wdk450
Well-known member
Gang:
This problem seems so freaky to me, but also so dangerous, that I thought I had to post it.
My disk brake system was installed in 2014 at Mor Ryde, I had one major frame repair in 2016(?) which involved work on the disk brake system. I just know that as a final step on that repair we had to bleed the disk brakes system.
Anyways, it has been working fine for years and years, and then i had a little electrical problem about 6 weeks ago where it failed a departure trailer brake check. The problem at that time was a bad ground connection for the actuator in the front storage compartment. Easy Fix.
3 weeks later I am ready for my next move, did my brake check on the way to the park dump station, and no trailer braking. While dumping I checked the system out. The actuator made noise when I applied braking, but now no fluid in the reservoir. Uh Oh, broken brake line somewhere. I secured the electrical power to the system, refilled the reservoir (optimistically), crawled under the axle area and found that the caliper assembly on the door side front axle was missing ALL 4 of its bolts/nuts mounting the caliper, AND HOLDING THE AXLE FROM MOVING LATERALLY OUT THE AXLE TUBE!!! The caliper had rotated 90 about 90 degrees downward around the axle breaking the 12 inch long 1/8 inch steel hydraulic line. All the other 12 bolts/nuts on the other 3 wheels seemed good and tight, and the 1 bolt/nut I took off the door side rear axle tube for a sample for the auto parts store was on so tight that I had to use a box end wrench and a hammer to get it loose enough to unscrew.
Even with sample parts in hand, it took 3 trips to the rural NAPA store 11 miles away to get the right stuff. The lower rear bolt and nut were impossible to get started with the caliper covering the inside nut hole, But I was able to get the upper rear nut/bolt started with a straight 9/16 box wrench with tape stuffed in the wrench hole to hold the nut until it started. I drove to my next site with 3 of the 4 nut/bolts in place, and ordered a special half curve box end wrench to get the one I couldn't get before started later. All nuts were treated with Loctite blue, and the split lock washers were also in place. The broken12 inch hydraulic line was replaced, and a neighbor helped me bleed the system. Did repeated trailer brake tests as i left the park, and everything was now OK.
Why all 4 bolts from just 1 of the 4 wheels were gone, and no work had been done in that area for many years, is a complete mystery to me. I DO seem to remember a posting here about an owner who had the Mor Ryde disk brake upgrade done, and discovered loose (or maybe even missing) bolts/nuts like mine pretty soon after the upgrade. I have been waiting to search the forum for a link to that old thread, but the search function on the forum has been out of order lately.
I just wanted to advise that if you have had a disk brake upgrade done at any time in the past, from my experience it would be a good idea to check now and then if those caliper mounting axle flange bolts/nuts are tight (and in place).
Here's a pic of what I initially found:
This problem seems so freaky to me, but also so dangerous, that I thought I had to post it.
My disk brake system was installed in 2014 at Mor Ryde, I had one major frame repair in 2016(?) which involved work on the disk brake system. I just know that as a final step on that repair we had to bleed the disk brakes system.
Anyways, it has been working fine for years and years, and then i had a little electrical problem about 6 weeks ago where it failed a departure trailer brake check. The problem at that time was a bad ground connection for the actuator in the front storage compartment. Easy Fix.
3 weeks later I am ready for my next move, did my brake check on the way to the park dump station, and no trailer braking. While dumping I checked the system out. The actuator made noise when I applied braking, but now no fluid in the reservoir. Uh Oh, broken brake line somewhere. I secured the electrical power to the system, refilled the reservoir (optimistically), crawled under the axle area and found that the caliper assembly on the door side front axle was missing ALL 4 of its bolts/nuts mounting the caliper, AND HOLDING THE AXLE FROM MOVING LATERALLY OUT THE AXLE TUBE!!! The caliper had rotated 90 about 90 degrees downward around the axle breaking the 12 inch long 1/8 inch steel hydraulic line. All the other 12 bolts/nuts on the other 3 wheels seemed good and tight, and the 1 bolt/nut I took off the door side rear axle tube for a sample for the auto parts store was on so tight that I had to use a box end wrench and a hammer to get it loose enough to unscrew.
Even with sample parts in hand, it took 3 trips to the rural NAPA store 11 miles away to get the right stuff. The lower rear bolt and nut were impossible to get started with the caliper covering the inside nut hole, But I was able to get the upper rear nut/bolt started with a straight 9/16 box wrench with tape stuffed in the wrench hole to hold the nut until it started. I drove to my next site with 3 of the 4 nut/bolts in place, and ordered a special half curve box end wrench to get the one I couldn't get before started later. All nuts were treated with Loctite blue, and the split lock washers were also in place. The broken12 inch hydraulic line was replaced, and a neighbor helped me bleed the system. Did repeated trailer brake tests as i left the park, and everything was now OK.
Why all 4 bolts from just 1 of the 4 wheels were gone, and no work had been done in that area for many years, is a complete mystery to me. I DO seem to remember a posting here about an owner who had the Mor Ryde disk brake upgrade done, and discovered loose (or maybe even missing) bolts/nuts like mine pretty soon after the upgrade. I have been waiting to search the forum for a link to that old thread, but the search function on the forum has been out of order lately.
I just wanted to advise that if you have had a disk brake upgrade done at any time in the past, from my experience it would be a good idea to check now and then if those caliper mounting axle flange bolts/nuts are tight (and in place).
Here's a pic of what I initially found:
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