Watched a brake caliper fall off on the highway

Last Tuesday I had a customer's 2012 Civic come in for a brake job. Everything looked fine until I test drove it on I-95. Heard a clunk then the pedal went straight to the floor. Pulled over and the right rear caliper was dangling by the hose. The bracket bolts had backed out somehow. Must have been loose from a previous shop. I used a ratchet strap to secure it and limped back at 25 mph. Took me an hour to retap the holes and install new bolts. Has anyone else found loose hardware from other shops or am I just lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade4381mo ago

Man, I used to think checking bolts was just being overly cautious, but this story totally changed my mind. I figured if a shop torqued something down it was good to go, no need to double check. Now I inspect every single bolt on any used car or after someone else worked on it before I touch it. That loose caliper is a nightmare waiting to happen.

lisa8201mo ago

Oh come ON, I gotta disagree here. I've been turning wrenches for 15 years and checking every single bolt after a shop touches it is just not realistic. Most shops are competent and torquing things right. You'd drive yourself nuts retorquing everything on a used car unless you have proof something was done wrong. I had one incident where a tire shop cross threaded a lug nut and that was enough to make me check wheels after any tire work, sure. But checking every suspension bolt on every used car? Thats overkill unless you find a pattern of bad work.