I feel the need to do something but I have no idea what. Buy him the berkelying $30 part so he doesn't kill someone?
I feel the need to do something but I have no idea what. Buy him the berkelying $30 part so he doesn't kill someone?
I drove 900 miles one trip with a master cylinder that was only good for one stop per fill-up. That trip included OKC, Dallas, and Houston, and was terrifying. I do not recommend.
Probably the safest driver on the road.... until he isn't.
....$600 phone bill... uhm...
OSULemon wrote: I feel the need to do something...
Blunt force sterilization?
I sold a 65 impala with no brakes to a 300 pound native when we were 18. He ripped out the front seat because he was to big to fit behind the wheel and modified the back bench. Even then he filled the car. He drove for months with absolutely no brakes at all. It can be done I guess. He just drove the same route in our small town a lot and planned things out. He ran into the block wall of the shell night owl minimart enough that he smashed some of the bricks out. He tripped and fell on a friend once and put him in the hospital with a bunch of broken ribs.
I know it's not relevant. I'm just reminiscing!
The first couple months I had my Subaru, the brakes were simply gone due to a pair of blown wheel cylinders. The handbrake was more than sufficient, the main trick was remembering to apply the footbrake so the lights came on. But it was a front handbrake car with locked 4wd so it still had four wheel brakes.
OTOH, when I blew out a flex hose in Michigan last winter, I had to drive home in a raging snowstorm with effectively just a handbrake. THAT was scary.
The master cylinder went out on my old CJ5 in Glenwood Springs,CO at about 2am. I was going to a friend's wedding. I still thank the powers that be for no traffic and a working emergency brake.
Steal his driveshaft?
I think my record is 80 miles or so, but I had the blown line halfass crimped off for the last 70 and kept fluid in the cylinder, in a stick car with a good handbrake. The problem was I blew the line when a Canadian semi cut me off on the highway (BTW, X split systems try to rotate the car when you blow a line), around 6PM on I94 coming out of Detroit. Having no idea how many stops I had left and figuring it'd be too many to stop in the city, park, attempt repairs, and get back on the road, I limped it all the way to the rest area at the county line before folding the line a bunch of times and topping off the MC. I was going to replace those rear lines when I got home.
this guy from Cali in a 95 town car came in with a rear brake noise. the rotors were so worn from the pads being shot that the pads had eaten through the disc. completely. he elected not to fix it, said he would drive it back to cali like that and have his dad fix it. from phoenix, Az. i considered calling the law about an unsafe vehicle...
-J0N
bearmtnmartin wrote: I sold a 65 impala with no brakes to a 300 pound native when we were 18. He ripped out the front seat because he was to big to fit behind the wheel and modified the back bench. Even then he filled the car. He drove for months with absolutely no brakes at all. It can be done I guess. He just drove the same route in our small town a lot and planned things out. He ran into the block wall of the shell night owl minimart enough that he smashed some of the bricks out. He tripped and fell on a friend once and put him in the hospital with a bunch of broken ribs. I know it's not relevant. I'm just reminiscing!
That man was not 300 lbs. I'm 320 lbs and fit in a Ford Focus with no problems.
I heard a rumor once that someone drove half way across Florida in a BMW 3 series with only a parking brake.
As for FB guy. I wanted to feel sympathy for him but I could not get over the whole break/brake stupidity.
Also no sympathy for the $600 phone bill.
I have a rule. Drive like you have no brakes. It keeps you out of panic situations. This guy is living my rule. I've had two cars suffer brake line failure. Thankfully, I had the awareness to realize the e-brakes still work even when the hydraulic brakes fail. I wonder how many people don't understand this. If I was friends or family with this guy, I'd pitch in to get the brakes fixed. Why is no one else able to step up?
