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Bad news in Thawville Left front brake fire on the 98 Suburban

J

jrsavoie

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Bad news in Thawville Left front brake fire on the 98 Suburban

My daughter called and said the 98 Suburban caught fire last night on her way home from work.

She got the fire put out but I have no idea how much damage was done.

I'm guessing the flex line collapsed or the caliper stuck.

Everythinmg was new sometime last spring or summer.

Calipers, flex lines and ball joints came from Napa. I've been having some problems with Napa parts last year and quit using them after that vehicle. A little to late maybe.

Can anybody think of anything else that may have caused the fire other than the vehicle should have been shut down immediately upon noticing there was some kind of problem?

I'm guessing about $2000 damage minimum based on what was described to me.
 
Ah shit Jeff... You didn't need that... Wish I could give you an answer that you wanted to hear...
Glad she's ok and got the fire out though.
 
I'm pretty sure it's nothing anybody needs. LOL

I'm still waffling about being glad she got the fire out. Might have been better off a total loss.

I am glad she's OK.
 
Me too.

Everything was new on the front of this Burb this summer or spring.

I realize new doesn't mean good though. Even though it should.

New bearing assemblies, bearing assembly bolts, new half axels, rotors, calipers, flex hoses, new ball joints and other front end stuff as needed.
sparky18 said:
i've seen bad bearings lite grease up before.

just sayin.
Click to expand...
 
That's too bad, I know what you mean about putting the fire out. I did that on my grain truck, I've regretted it ever since.
 
My guess would be that the it was not just the bearings, but related. Something similar happened to my coworker, his wheels were getting really hot far from home, so he brought it to a shop and they took his wheel off and replaced the bearings and sent him on his merry way. The tires popped from the heat like 100 miles down the road with new bearings. There ended up being something wrong with his axle, he had to replace the whole rear end after the damage it caused.

Did the tire blow before the fire started?
 
I've had trouble with NAPA calipers sticking before. I wrecked a set of the spendy slotted rotors over it. I definitly could see a brake getting so hot it boils the fluid untill the hose pops and catches fire when it gets air. Rotors can easily get red hot.
 
bk95td said:
I've had trouble with NAPA calipers sticking before. I wrecked a set of the spendy slotted rotors over it. I definitly could see a brake getting so hot it boils the fluid untill the hose pops and catches fire when it gets air. Rotors can easily get red hot.
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Bk95td - That is exactly what I think happened.

What is a good brand of caliper?

I'm done with Napa parts. Actually I was done with Napa parts shortly after I did the Suburban. I've had to many Napa part related problems. It's not worth having to do a job twice much less a problem like this.

I was talking to a friend that has a shop this fall and he said the same thing when I brought up my Napa part problem.

Can anybody help me out with part numbers and/or parts?

I'm guessing I'll need everything for the A frame. I'm not sure what all is entailed there. I've never had one apart.

Anything else anybody can think of?

I was going to order Moog stuff from Rockauto for the ball joints and stuff.

Where do you recomend getting a new rotor and what?

Caliper? OEM or better quality aftermarket?

Flex hose?

I've been happy with the made in the USA, Timken bearing assemblies I've gotten so far. Does anybody know of something better?

Half shaft? I used Rockauto - I forget the brand - Cadone something. turned out to be made in China after I called to verify they were from the USA. I had called Cardone also. Their rebuilts are done in the USA as far as I know.
If I get the part number I will look for an OEM.

Shock - I had a fairly new set of Bilstien shocks on the Burb.

new bearing assembly bolts - may have
 
It's real noticable now. The wheel is completely locked up.

She did say it started pulling about 5 miles before she got home. She had to tap the brakes and that's when things started going downhill.

Does anybody have a Bilstien shock around?

The tire never did blow, but I wouldn't trust it to far.

buddy said:
Did she comment about it pulling to the left? A dragging brake on a front wheel would be pretty noticeable in handling.
Click to expand...
 
I buy many parts from Napa.The calipers are about the only thing i've had trouble with in the last 15 years. I do get the premium parts Not the economy ones.
 
I always buy the premium parts also. I've been buying from Napa for as long as I can remember. 35 years or so. The same stores. Maybe they weren't always Napa. I don't remember that part for sure. I know a couple of the parts stores I have frequented over the years changed names. But they've been Napa a good long time if not for the duration.

I've also had problems with Napa seals and batteries. It seems there were a couple of other parts I had problems with and returned.
I try to one stop shop when possible. If there is something I am not going to buy from you, I may not buy anything from you period.
It's about 17 miles to Napa and at least 15 miles a different direction to the next parts store. If I am not going to buy an item from them, odds are I'm not going to go back that far out of my way to buy any other item either. It's why I try to purchase stuff online when possible.
I still like their rotors so far but I'll find something to order or buy elsewhere before I'll go out of my way to buy the rotors from Napa.
And I'll never buy another caliper or flex line from them.

bk95td said:
I buy many parts from Napa.The calipers are about the only thing i've had trouble with in the last 15 years. I do get the premium parts Not the economy ones.
Click to expand...
 
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If it pulled, then the piston in the caliper froze. Had this (brake fire) happen on my saltwater boat trailer. It's an easy 15 minute rebuild on the caliper. I threw a bag of ice on the fire and then ran down my driveway for buckets of water to put it out and cool off the red hot rotor. I opened the bleeders on both sides and went fishing.
 
The damage reports are in. Passenger side. Half axle, rotor, caliper, tire, hubcap, upper ball joint, lower ball joint, bearing assembly, outer tie rod end, flex hose & steering knuckle

Insurance picked everything up but the caliper as they labeled it the root of all evil.

The nice thing is I do not even have to do the work. Which at this particular point in time is a really nice feature.

It's been & will be between -10 and 32 degrees for the next week according to the extended forecast.

I've been to wimpy to go out and do the grounds on the 96 Suburban.

I'll be glad when my tool shed walls meet a floor. That 2' gap is a little drafty.

Now I've got a boatload of snow to clean up in there. All over everything. I've escaped inscathed for the most part all winter as the shed is blocked from the south and west. After the Nor-easter I think there was more snow in the shed than out. It also blew the tarp I had covering my tools and parts off. At least it's froze enough that I don't have to worry about everything rusting immediately.
 
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