you need a new caliper and a new rim at a minimum. that's pretty good scrape on the rim, and ground down area on the caliper.

depending if the caliper was bouncing around, it may have damaged your rotor and brake line.



bolts do just fall out occasionally. ever change the brakes on a 92-96 F-series? they don't even use bolts to hold the caliper on. It's 2 metal "V" shapes with rubber between them. the rubber compresses when you stuff the "v"s into the hole. This compression is all that keeps the retainer tight and maintain your caliper in place. That rubber tends to loosen over time and the retainer falls out.

I can't believe you (wife) drove with it doing that for a week...especially after getting a brake service done. glad nothing bad happened

 

well im on my way at the moment, ive calmed down a tad which i a good thing for the poor service manager..

 

It's not a bad idea to check the torque on these bolts after a brake job even if the shop doesn't mention it. Trust me I'm happy that nothing serious happened but that had to be make a god awful noise in which I would pull over to inspect and not keep driving on it for weeks.

Here are a few posts from a quick search to show that this is a fairly common problem. This is not just limited to Ford either.....the site I get on for my car there have been several posts concerning this issue. I have no idea why lock washers or something is not used on these bolts. I have yet to have one come loose yet....I think it really comes down to improper torqueing.

Regardless I would give the dealer hell and try as hard as I could to get them to pay for any and all damages. IMO anyplace that does brake work should require the customer to come back in and at least re-torque the bolts after a 100 or so miles just to be safe.


Best of luck

https://www.f150online.com/forums/br...ing-loose.html
https://www.f150online.com/forums/br...iper-bolt.html
https://www.f150online.com/forums/br...ing-bolts.html
https://www.f150online.com/forums/br...cket-bolt.html
https://www.f150online.com/forums/br...ffroading.html
https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...fing-bolt.html

 

I guess I was just lucky on my 89 ranger that used the V clips. was 16 years old, well beyond 200,000 miles and several pads, rotors, and calipers but still used the original V clips with out a problem....although they probably should have been replaced

 

I've seen this happen. However, I still change my own brakes. It's way too easy... but because I do them in my spare time when I'm not rushed, like most dealers, the job gets done better than from the factory.

Which speaking of new brakes... I'm thinking of getting new pads before the winter is out to eliminate the brake dust and provide better stopping power. The OEMs stop my truck in like 5000 feet, and they still look new.

 

Unfortunitly its not quality is quantity, they want everything in and out thats how they make there money. I always do my own brake jobs and take extra time to clean and check everything. Hes has every right to be pissed since the most important things in his life im sure are in that truck, I would be pissed also.

 

Same here. I absolutely refuse to let others touch my brakes. I've had to fix too many goof ups from a number of mechanics, including really good ones. You will never see a mechanic touching my master cylinder or brake lines either.

Fortunately we have 4 calipers on newer cars so even if one completely fails, you're still most likely going to be able to stop.

 

1st off, glad that you & your family are fine! 2nd, tell that dealer, that if he does not make this situation "Right" to your satisfaction, you will not step foot on their property again, & that you will tell everybody you know about this so that they will not either!........3rd, contact your local consumer advocate from the local news station! They live for this stuff!...........

 

I wouldn't settle for anyhting less than a new caliper, new rim, and alignment.

 

Have them do all 4 rims. The one rim will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

I agree that the caliper bolts can come out. I did the brakes on my father-in-laws 03 Suburban last month and last week sure enough one of the bolts on the rear driver caliper was missing. I KNOW I tightenend the hell out of it but I did'nt use loktite. After this happened I was very dissapointed in myself but after doing a coulple of searches I found that this problem is more common than you think.....S### happens, and it happens for a reason.

 

Considering the bolts are so short on these it's a definitely possibility. But 2 falling out is less than likely.

 

Although that would be nice, its not very realistic.

 

this actually happened to my f150 after i put my lift kit on. i didnt loctite them and i knew i should have and sure enough about 800 miles later, i heard a grinding and both of the caliper bolts worked loose, 1 fell out somewhere along the trek to work . i talked with one shop and they said its a safe measure to loctite the bolts on newer fords and said they are notorious for loosenig up. and yes i did torgue the bolts to specs and they still came out.

 

ive had a bolt fall out of my front caliper on my truck twice and i was the one who did the brakes. i now use threadlocker every time... i think its kind of odd how none of the other vehicles ive changed brakes on have lost one, and my truck twice, maybe some vehicles are more prone than others...

unfortunately you cant sue for anything above than the damages done to the vehicle, but i would take it to a different dealer just in case...