DZRick

The where the hell did my brakes go club that is

There isn't much that matches the feeling you get when you hit your brakes and nothing happens.

What is it about the vettes brake system that this seems like a normal thing, I mean I never just lose my brakes on any of my other vehicles.

79L82owner

Thats scary- I haven't had that happen - YET. But, I tell ya, after reading this post I'm going to start braking a bit sooner Anyway, good luck with that one!

rihwoods

Stuff happens...like a leaking caliper....another reason I like manual shift vettes.....

Anyway...only happened to me once in 28 years...lost rear brakes due to leaking caliper...but still had fronts....enough to get the turkey home.at reduced speed...

Rich

DZRick

This happened to me last year as well, I ended up replacing the master cylinder after some bad advise.
Later found that the left front caliper was leaking, it better be one of the other 3 calipers this time.

I've got a standard too and continued my 40 mile ride.

gator79

thats odd you lost total braking, is the master cyl a dual setup on '68?
if so you should have only lost half of your brakes. unless the master cyl totally took a dump all at once

Jeffery73

That happened to me on my first car. It was an '81 Cutlass. Came to a stop light and the pedal went to the floor. Scared me to death. I had only been driving for six months or so. I was able to get the car home but then they totally gave out right in front of Mom and Dad's garage. The only thing I could think of was to throw it in park. It made a horrible noise but it stopped the car before I took out a garage door. A new master cylinder and it was good as new.

rihwoods

From my experience it's best to do calipers in pairs.front or rear.....in otherwords, just don't fix the one leaking...re-build the one on opposite side as well....
Master cylinders can leak internally....giving you a "low" soft pedal....
Rich

Timmijoe

welcome to the club (has it gone global?)


what I thought was a dead powerbooster turned uot to be a brake pad had broke in half and one part was missing

DZRick

I just went and checked the fluid and the level is pretty good, might be down just a touch.

I can pump the pedal about 8-10 times and get a nice firm pedal but affter 10 sec. it's gone again.

Rich,
Why is it best to change both if only one was leaking?

To my thinking that would be like buying two tires because one caught a nail.

Rick

DZRick

I'll PM you the address to send your yearly dues.

rihwoods

My opinion is a simple one: Keep brakes in top condition....also, think with pressures involved,good to have fresh seals on same system...either front or rear...

Have you warmed the vette up good,then tried brakes ??? Sometimes,if master cylinder leaks internally, brakes will pump up good when warmed up...(internal seals swell,then shrink when cold)...this was what I experienced with a bad M/C...had nil when cold,then after getting vette warmed up,pumping brakes,they got firmer...a very "hard" pedal would indicate booster issue...be sure to look at inside of your tires,as well...sometimes caliper leaks don't hit the ground...just stay on tires...

Rich

DZRick

Rich,

I see what your saying, I'm just a cheap bastard at heart and none of these calipers are really all that old.

I had the car warmed up pretty good yesterday and was able to get her to stop by pumping them up. But the pedal was gone instantly afterwards.

I've got to get this up in the air tomorrow and take a look at things.

SmokinBBC

Wow, that must be scary...I joined a similar club once...it was the "tie rod end snapped off while I was driving club".

DZRick

A tie rod snapping would scare me more!

I'll PM you my address so you can mail your yearly dues too.

randommj

my dads 72 does that after long trips, i bet its scary!

Miles

SmokinBBC

I was extremely fortunate.only going about 35mph down a 4 lane main street in Chgo. When it snapped, the car went to the right and up against a curve as I hit the brakes.

Nearly sht my pants!

caseybandy7777

my brakes went out on me about 3 months ago. I was exiting a freeway doing about 70 with my wife in the car with me. I just pumped the brakes, the emergancy as well and hoped I didn't run out of luck. In the end we rolled to a stop in a gas station parking lot.

Timmijoe

so youve been in the club 3 months??

PRNDL

I wouldn't want to join a club that would have me as a member!

My brakes disappeared fortunately for me when I was approaching my driveway at 5 mph. I was extremely lucky because my brakes were totally gone - pumping would not have helped - because as it turned out the pin connecting the brake pedal to the pushrod had fallen out!