Mike Romain

Once again the rust belt bites my poor Cherokee....

The brakes failed. Low pedal and red dash light. All new (2 years or
so) pads, shoes and master cylinder with a recently failed emergency
brake.

So my son and I start taking wheels off and sure enough one front
caliper isn't moving. The anchor plate that the pads slide on is so
rotten, the pad had eaten right into it jamming and stopping the caliper
from moving.

Ok, so I go to take it off. Ya right, the bolts 'used' to be reverse
torx when they were new, they now are ragged edged rounded stubs. Rust
has eaten the heads off. Vise grips won't even grab them! So I soaked
the crap out of them overnight with penetrating oil and tried again.
Even went and bought new vise grips with sharper teeth. No go. Screw
it, just before getting out the grinder and drill I tried a plumbers
pipe wrench. Bingo! Got the SOB's.

Next I go for the e-brake and pull off the rear drums. They were on
good, but my 10 lb BFH convinced those drums to move. :-) Either they
were moving or shattering...

I look and the brake shoes are still almost new, but... Rust had eaten
the anchor pin that holds the shoe to the backing plate and it was gone
so the e-brake had nothing to hold steady. Then I move the handle to
see if the cables are still ok, and the freaking cable case has come
right through the backing plate! It isn't 'supposed' to fit through
there, grrr....

So I went and got a small heavy U-bolt so I can pull the case back
through the plate and clamp it so it stays on the outside I hope.

My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
'glass time.

Man oh man do I hate rust.......

There, that felt better, now to go put it back together.
;-)

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Dave

I hear ya Mike... Here, Michigan winters have been hard on every
vehicle I've owned.. While taking out my transmission last week, I got
my first good look at the underside of my 98 TJ since I bought it three
years ago. Ouch.

I could see plain as day the parts that were put on by the repair-shop
after a $4000 accident two years ago. They all have surface rust all
over them, while the original pieces have about half the rust, even
though they're less than half as old.

I wish I had the time, and another vehicle to drive in the mean-time to
actually take care of this car like I want to.. Unfortunately life gets
in the way with work, family, more-pressing repair jobs, etc..

Good luck on the repairs! I'll be thinking of you while re-assembling
and installing my transmission, seals & clutch kit tonight... :)

Dave

I hear ya Mike... Here, Michigan winters have been hard on every
vehicle I've owned.. While taking out my transmission last week, I got
my first good look at the underside of my 98 TJ since I bought it three
years ago. Ouch.

I could see plain as day the parts that were put on by the repair-shop
after a $4000 accident two years ago. They all have surface rust all
over them, while the original pieces have about half the rust, even
though they're less than half as old.

I wish I had the time, and another vehicle to drive in the mean-time to
actually take care of this car like I want to.. Unfortunately life gets
in the way with work, family, more-pressing repair jobs, etc..

Good luck on the repairs! I'll be thinking of you while re-assembling
and installing my transmission, seals & clutch kit tonight... :)

Dave

I hear ya Mike... Here, Michigan winters have been hard on every
vehicle I've owned.. While taking out my transmission last week, I got
my first good look at the underside of my 98 TJ since I bought it three
years ago. Ouch.

I could see plain as day the parts that were put on by the repair-shop
after a $4000 accident two years ago. They all have surface rust all
over them, while the original pieces have about half the rust, even
though they're less than half as old.

I wish I had the time, and another vehicle to drive in the mean-time to
actually take care of this car like I want to.. Unfortunately life gets
in the way with work, family, more-pressing repair jobs, etc..

Good luck on the repairs! I'll be thinking of you while re-assembling
and installing my transmission, seals & clutch kit tonight... :)

Dave

I hear ya Mike... Here, Michigan winters have been hard on every
vehicle I've owned.. While taking out my transmission last week, I got
my first good look at the underside of my 98 TJ since I bought it three
years ago. Ouch.

I could see plain as day the parts that were put on by the repair-shop
after a $4000 accident two years ago. They all have surface rust all
over them, while the original pieces have about half the rust, even
though they're less than half as old.

