Re: Driving With Two Brakes

Neil wrote:
> Letterman made the point here:
> 
>> Brakes are one of the easier things to fix on a car.  Go spend the $20
>> to buy an auto repair manual, spend another $50 to $100 on brake shoes
>> and cylinders, and fix it yourself.
> 
> The car repair shop wanted $110 to make the repair. If the above is the 
> approximate cost of the parts, and if they charge something like $70/hr
for 
> labor, then that tells me that there's no way they were planning on 
> replacing the shoes, but only the cylinders. Which raises one of two 
> possibilities:
> 
> Either: 1) This shop doesn't know what they're doing, since they weren't

> going to replace the shoes.
> 
> Or: 2) The amount leaking on the shoes is so minimal that they didn't
feel 
> the shoes needed to be replaced (which, if that were the case, raises
the 
> question of whether their assertion that the emergency brake wasn't
working 
> because of fluid leaking onto the brakes was correct in the first
place).
> 
> Either way, very curious that the total cost was only $110. 
> 
> 

Neil,

Get a second opinion, something doesn't sound quite right.

In any case if the rear brakes really aren't working you DON'T want your 
son or anyone else driving the thing until it's fixed.  I've driven cars 
and had the brakes go out and while it's VERY exciting it's not a ride I 
recommend to anyone, and while I was lucky it can come out VERY badly.

As a wise man once said, "If you can't stop, don't go".

Jeff DeWitt