High-Heat Shoes & Drums

get a ride to work with a co-worker. Maybe you have a high resistance to the general trend of this thread. Denile is more than just a river in Egypt ya know?

It’S Actually both lines that would have to be fixed. And 400 is the less expensive route, fixed with a union.
I do have the repair manual but it’s probably beyond anything I could do in the driveway.

I have no co-worker. I do nighttime janitorial work, alone. And work is less than 3 miles away from home.

This has been kinda fun. But still, no one has answered the question.

good my friend then walk to work or ride a bike.

Easy for you to say. And yeah, not a bad idea at the same time.

You’re driving yuor car in an extremely unsafe manner. Should someone’s young child dart out in front of you, you may very well not be able to stop. You’ll spend the rest of your life with a child’s death on your conscience as well as criminal charges, and some family will grieve the loss of their child forever.

So you’ve avoided an accident for 1-1/2 years. That’s only by the grace of a kind God. You yourself can take no credit for having done anything safe. Accidents happen suddenly and when we least expect it. Thank you good graces and get the brakes properly fixed.

And, by the way, it’s the rotors and discs that dissippate the overwhelming majority of the heat, not the pads. And the system is designed for the fronts to do 70%-80% of the work. You’ve seriously crippled your car’s ability to stop by getting the brakes fixed.

Please, I urge you, for the sake of those you risk killing or maiming and the families the might spend the rest of their lives dessimated, get your brakes fixed properly.

P.S.: nobody no this forum is going to advise you in doing something as unsafe as you’re planning on doing. The pad materials are irrelevant; the car is unsafe. Driving is a right, not a privaledge, and it carries with it a responsibility to the others who share the road with you.

face it, you can use the exercise, am I right?

That is by far the BEST answer so far.

Sounds like a good idea, I’ll fix them properly. Thanks for all the input everyone.

Actually, I run on the beach several times a week believe it or not.

They’re right, I can stop. But I get your point and believe me after a year and a half you aren’t telling me anything I haven’t already thought about a hundred times.

I figure for about 100 bucks I can improve braking by at least 20%. To fix the lines it’ll be several hundred. I don’t have that yet. And I need to fix the rear brakes anyways so…

I’m certainly not refusing to do anything about it. That’s the reason for this thread.

Just wow. I think this is the craziest thing I’ve read on here yet. Actually, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Now somebody will probably post how they’ve been driving around with ZERO brakes for over a year and a half and have been relying on the hole through the floor for braking a la Fred Flintstone. And they’ll probably want to know which sneakers can handle the asphalt best, too.

I think I can speak for all who share the road with you when I say “thank you”. I salute you for seeking a proper repair.

It seems that you are and have been refusing to do the correct thing about it, fix the front brakes.

I live and work on cars near the Chesapeake Bay. Replacing brake lines is an everyday fix.

I don’t think you have gotten a second opinion or an estimate at all.

One hour labor and Six feet of brake line and fittings are in the $100 range.

Brake lines and even bending tools are not that expensive. The only reason I fixed my own cars when I was young was because I didn’t have the money to pay someone else. So either fix it yourself or get a second job to pay someone to do it.
If you haven’t been able to save more than $100 in a year and a half you need a second job anyway.

You could do it in a driveway. I dropped a tranny and replaced a clutch in a church parking lot across the street from my house. 2 days and $40 in the donation box I was back on the road. GET IT FIXED!!

Dude, fix the brakes. In any kind of wet weather it will be treacherous to drive, and what if a kid rides his bike out in front of you? Save the money you’d spend beefing up the backs and get the fronts fixed. I was an idiot like this when I was 16, and it was only good luck that kept me out of trouble. I really wouldn’t do it again. How fun would it be to have the guilt of causing an accident or possibly being in prison? Fines and court costs are a lot more than a brake repair.

If you don’t have a job, you have the free time to do it yourself if need be. And you CAN do it in a driveway. Obviously you have internet access or you wouldn’t be on this forum. Do a web search on how to replace brake lines and print it out if you can’t afford a manual. If you are just fixing them with a ‘union’ (I’m assuming a compression fitting), these are only a few dollars. A new brake line is only a few more, and a bottle of brake fluid that you will need for bleeding the brakes after you fix the lines is only another few. Less than $50 most likely if you do it yourself. Maybe another $50 if you buy a book or manual and some cheap Harbor Freight tools if need be. Otherwise, you may be able to find an independent shop that will let you make payments towards the repair.

And no, you cannot weld a brake line (not only would it not work, but the combustion products would contaminate the braking system), and even if you do put semi-metallic shoes on the back, it will have at best a barely noticeable effect and cost a significant chunk of what the front repair would cost you.

Good luck.