourself. The good vibes quickly turn bad as the firewall bolt snaps as I'm removing what's left of the old wire. Oh well, at least there's a nearby ground I can leverage for this one.
View attachment 232072
A hack job complete, let's move on to the main course, replacing the brakes. Loosen the fittings for the hard lines to the rubber lines. Week, that seemed to work for all the caliper kines. That stupid center line over the differential - well that seems to be a no go as the entire metal line is turning with the nut vs. the nut turning around the line. Rats! Move on to the actual brakes. Wheels off, no sweat. Caliper brackets off (no need to first remove the caliper a since the new ones come with fresh brackets) works as expected. Rear drums/discs off, yep. Driver side rotor - WHY WON'T YOU BUDGE? Double check to make sure there's not a retaining screw. Actually triple check. Move over to passenger side and rotor slides right off as expected. Back to driver's side and resort to this and it still won't budge
View attachment 232073
What in the world? Who welded my rotor on!?! So it is now soaking with multiple hits of penetrating oil (I'm getting dizzy or stoned by the fumes at this point) and it's going to soak overnight - and probably not be any more cooperative in the morning. Something tells me I'm going to be ordering hub assemblies and half shafts tommorow, buttoning bit back up to properly position the cars and waiting another week for FedEx to deliver more goodies.
Oh, and to leave you with just one more frightening site, both of my rear jounce bumpers are gone and hiding by these pictures, I don't think buying new ones will do me any good as they'll probably fall right out.
View attachment 232074
View attachment 232075
So now, It's time to call it quits, take a shower and have a beer or ten. I'm getting so very close to throwing all the new parts in the back and taking it to our mechanic.
Oh, and I hope these images don't give you nightmares. If I didn't love snow so much and hate the heat with a deep seeded passion I would consider moving south.