Monday, September 23, 2013

Friends from afar, And other projects….

Not often are we home when folks drive thru on I-85, but today Truman Smith and wife passed by and we met for an hour or so.  It was nice most of the time the trips home seldom correspond with others travels. They were going on down the road to visit with Bonnie, who proofed my last book and also comments here at times.
Sherry says as a project winds down, I look for something else. Soooo to make sure she is right, I have found a project. Our carport and RV port were supposed to line up. But the installer refused to line them up because the carport would block a door on the storage building from operating all the way.  His Boss would fire him he said.
So as we sat in the swing, I said, “I can move that door, and the carport too.”  so I pulled the pins holding it in place, put rollers under it and Sherry and I moved it back in line with the RVport.  The door is next.
I had to squeeze in a brake job for Grandson Luke.  (I like to show off to the Grandkids.). The job had more damage than any I had ever seen. This is what a disc brake looks like. The caliper (part to the left) holds the disc pads.
.disc-brake-diagram
Below is what a disc pad looks like, two on each wheel. One on the front of the disc rotor and the other on the back. As you press on the brake, the pads are pushed by a piston and ‘SQUEEZE’ the disc.

disc-brake7
(The Wear indicator is made so when the pad wears down, it will rub against the rotor and ‘SQUEAL’.) Mechanics call them ‘squealers’.
In Luke’s case, one of the back pads came loose some how, I have never heard of it.  In the diagram the blue is the disc pad and the red is the piston that pushes the pads. With the back pad missing, he was using the piston directly against the rotor to stop his vehicle.
Discbrakes
In doing so, the rotor was ruined, so we had to go get a new rotor along with disc pads.  But he is back on the road and stopping correctly.
I know you really wanted to read all of that. LOL
Thanks for coming by the log.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
This entry’s car is a VW. A unique one. The pictures taken by Bonnie’s son Caleb. (Bonnie proofed my last book, and also comments here on the shipslog).
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photo 18photo 19
I believe this was outside a nursery.
In the last couple years I have seen more vehicles used for ‘yard decorations’.

8 comments:

TARYTERRE said...

Brake jobs can be complicated, that's for sure. Glad you got this one done.

Jackie said...

You are a multi-talented man, Jack.
My hat's off to you!
Hugs,
Jackie

Paula said...

I used to have to help Mel bleed brakes. I never hear of that anymore. You saved your grandson money. Like that car decoration.

shirl72 said...

Now I think I will able to repair
my brakes in case they go out.

Love the car and looks like it ran
through the bushes. The paint job
is not bad.

Chatty Crone said...

I LOVE that Volkswagen - I want it!
How wonderful you got to meet up with some friends. That you fixed your RV area. And helped your grandson. You had a busy day!
Sandie

betty said...

Cute VW bug! Very colorful for sure! You did save your grandson lots of money doing that brake job and then of course now you feel better with him driving a safer running vehicle. It is always good to have projects to go to, keeps you out of trouble I'm sure :)

betty

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

What a nice visit you all must have had. Glad you and your friends were able to connect. Having breaks that work is important for sure. I'm sure it cost your grandson a lot less having you do the job. Car repairs of any kind cost a lot to have done. Glad you are keeping busy there. You will never be bored at all. There is always something to do.

Helen said...

We had some brake work done a couple of weeks ago.They started making a funny noise the next day. So today we are taking it back to see what went wrong. Glad that you got some repairs done without having to hire it done.