Why, why, why, do SO many people refer to the things on our vehicles that stop us as "BREAKS" ???? Not sure why that bothers me so much, but it does. Idiot.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: Steal his driveshaft? I think my record is 80 miles or so, but I had the blown line halfass crimped off for the last 70 and kept fluid in the cylinder, in a stick car with a good handbrake. The problem was I blew the line when a Canadian semi cut me off on the highway (BTW, X split systems try to rotate the car when you blow a line), around 6PM on I94 coming out of Detroit.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/O5seuleYzYo
The aforementioned Incident that I had earlier this year. Applying the brakes with the blown hose meant an agonizingly long yet surprisingly firm push through the dead stage before brakes would happen. When a cone is coming up and the car isn't slowing down, one tends to brake harder.
Driving with the handbrake was actually safer than trying to run the footbrake, although I'm sure that if I let the master cylidner empty itself, it would thunk through the dead stage quickly. I did not want to do that because, besides the obvious, I didn't want to find out what nightmare it would be to bleed the ABS pump. Volvo put it about as far away from the master cylinder as possible without putting it in the trunk.
So, limped home as quickly as possible with handbrake only, powerwashed all the mud out of the wheelwells, then drove in to work the next day to apply Vise-Grips to the situation until new flex hoses arrived.
Incidentally, this IS one morning's worth of salt bath, and what brake rotors look like in Cleveland if you don't use them for a day...
I had an old guy bring a Chevy Sonic (16,000 miles) into the dealership for an oil change. I got in the thing and nearly put it through the nearest wall when I went to stop. Turns out the Electronic Brake Control Module/Brake Pressure Modulator Valve had called it quits and wasn't letting any fluid through, so the car had no brakes. Where it got really strange was A) he wasn't complaining about it B) he wasn't even aware he had an issue.
I drive about 100 miles a day. I use my brakes about 6-10 times a day. In a pinch I can reduce that to 3 or 4. I am now going to try doing a full day without using them at all. Could be interesting. Especially trying to park.
The thing I think of first is liability.
If you are driving a car that cannot stop, and have posted on the internet that you are driving a car that you know cannot stop, and you have people who are telling you that you are doing something that is a very bad idea, what is your legal situation if you plow through a daycare center dining room at lunch time on spaghetti day?
My dad once drove a beetle through the garage door at work. Elderly lady had dropped it off the night before with a list of things it needed, no were on the list did it mention no brakes!. Thats the first beetle he ever repainted.
His brakes are broken (break)
In reply to Mike:
I think it was called affluenza
dropstep wrote: My dad once drove a beetle through the garage door at work. Elderly lady had dropped it off the night before with a list of things it needed, no were on the list did it mention no brakes!. Thats the first beetle he ever repainted.
My mother had a similar situation, except she brought the car in for brake work, and (honestly, the technical aspects are hazy) while the tech had stepped away, another tech decided he needed the lift. Somehow the car had wheels and no brakes at the time, and the second tech hopped in, and backed the car into some metal display rack.
I bought a VW golf with no brake pressure or stopping power. Instead of driving it I towed it, but I did have to drive it a couple feet into the drive way and nearly punted a couple cars. Luckily I was able to throw into first and stop it.
In reply to OSULemon:
If this person is anywhere near close to you (by relationship, not distance) I'd definitely buy the part. Tell them it's a holiday gift, and their gift to you shall be time. Time where you will come to them, and you'll each work on replacing the part.
I once heard about a dude who's car was old and rusty. Brake lines rusted through, and floor was rusty too. So what did he do? He just Flinstone stopped the car. It has to be true, I read it on the internet. They can't put things on the internet if they aren't true.
We had an 1962 Chevy farm truck that usually didn't have brakes. When it was time to stop, you downshifted to 2nd (1st wasn't synchronized) and shut off the engine. Some timing was involved if you wanted to be close to anything when you stopped. On occasion, a ditch, brush or a tree was needed for emergency stops. I learned how to drive in that truck, with no brakes. That truck taught me a lot about planning ahead.
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