I wish I had the time, and another vehicle to drive in the mean-time to
actually take care of this car like I want to.. Unfortunately life gets
in the way with work, family, more-pressing repair jobs, etc..

Good luck on the repairs! I'll be thinking of you while re-assembling
and installing my transmission, seals & clutch kit tonight... :)

griffin

I think of my CJ as a "4-door" ...seeing as how I can almost crawl out of
the "floodboards". I think I'm just gonna 'glass the hell out of them and
then rivet some diamond plate over top ...that should strenghten her ;p

> My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
> see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
> just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
> 'glass time.

griffin

I think of my CJ as a "4-door" ...seeing as how I can almost crawl out of
the "floodboards". I think I'm just gonna 'glass the hell out of them and
then rivet some diamond plate over top ...that should strenghten her ;p

> My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
> see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
> just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
> 'glass time.

griffin

I think of my CJ as a "4-door" ...seeing as how I can almost crawl out of
the "floodboards". I think I'm just gonna 'glass the hell out of them and
then rivet some diamond plate over top ...that should strenghten her ;p

> My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
> see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
> just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
> 'glass time.

griffin

I think of my CJ as a "4-door" ...seeing as how I can almost crawl out of
the "floodboards". I think I'm just gonna 'glass the hell out of them and
then rivet some diamond plate over top ...that should strenghten her ;p

> My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
> see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
> just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
> 'glass time.

Geir R.Pettersson

I feel with you to Mike,
As you know I was quite happy when I bought my Cherokee this winter.
I used this group earlier and asked for some advice regarding uneven breaks
(wheels lock with even slight breaking, especially when it is wet)
And the power window cables who was totally rotten, I think I got 10-15
litres of water out of the car some weeks ago, I started to believe that I
had a boat instead.
Still not had time to look at the breaks, cause I have been repairing all
the rust so far, thank God they used thick material in the carpet, it seems
to be what kept my car together.
Anyway, still happy Love my Jeep


--
Best Regards
Geir R.Pettersson
grp.arctic@heating.no
http://www.arctic-heating.com
"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> skrev i melding
news:429DF542.2D94D619@sympatico.ca...
> Once again the rust belt bites my poor Cherokee....
>
> The brakes failed. Low pedal and red dash light. All new (2 years or
> so) pads, shoes and master cylinder with a recently failed emergency
> brake.
>
> So my son and I start taking wheels off and sure enough one front
> caliper isn't moving. The anchor plate that the pads slide on is so
> rotten, the pad had eaten right into it jamming and stopping the caliper
> from moving.
>
> Ok, so I go to take it off. Ya right, the bolts 'used' to be reverse
> torx when they were new, they now are ragged edged rounded stubs. Rust
> has eaten the heads off. Vise grips won't even grab them! So I soaked
> the crap out of them overnight with penetrating oil and tried again.
> Even went and bought new vise grips with sharper teeth. No go. Screw
> it, just before getting out the grinder and drill I tried a plumbers
> pipe wrench. Bingo! Got the SOB's.
>
> Next I go for the e-brake and pull off the rear drums. They were on
> good, but my 10 lb BFH convinced those drums to move. :-) Either they
> were moving or shattering...
>
> I look and the brake shoes are still almost new, but... Rust had eaten
> the anchor pin that holds the shoe to the backing plate and it was gone
> so the e-brake had nothing to hold steady. Then I move the handle to
> see if the cables are still ok, and the freaking cable case has come
> right through the backing plate! It isn't 'supposed' to fit through
> there, grrr....
>
> So I went and got a small heavy U-bolt so I can pull the case back
> through the plate and clamp it so it stays on the outside I hope.
>
> My wife was complaining about the floor boards, so I lift the carpet to
> see how bad, and well, there is no problem with the floor boards, it
> just don't 'got' any! Fred Flinstone machine.... Sheet metal and
> 'glass time.
>
> Man oh man do I hate rust.......
>
> There, that felt better, now to go put it back together.
> ;-)
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's