Okay Sunday morning the sun is shinning the weather is pretty cool. I’ve actually slept for 8 hours for the first time in a couple weeks. Life is good, lets roll. I decided we would take the 101 all the way back up so I could try to avoid the heat this time. Then just outside of Woodland Hills after the heavy traffic has repeatedly urged me to test the Corolla’s 80 to 0 ability the right front wheel locked up. Jamie was behind me in the 4Runner so I felt safe enough to jump out and check the tire. Tire has air, no body damage, I feel around the outside of the tire, but don’t feel any debris. WTF? Cars are zooming past in frustration, I jump back in and fire it up. I quickly figure out reverse works, and forward works after reverse. One lane at a time we move from the far left over to the off ramp and around the corner. We pull over on the first block and by this point I’ve figured out that the brakes are the cause of the issue and I’m only able to stop by decelerating and then using the e brake. Looking down the block yields a 90’s T Bird with a smashed front end and a Camry with the hood up. Not a great day on the 101 to say the least.
While I’m dumb enough to drive a 30 year old Corolla 400 miles each way to “SoCal”, I am smart enough to do it Top Gear style. That is to say with an SUV full of tools following me! I pull the wheel off and find that the upper caliper bolt is completely gone. I don’t know if it sheared, or just loosened up and backed out but either way we aren’t going anywhere with out one. We try a couple of parts stores but they are completely useless. Then I start searching for hardware stores. Luckily there is a local Franklin’s Hardware a couple blocks away.
I find my M12 x 1.25 thread pitch, but not in the right length, so as I’m looking around for a hacksaw to alleviate my problem I run into an employee. Eric verifies that they don’t have any other length in my thread pitch, and then offers to take the bolt in the back and cut it. Saves me a little money on a saw an a lot work trying to hold a bolt and saw it with no vise. We find a tap to make sure the threads are good and I head back to the Corolla where Jamie is standing guard. I couldn’t get the bolt to thread in so Jamie had to sacrifice a nail file so I could dress the end a bit to make it all work. Eventually we are back on the road and made it back to San Jose around 9PM.
Top top it all off when it started cooling off and I finally rolled the windows up just south of San Jose I noticed a lot more noise coming from the rear of the car than I ever remembered. Guess it’s time to look into that differential.
