NCReatta Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Backstory time: About a week ago I left for a 3200 mile trip to Oklahoma, up to Michigan, then back to home sweet home North Carolina.About 4 hours into the trip (traversing the mountains in western NC), my brakes started to feel a little soft. Going down much further than normal.I figured I had an intermittent sticky caliper as it would be free and solid most of the time, but occasionally it would go low.I continued on to Oklahoma, completed the deal out there (it went OK), braved a tornado, headed north, drove through some snow (I'm waiting for locusts next), picked up some Reatta parts I had stored at Larry Schramm's (thanks Larry!!), bought a car (or two) in Flint, loaded up, headed south, visited some customer's houses, and eventually made my way to Cincinnati area. Thats when the brakes started to get real bad. Soft pedal ALL the time, bad grinding sounds, etc. I had one last stop at BCA Board member Brian Clark's house to drop off a part he needed for his son's Reatta.I figured it was now or never to take a look at my brakes before I headed over the mountains in West Virginia to certain death. After we got the part installed on the Reatta, I asked Brian if we could take a look at my brakes. Turns out they were much worse than I had thought.Ultimately, BOTH front calipers were sticking, leaving the pads very unevenly worn. A trip to O'Riley's and an hour fixed that pretty easily. Drove the truck around the block, pedal was still soft, and the grinding noise was still coming from the rear. Then we pulled the rear drums off only to find that on the driver's side the back shoe's lining had completely separated from the backing plate. The front was missing quite a chunk as well O'Riley's also, lucky enough, had the rear shoes in stock. It took a little longer figuring those out (not your typical drum brakes), but we finally got those back together and functioning fully again. Had it not been for Brian, his son Aaron, and his step son Bill, who knows which mountain I could've ended up off the side of!I'm so thankful for this club and the people like Brian that make it up. Good, solid people who don't hesitate to help someone are the kind of people that make a club great. Oh, and a shameless plug: Vote Brian Clark for BCA Board 2015! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Glad you made it home safe. Good to see you again Marck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Whenever I travel cross country I carry a recent BCA roster with me. I've never had to use it, but I figure I could call anyone in the roster for help if I needed to. I know if I ever receive a call for assistance from another BCA Member I would not hesitate to help as much as I could. I'm positive others on this forum feel the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhclark Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Who knew that with all the stupid questions I ask on here for help, that I would be able to help a fellow member in his time of need! It took me a few minutes to figure out those funky drum brakes....never seen anything like those, and the interwebs were no help at all!And I thought '59 Buick drums were big!I'm happy to have been able to help. You're just lucky you hit Cincinnati on one of the few days in March that the weather was good, albeit a bit windy. Sorry I had to take off so quickly after the repair.BTW, the fridge didn't fit. Now I have to operate on some kitchen cabinets. And I've ordered a radiator for our truck...damn plastic parts! I get to change that on Friday. Oh fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhambulldog Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hooray !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 One of the fringe benefits of your friendly BCA membership! Like Roy I often carry the Roster, and have never had to use it. But I expect to be available for those in need when passing by my place. Many thanks to Brian C for being a good friend, and to Marck to for arranging personal delivery of parts. That's a pretty ambitious way to run a business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUKE Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Glad you made the trip safe. I am delivering my 1996 roadmaster to a new owner in Ohio this week I hope it is a good road trip from fl. (cutting the herd) have a great BUICK day BUKE (FRANK) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Glad you made the trip safe. I am delivering my 1996 roadmaster to a new owner in Ohio this week I hope it is a good road trip from fl. (cutting the herd) have a great BUICK day BUKE (FRANK)I hope you have a safe trip Frank! Will you be in Charlotte this weekend for the Autofair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Way to go Buick Pals. :cool: Any of you Buick Guys ever in a pickle in my neck of the woods, Don't hesitate to get a hold of me. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Hope to see some of the Buick people in Charlotte this week... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Marty, The BCA will have 20 ish cars on the grass between the race track and pit road (if the weather holds) between the start finish line and turn 4 on both Saturday and Sunday and many of us are in the AACA National on Saturday too of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkertom Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I had never considered carrying the roster with me. I will do that in the future.It is a great club. I will be up for my first renewal this summer and will be renewing for sure. I look forward to future involvement in the club and may even consider starting a local chapter nearby. The chapters that are nearest to me are just a bit far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now