Eric Bradley, A lifetime of learning how things work

The craziest thing I've ever found on a car in the shop has always been one thing. A loose nut behind the wheel. (You'll laugh once you get it)

I could fix just about anything on a vehicle, but as a prominent comedian once said, "you can't fix stupid."

I got an E63 AMG with no brakes, off a tow truck. Once I went to the car on the lot I found a destroyed spare on the right rear, fire damage to the suspension, and brake fluid leaking all over the ground. Once we pushed it in the shop I got a better picture of what and whom I was dealing with.

The original tire had gone flat and the client drove it until the tread separated and the rim came apart, so already off to a brilliant start. Then they put the spare on and continued driving. Here's the catch. They have a space saver spare, and to get it out they had to remove the bright blue air pump on the hold down, then mount the significantly smaller wheel on the car with bright yellow warning labels all over to inflate before driving. And no, they didn't inflate it.

Now it gets fun. The smaller circumference wheel , due to the uninflated tire, has to turn faster to go the same speed as the others. This is recognized by the traction control as if the wheel were spinning, so it applies the brakes to control that wheel and backs off the throttle, all the while flashing a bright yellow warning on the instrument cluster and warning text, and on sustained application, rolling up windows and moving the passenger seat to prepare for imminent impact. But.... if you continue to stand on the throttle of a 500hp beast mode engine and disregard every warning and angry noise the car is throwing at you, it will keep going with the brake engaged.

In the end, the brake caught fire so significantly that the rotor shattered and embedded pieces in the spare rim, all of the bushings to the knuckle for the multilink rear end were burnt out, the wheel bearing seals and grease were burnt off, the parking brake cable housing melted, the electronics for the rear strut melted as well as the harness to the brake wear sensor, the fender liner caught fire, and the brake line burnt off.

A simple flat tire turned into a $12k+ repair, and on top of that, the other three remaining tires were so worn they each had about 4 inch width of steel belt showing and the customer declined to replace them.





Before and after... you're welcome!

I worked in a dealership shop for 12 years before seeing anything like this. But this wasn't the first time. This same thing was done to an E55, quite literally, the week before and I never thought I'd see anything like it again. It was absolute dumb luck to get this repair on my lift again ever. Two weeks in a row called for pictures to prove it!

And yes, it was a different owner.

https://www.quora.com/As-a-car-mecha...share=f4772e87

 

Holy ****

 

Pretty stupid. My buddy has a shop. A truck came in with the rear leaning down on one side. Someone replaced the rear lower controll arm with a 2 by 4. Sad thing is I have seen it before. Lol

 

What in the ****? Why would you do something so blatantly stupid and ignroe every single warning, even ignoring the need to replace tires? It's almost as if the owner wants the car to die a slow death.

 

To me, it really sounds like this owner can't afford the car...

 

This has a lot of truth. New owners probably stretch their budget to get into the club, not realizing the costs to keep it running well.

 

The guy drove on a flat untill the rim came apart. Then he didn't air up the spare. The yellow is hard to miss. And anyone with a brain would check the air in tire anyway.
This isn't about money. It's about being stupid. There is a whole lot of it out there, there is no cure. I see it everyday working out in the public. It does not even surprise me anymore. When I see someone do something smart is when I'm in awe

 

So am I supposed to put air in the tire or not??? I'm confused now!

 

I believe you and at the same time this is too stupid to be possible. Alcohol and drugs might explain this lack of, well I don't know, lack of consciousness. Thanks for sharing.

 

Wow, just wow

 

Sounds too dumb to be true.

 

As a teenager my stepdad always told me - "It is easy to afford to buy a car - the trick is to be able to afford to maintain it in good running order".


Saw a Jay Leno show where they say that it costs about $50,000/year to maintain a supercar

 

"Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool."

 

Lol wow that's a good one. What would make you think that's okay hahah

 

Yup terrible and worthless. Tried over and over (and over) to start the car - times out - or just doesn't do anything. Terrible.

 

 

This is something that I wouldn't believe unless I read it. I know that people can be stupid, but dumb a**es too.

 

Okay. One...tiny.. part of this debacle is defensible. I hit a 3" bolt on the freeway and felt the tire start to go flat. Before I could finish the first lane change, the tire came apart. But as you'd expect, we made for the shoulder and dealt with it. Continuing to drive on the rim til it dissolves? That right there should DQ that idiot from having a driver license. Unreal.