Ok, so I guess this is as much a rant as a consultation:
So I took the Beast into the shop this week to have some stuff done that I can´t do:
- Install Warn recovery hooks - now I have two solid front recovery points! They welded those puppies right to the chassis - seems alright to me, what do you guys think?
- Top off fluids in diffs, tc and check CV joints (grease)
- Bend the exhaust pipe a bit as it was making contact with the chassis
- Rotate the tires (I could do that, but it would look more like a chinese firedrill than routine maintenance) - labor is inexpensive here.
- While the tires were off, check the brake pads (notice I wrote¨"check")
As you can imagine by now, they found that the brake pads were due for a change (I was expecting that), and decided to change them (I was expecting at least a phone call for my approval - didn't happen). Because they only had my tacit approval, they decided that OEM pads are too expensive (US$100/pair), so they slapped some "new" friction material on the old pad backing and slid them back into the calipers ($30 parts, $20 labor). I'm planning on replacing both rotors and pads for some HD ones this summer, so the "homemade" setup only has to last a couple of months. All in all, an ok deal - I wasn't happy about it, but, it was ok.
This morning we decided to go out to the country, enjoy our fall weather and maybe do some swimming in one of our many rivers (I enjoy stepping in the quicksand, to the chagrin of everyone else - but I digress).
So I top off the fuel tank and head to the grocery store for some snacks. Taking off from a stop light, I hear this horrible grinding noise coming from beneath the Beast, but it gets better quickly and I power through the intersection. I stopped to check for anything obvious - all clear.
Start up again, no noise, perhaps an occasional grinding that seems to come from the right rear wheel. I decide to give it a closer look at the supermarket: the outboard brake pad had slipped through the caliper and is grinding itseld against the hub. There's a
1/4" groove, about 1/32" deep in the hub
. Trip cancelled, on the way home grab some grub, tear off the wheel and scope out the damage.
I was able to pull both pads out and check them, confirming my earlier finding.
As I am not familiar with OEM pads, I don't know how much they have changed them in the remanufacturing process, but both of them seem to be able to slip straight through the calipers and contact the hub (fortunately only one of them did that).
There are two split pins and springs that keep the pads from popping out, but
what normally keeps the pads from slipping through to the hub?
Am I looking at a safety issue with the scoring on my hub? I know the Beast is grounded until I can fix this, but I'mn planning on driving it back to the mech on Tuesday (Monday is Labor Day here)...
TIA - gotta go get a beer...
Peace,
