[s-cars] Rear brake saga - will the questions *never* end?

[Richard Tanimura]

Eric,

I had a catastrophic failure 6 months ago when one of the bolts I
reused broke. These were stock Audi bolts used to attach the caliper
holder to the hub. I had a picture showing how the bolt was shorn
exatly at the interface between the holder and the hub. It was a
classic mechanical illustration of sheering failure.

Now imagine this. Only one bolt failed. This cause the caliper and
holder to rotate around the remaining bolt and self lock on the inside
of my expensive alloy wheels. The rear front wheel locked in the
middle of an intersection. Luckily, I was in town and only going about
10 mph. But it was enough to gouge a hole in my wheel. If I had been
driving at speed, the locking of the rear wheel would have put me in a
spin. I probably wouldn't be writing this.

The cost was a new wheel, new caliper and holder, new bolts, new brake
line, new tire since the other one was flat spotted.

Since then, I gladly cough the few bucks for new bolts.

Richard