Hey guys,
A while back I had a real weird brake issue on my 89 Syncro Westy. It had
around 125K miles on what was probably the original rotors, going back on
all the bills. I had just changed the pads and had sized the thickness of
the rotor for spec. On a daily drive into work I was forced to use evasive
actions and slam on the brakes because the bird in front of me decided to
turn into the Starbuck. The van stopped just fine but I heard a metallic
"snap". The right rotor split apart and cracked at the hub. I just got a
chance to post some pictures on the Yahoo group site for viewing.
What is really weird is that the metal portion that the brake pads ride on
was still nice and shinny and in spec.
The crack appeared to have been caused by the weakened metal inside the hub
where rust never sleeps.
I live in NY state and have driven the van over the winter. I try to douche
it occasionally but did not go deep enough to get inside the hubs.
Luckily I was driving around town when I had to slam on the brakes. That
triggered the weak metal and G force was too much of it. I limped home
using the brakes on the other 3 wheels.
Easy to fix once I had the parts in hand.
Hope this does not happen to anyone.
Cheers,
Joel Cort
Wouldn't have though the first time this has happened...