No Brakes!

[jgilbs]

So I went to change my disc and drum brakes out today due to the fact that they squeak 'a lot' when stopping from a slow speed. I took off my wheels and found the front pads to be in excelent shape. I couldnt get the disc off in the back but I figured they must be in similar shape. I DID NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM COMPONENTS while the wheel was off. so i was driving to autozone to return the pads when i realized i forgot my reciept. So I go back home and about a mile from my house, i can feel m,y front drivers side tire feel kinda odd - almost like i didnt tighten all the lugnuts. so i bring it home, and about 5 or 6 blocks from my house, it feels like i have NO brakes - i have to push my pedal to the floor for it to stop at all(it rolls fine, which it shouldnt with a brake stuck, right?) so i get home and as I get the jack to check out the damage I notice the drivers side tire is fine, but on the passenger side tire, I can see a brown fluid leaking from under the beauty cap - eek! I took off the wheel and I took off the beauty cap for the auto hubs. The grease is LIQUIFIED and it was smoking heavily. apparently my front pass brake was stuck onto the rotor (was so hot I burned my finger THROUGH my gloves when I touched it) and the hubs were smoking. what happened/what should i do now?

 

[Alec]

Well, you need new bearings/hub and need to get all the brake components inspected.

If you truly didn't touch any of the brake/hub components, then I don't know what happened other than coincidence or somehow working the lug nuts put too much pressure on the hub.

Did you put a lot of pressure on the hub or rotor? The Explorer is lug-centric, so the hub isn't meant to support the vehicle fully.

 

[jgilbs]

I put less torque on the lugnuts than was on there before.

 

[jgilbs]

I can see on the rotor there is some type of dirt (its like brown, the rest of the brake system is coated in it, dont know what it is) around the outer edge that is not present on the drivers side rotor. also, I can turn the rotor by hand, so i guess the brake pad isnt stuck to it. What wouldve caused this? Would overtightening the lugnuts do that much damage? I went about 30 miles after I took off my tires and I didnt notice any problems until the last mile or so.

 

[Alec]

was the dust there before the drive, the first time you took the wheel off?

So what did you torque the lug nuts to, and what do you think the torque was before?

did you go through any deep water recently?

 

[jgilbs]

the dirt was not there before - its not like normal dirt tho. on my caliper, the inside of my wheel and the edge of the rotor there is a covering - its like browinish/red in color. it might be dirt that is constantly heated and cooled and has formed this material, i dont know. but i do know it was not there before. i torqued them by hand using a lug wrench, and i didnt torque them very hard. when i took them off, i had to use all my body weight and evben then i had to push as hard as i could to get them off. i havent been through any water recently. but if it WAS something with my bearings, why did my pedal travel change as much as it did? i checked the resivour and its full of brake fluid.

 

[BIG HVM]

I wonder if you felt you had to spray something like wd 40 on the thing? if you did maybe the overspray has contaminated your pads- if the pads are contaminated then all you can do safely is replace, but dont forget to start engine after replacement and gently pump the pedal as it will be on the floor with NO PRESSURE and this will prime the system ready for use- Good luck!