I was going through a box of old magazines at a garage sale when I found this cover of a 1969 trade magazine. Today the opposite is true, techs are more afraid of drums than discs due to springs and self adjusters.
Disc brakes had been around since the 1950s, but only on sports cars and some imports. In 1969, many domestic cars were starting to see disc brakes as a standard option. It was not until around 1974 that the disc-drum set-up became standard on all domestically produced vehicles.
So what were techs most afraid of during the summer of love? One of the greatest concerns was on the lathe and setting up the correct cross-feed speed. Noise was another issue.
This incident takes place in California, where a couple are driving in a car that has a dashcam mounted to it. According to the owner of the car, “this was recorded on a GoPro HD Hero 2 with the extended battery BacPac which gives me more than enough time for the average commute that I do (~2.5h/day, round trip). If you’re considering adding a camera to your commute, I highly recommend it. I have a previous video in my channel of a car running over my foot (while I was riding a motorcycle) and that made the insurance settlement easy-peasy. Just make sure the camera you get has a battery life that outlasts your average commute, or can be charged while you drive. The small hassle of charging it daily and clearing the memory is well-worth it in the rare case that an incident occurs.”
What the driver doesn’t realize is that he’s about to get into a massive street fight with a road raging Toyota Camry. Watch the video below to see what started it all.
In fairness, the driver was speeding when the Toyota Camry made a move to get over a lane, and because the driver was speeding the Camry must’ve not seen the car come up into its blind spot. What isn’t cool is what the Toyota Camry did next. Watch this:
Yikes. That Camry driver is pissed. This is dangerous behavior, luckily both of these drivers had brakes in good condition — at least good enough condition to avoid wrecking on the highway, possibly injuring other people as well. Continue to maintain your brakes so you too can avoid a road rager bent on crashing your car.
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Can you name the vehicle these were brakes are on? These monster brakes have almost 15-inch rotors with four calipers in the front. Need a clue? Think Zeppelin. Need another? Jayz, Kanye and Otis. Click continued reading link to find out… … Continue reading →
Brake failure was the cause of a crash yesterday that closed down Route 31 in Crystal-Lake Cary, Ill., for an hour. According to the Northwest Herald, Evan T. Hoeltje, 21, was driving his 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix north on Route 31 at about 4:30 p.m. when his brakes allegedly failed.
Hoeltje jumped out of his moving car while his car veered off the road and struck a NICOR gas utility box. Hoeltje avoided major injuries but the crash left an odor of natural gas. After inspection, the area was deemed safe.
No citations have been issued, and the crash is still under investigation.
If you are replacing a caliper that has been toasted due to hard braking or due to a drag issue, you should also replace the brake hose. Extreme heat can cause damage not only to the casing but the internal layers of the hose. A hose assembly cost a lot less then a crash or tow truck.
A brake hose has many layers that can be damaged by extreme heat
Anyone can bench race about the most powerful or fastest car. The true gear head can bench race about what car has the best brakes for stopping power, pedal feel and advances in engineering. Here are my top five cars … Continue reading →