This past Sunday, I had noticed that the front brake lever required a pump or two to come up to "full potential" in terms of braking power on the front brakes. As you can imagine, while being up on a mountain road like I was, it can be of some concern!
Figured it was air in the brake line and I went to check it this morning. There was plenty of fluid in the reservoir, hmmmm.
Looked down at the front brake caliper and noticed that the front pin of the two pins which hold the brake pads in place was about 1/4 out from it's mounting hole! Not good, and sorry, no pic. I tapped it back in with a hammer and did some testing of the front brake.
Once I looked again, damn if the same pin wasn't starting to work itself out again. Hmmm.
The ends of the front brake pins aren't grooved like the ones on the rear or side calipers to accept a circlip which prevents them from working themselves loose.
I guess I was figuring the brake's metal plate provided tension on the pin to keep it in place?
I pinged both Randy, the URAL dealer and Darrell, a fellow Uralista and was sent this picture:
Darrell's brake caliper above, note the clevis pin clip sticking out?
notice neither one of my brake pins has a clevis pin clip securing it?
a closer examination of the existing pins revealed remnants of
clips, but apparently, they'd been sheared off, leaving a small bit behind.
A quick trip to the local hardware store and voila, got some pins and two spares to go into my spares box:
So, like I have come to think of my actions when it comes to things mechanical, learn from my mistakes. Check your own rig's brake calipers and ensure the safety clips are in place.
Update: After the front wheel bearings were replaced on Friday 5aug16, the theory is now that the noticeable wobble caused by the failure of the left side bearing in the front wheel hub caused the previously installed pins to be sheared off.
4 comments:
The buildup of stuff on the pin probably conributed to shearing the clip. I had looked at mine last week as I now have almost double the mileage as I had last year when I changed out the front pads. Last year, they were almost completely worn but this year only about 25%. The PO must've been hard on the brakes.
Anyway, the pins were smooth and shiny. The rust or whatever could catch on the pad and get slowly pushed out with each application of the brakes.
Nice that you found the problem!
I suppose the crud that builds up on the pins could have contributed to the shearing of the clips, RichardM, I am more mad that I didn't spot the pins being gone.
Glad you discovered the problem before something major happened. It is amazing how something so little could be so important. I try to triple check when working on brakes.
Thomas Osburn, yes, it pays to be zealous....
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