Well - today the brakes went out on the Wheel loader at the sawmill. It's an older Ford A66, so parts are a bit "iffy" to find. As it turns out, this part (parking brake caliper) doesn't exist anymore, so is EXTREMELY hard to find. I priced a used one at $550, so we were a BIT bummed....
I managed to get ahold of the guy who used to own the thing. He said the guy before HIM had replaced the caliper and holder with one off a Chevy pickup (no wonder it is "ill" fitting). I was GLAD to hear that, because it was less than $50 for an all new caliper and pads.
Now for the "test" part.....
I took the old caliper and disc pads into the local O'Reilly store. I told them I did not know what year or what vehicle it came from. Two of them got together for 10 minutes, scratched thier heads (and azzes), flipped through the computer, and then told me there was NO WAY they could help me without knowing what it came off of. I acted miffed, said goodbye, and headed for the REAL parts store.
CarQuest - the only other parts store in the area....
I walked in the door, told the guys behind the counter that I had a challenge for them, and removed the rag from my pile of dead parts. Within FIVE SECONDS, one said "Chevy, 3/4 ton, 1979". The other said "1977". They looked up the stock number on the computer, grabbed it from the shelf, and handed me a new caliper and pads.
Needless to say, they passed with flying colors....
O"Reilly crashed and burned....MISERABLY
I managed to get ahold of the guy who used to own the thing. He said the guy before HIM had replaced the caliper and holder with one off a Chevy pickup (no wonder it is "ill" fitting). I was GLAD to hear that, because it was less than $50 for an all new caliper and pads.
Now for the "test" part.....
I took the old caliper and disc pads into the local O'Reilly store. I told them I did not know what year or what vehicle it came from. Two of them got together for 10 minutes, scratched thier heads (and azzes), flipped through the computer, and then told me there was NO WAY they could help me without knowing what it came off of. I acted miffed, said goodbye, and headed for the REAL parts store.
CarQuest - the only other parts store in the area....
I walked in the door, told the guys behind the counter that I had a challenge for them, and removed the rag from my pile of dead parts. Within FIVE SECONDS, one said "Chevy, 3/4 ton, 1979". The other said "1977". They looked up the stock number on the computer, grabbed it from the shelf, and handed me a new caliper and pads.
Needless to say, they passed with flying colors....
O"Reilly crashed and burned....MISERABLY