Dem's the Brakes

While Cheryl was dealing with our regular 5 ring circus topped off with a debilitating round of diarrhea, I spent a few hours driving our van out to Hope to visit our friend Joe, who has been helping us with our regular maintenance on it for the past year or so.

It was a beautiful day so I took some pictures along the way for the benefit of family who have never been out here and for Cheryl's dad who did the drive with me last spring when there was still snow on the peaks along the highway.

Highway to Hope


When I got to Joe's we first looked at all the van's major fluids - especially the coolant - to see if any needed replacing or topping up. Thankfully all showed as quite clean and at adequate levels.

We then got down to the business of checking the rear brakes (the front ones were inspected recently and are still good). The rear brakes on a 1990 Dodge Caravan are drum brakes and are pretty straightforward if you have the right tools. Even so, it took us the afternoon to get the wheels off, drums off, pads off, new pads installed, wheel bearings repacked with grease, drums put back on, and wheels put back on.

Old Pad & Brakes