A lucky escape

[smiffy]

Good morning folks
I went to get a new set of tyres for my car this week, as I discovered that the ones I purchased with the car were over 20 years old. When the nearside rear wheel was off the hub I noticed that the bridging pipe on the rear brake caliper was almost worn through. I had put new rear cylinders on the car a few months back, and had although I had checked that there was clearance behind the wheel, had not taken account of the protruding 'fingers' of the centre disc that are welded to the rim. Some of these protrude more than others, and they had chafed their way into my brake pipe. I drove home reeeally slowly!
Best wishes, David

[Moomin]

I know this post is quite old now but a very similar thing happened to me and my '63 Daimler V8 last December on a business trip between Preston and Guildford. On the A34 in Newbury at rush hour I hit the brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor luckily a very quick gear change and yank on the steering wheel avoided any disaster but it certainly got the adrenalin flowing after a long journey from Preston not to mention puzzled looks from other motorists.

It transpires that the bridginig pipe on the off side rear caliper had worn through having come into contact with the wheel rim. I can only assume that the debris I hit between Oxford and Newbury somehow pushed the pipe in contact with the wheel, prior to this the brakes had been fine all day. Needless to say inpsection of the brake pipes occurs everytime the wheels come off for greasing

Keep an eye on those pipes!

Moomin

[J44EAG]

Might it be possible to fit a metal shield plate to prevent the pipe from coming into direct contact with the disc? In the event of contact with the disc, the plate would give some early warning audio protection.

Mike

[Buzetti]

A good idea also to regularly check the sender in the brake fluid bottle makes the red light on the dash come on - mine didn't and I had to replace the sender unit - with single circuit brakes it is always good to know about a serious drop in fluid level well in advance!
Cheers