I was driving to the Airport yesterday which is 60 plus miles away from my house when suddenly it felt as if I ran over a rock on the highway. I was doing about 70 miles pr/hr and none of the gauges gave me any indication that something went wrong.

I was in a hurry to catch a flight for work.

When I go to the airport parking lot I parked as normal but when I went to put the car in reverse to align it better the front drivers side tire was completely locked up. I tried forward and it moved but when I tried reverse again it would not move at all.

I had to leave the car parked the way it was and get my flight.

I will be away for another two days and get back Thursday. I do not have AAA or any other towing company.

I really need possible scenarios as to what could have caused this and if I should try to drive it home. I can make it go in reverse with the tire scrapping the hell out of the parking lot and hopefully it can go forward.

I did not have a chance to look and see and I know this is hard for anyone to just tell me what to do but would like possible solutions and perhaps maybe it has happened to someone.

Worst case scenario, does anyone know of a towing company that will take my car from Fort Lauderdale International to Homestead FL without me having to refinance my home?

 

The only thing I can think of it might be cheaper to tow it some in Ft lauderdale and have it repaired.You might be able to have it done before you come back.Flat Bed towing is expensive. Good luck.

 

I bet the caliper popped off of the pin that keeps it in position. It is probably wedged inbetween the wheel and the other side of the caliper support.

 

I wonder if it is just the wheel bearing or the brake. I am betting wheel bearing. I also wonder if since it is probably something simple, if there are mobile mechanics that can get it going there.

Just a thought.

 

I did work on these brakes a few months ago and re-placed the calipers with a different set.

Now if this would be a possibility then all I would have to do is get a friend to come up to the airport with all the old brake stuff and replace right?

Or would I be able to do a quick fix and drive home slowly? As it does allow me to go forward


I will be checking this post from time to time as I am in a meeting now and all I can think of is how am I going to get my baby back home

 

Your not going to know what's up until you remove the front wheel and check the caliper and wheel bearing. If you know someone to do that before you get back it would help! Good luck!

 

Pull the wheel in the parking lot. You don't wanna be driving it 6 miles, let alone 60 miles back home, with stuff hanging off.

-Eric

 

I've had this happen twice now. Once on the rear a bolt broke, and once on the front the C-clip came lose and the pin backed out. If you can go one direction but not the other, I'd tend to lean towards the caliper as well. IF it was the wheel bearing I don't think it would move at all either way. If you have sawblades, you'll probably have to pull the wheel. With my Five spokes, I put the pin in without pulling the wheel.

 

that has to be scary.

I like the idea of a brake failure, too. If the caliper has fallen off, you might have the caliper wedged inside the wheel. This makes me think the pin has failed, cause it is forward. Go back, the caliper pulls out, jamming things up.

 

Yeap it is pretty scary, I guess I will have to get rid of the Tie and suit and get dirty in the middle of the airport parking garage.

 

What can happen is that the caliper mount (which is part of the brake pad) and the pin both wear down over time, new brake pads and new pins are necessary as replacing one or the other will cause the new part to wear out sooner.

I've only experianced this problem during hard breaking. Once the caliper jumps the pin it will be held on the rotor by the rim, but it will make a grinding noise during driving and breaking (and the noise is the caliper being eaten away by the rim!!!).

There's an off chance that the pin is still in it's place, you can use it to limp home (no hard breaking). Then it's time for a brake job, here are the pins at autozone:
Caliper Pin at Autozone

In an emergency you can use a 3.5 inch 5/16's bolt as a replacement for the pin, but it retards the usual movement of caliper and probably would be very bad for the rotor long term (I limped the vet home from Fort Knox once by using the bolt from the end of my Vice Grip pliers, but I don't plan on making a habit of it).

Good luck...

 

Ok just wanted to let everyone know I made it home safely. I had to drive through some really bad rain but I drove at about 50 mph. I will post pictures of what happen later on

The top screw or pin not sure what is called came off completly leaving the caliper in place by only one screw.

Scary way to drive home but I made it

You gotto love them,, she bought me back home,, there is no other car.

 

Not sure I would have drove it that way, but glad you made it alright!