Well, short backstory first. Last summer I was driving my 87 GT for the first time in about a month. I left home, made the 4 mile trip into town, and as I was crossing town, I could feel one of the rear calipers starting to hang up. So I turned around and tried to make it home. It got real bad before I got back out of town, so I pulled into a CVS parking lot to let it cool down. While I was sitting there, on the phone with my wife, I heard a loud "hiss" and saw a fireball shoot out of the L.R. wheel. Actually melted the tabs on the center cap of the wheel, and it fell out. (Just to add insult to injury). Here is what I found when I pulled the wheel off:





So, I had it towed home and didn't touch it until about two weeks ago. Now I'm wanting to get a caliper and get it back on the road again. So, my question is, where do you get the best caliper and at the best price? I obviously need a hose too.

Thanks!

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Adam
1984 Sport Coupe Auto., 130,~~~ miles, bad duke
1985 Sport Coupe 5 Speed, 55,000 original miles
1987 GT Auto., 155,~~~ miles, partial daily driver
2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 5" lift, 35" tires, partial daily driver
1989 Yamaha V Max (oh yeah, it's fun!)
1975 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, 25,000 original miles
1936 Dodge Two-door Touring Sedan

Looks like you and me both. i went to take my formula out for a nice drive on this sunny 75* day.... and my caliper locks up.

quote Originally posted by 85pontiac: Well, short backstory first. Last summer I was driving my 87 GT for the first time in about a month. I left home, made the 4 mile trip into town, and as I was crossing town, I could feel one of the rear calipers starting to hang up. So I turned around and tried to make it home. It got real bad before I got back out of town, so I pulled into a CVS parking lot to let it cool down. While I was sitting there, on the phone with my wife, I heard a loud "hiss" and saw a fireball shoot out of the L.R. wheel. Actually melted the tabs on the center cap of the wheel, and it fell out. (Just to add insult to injury). Here is what I found when I pulled the wheel off: So, I had it towed home and didn't touch it until about two weeks ago. Now I'm wanting to get a caliper and get it back on the road again. So, my question is, where do you get the best caliper and at the best price? I obviously need a hose too. Thanks!

Autozone has lifetime warranty on calipers...
Pick one up, new pads, new rotor, and if the wheel got hot enough to melt the center cap tabs, you may want to inspect the rear wheel bearing seals for damage.

I'm not sure there would have been enough heat to damage the bearing or seals, there was no sustained fire, just a quick fire ball. Haha.
I had a guy (a very reputable guy) tell me that since the hose blew off like that, it was probably a bad hose more than a bad caliper. That the hose probably collapsed internally.
So I'm probably going to replace both hoses and just hope the other caliper is alright.

And to make the story even better, I went to get my 85 coupe out for the first time last summer, about a month after this happened. Put about 40 miles on it, and then literally two miles away from home, one of it's rears starting hanging too. So I really need to go over both cars.

Too much sitting, not enough driving!

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Adam
1984 Sport Coupe Auto., 130,~~~ miles, bad duke
1985 Sport Coupe 5 Speed, 55,000 original miles
1987 GT Auto., 155,~~~ miles, partial daily driver
2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 5" lift, 35" tires, partial daily driver
1989 Yamaha V Max (oh yeah, it's fun!)
1975 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, 25,000 original miles
1936 Dodge Two-door Touring Sedan

[This message has been edited by 85pontiac (edited 04-04-2011).]