My brakes just failed while taking my kids to school.

[Edub]

Putdown your pitchforks, this very well be because of something I did but I can't figure out what.

Yesterday evening I had to uninstall my ARB compressor that I have mounted in the wheel well. to access it, I had to remove my falcon shock as the reservoir butts up against the compressor almost. to remove the shock, I lifted the driver side of the truck up to allow it to droop. the entire operation was pretty seamless, and I was don't in about 30 min. is there a chance I pulled the break line? I've done plenty of off-roading and have stuffed the wheels more than once in full flex, could this be any different?

I'm running the Falcon 3.5 premium kit that I swear came with extended break lines.

my breaks felt fine until I got to the stop sign at the end of the street, the first half of the press felt normal, but as I pressed harder, the brake felt as if to push back and the truck stopped slowing down. I had to pump the pedal then put all my weight on it in order to stop.

there is no puddle in my driveway and the first thing I did was check the brake fluid level and the reservoir is full.

any advice?

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[Minty JL]

Can you see any visible damage to the brake line or master cylinder?

Odd you lost brakes while the master cylinder is still full. I wonder if while you drooped the suspension the brakeline separated (soft line into the fitting) just enough to ingest air into the system.

Did the ABS activate at all?

 

[Edub]

Can you see any visible damage to the brake line or master cylinder?

Odd you lost brakes while the master cylinder is still full. I wonder if while you drooped the suspension the brakeline separated (soft line into the fitting) just enough to ingest air into the system.

Did the ABS activate at all?

so, I as soon as I posted I thought to look up the instructions to the Grimm offroad mounting bracket to the compressor to see if it interacted at all with the master cylinder.

as it turns out, it utilizes one of the bolts that hold down the Master Cylinder and I'm fairly confident that I didn't put it back after removing the bracket.

here is an image from their online instructions. looking at the MC nut on the upper left. I'm guessing that would affect things considerably.

 

[Minty JL]

Is it plausible that the missing nut could cause a leak, yes.

Are you getting any Brake codes or CEL?

 

[Edub]

no codes, no leaks

 

[ChrisNLA]

If that bottom nut is missing, when you press on the brakes the force of the rod pressing into the back of the master cylinder *could* make the master cylinder deflect upwards, thereby allowing less pressure to be applied to the fluid. It wouldn't take much movement at all to make a big difference in braking strength.

 

[Beemer533]

Yeah, I don't think you'd have any leaks with that nut missing, you just wouldn't be able to fully engage master cylinder.

Hopefully you'll be able to just put the nut back on, but I'm not sure how much deflection it could take before breaking..

 

[Coldtoes]

so, I as soon as I posted I thought to look up the instructions to the Grimm offroad mounting bracket to the compressor to see if it interacted at all with the master cylinder.

I swear posting or emailing a question sparks some sort of mental search function that isn't available until after clicking "submit"/"Send". Moments after sending it out there of course we start realizing what the solution may be...

I hope replacing the nut solves the issue.

 

[bakobobby]

Yeee ikes glad you and your kids are ok. Crazy how a little thing like a missing bolt could end in disaster.

 

[Edub]

That was it, before heading out I put a bolt back on and bingo, I have brakes again. crazy/scary how one tiny bolt could make such a difference.

 

[Jefe1018]

Glad you’re safe and the fix was easy!

 

[Minty JL]

Glad you’re safe and the fix was easy!

^^^ yeah that

 

[Rockabillyroy]

maybe grimm should update their instruction photo with "don't forget to put this back on! you might die!"

heh..

glad it all worked out.

 

[dcmdon]

You did something to the master cylinder. If you screwed up something at the wheel side, the problem wouldn't be obvious in normal driving because all modern cars have a dual circuit system. So even if the front brakes fail completely, the rears are good.

So for something to impact both the front and rear, it would need to be at the master cylinder.

 

[jav_eee]

You do remember you have a hand brake too, right? Next time give that thing a yank.

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