Post by SidiousJK on May 28, 2015 20:05:35 GMT -8
Three of us took on John bull on 5/28. While the trail is difficult, we all made it through with just minor bumps and bruises. What happened after we were off the trail was worthy to talk about. After we were off the trail, and going down one of the easy trails that went to the highway, I kept hearing a strange noise. Pulled over, checked the sway bar links, tie rod, drag ling, all of the steering components, nothing was unusual. Kept going down the road. Decided to pull over again. I removed the d ring thinking it may be hitting the bumper causing the noise. I also tightened the winch cable, as it was a little loose from my last use of the winch. Kept driving, and still hearing the noise. We aired up when we hit pavement. Drove toward the highway, and I am still hearing the noise. When we got to the highway, I stopped, kept looking over stuff and couldn't find anything wrong. Maybe there was piece of rock in the caliper? I had the others with me watch the front as went back and then forward to try and identify if something was rubbing. BOOM! all of the air immediately left my driver side front tire. Maybe I popped a bead with a rock. So we go about taking the tire off and putting on the spare. While we were raising the Jeep up, I see this huge hole on the inside of my rim. OK, that was a good indication that there must have been a rock wedged. We take off the tire, and I am looking for a rock, and the CALIPER is missing the top bolt, and the bottom bolt was almost out. no bolt to be found nearby. We rush to NAPA where we found a bolt that would work. Put the caliper back together, mounted the tire, and I drove home. What happened was the 21mm bolt that holds the caliper on, worked its way out letting the caliper drop onto the rim, causing a huge whole. I am just glad that I would not let the noise go, and insisted on finding out what was making this new noise. If I had taken off, the tire would have blown on the hwy going 55 mph, possibly on a curve going down the mountain. Lesson learned. Always take the time to find where a new noise is coming from.