On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:20:04 GMT, <mechanic@telusplanet.net> wrote:

>I'm not sure what you're getting at, Ted.... Where does this "hack job" crap
>come from? Given the simple task bestowed upon the caliper, I see no reason
>to replace a caliper that isn't defective...
>
>Jim, Warman
>mechanic@telusplanet.net

I don't think he was accusing you of anything wrong with your logic,
but he's coming up with the perfectly logical (if dead wrong) argument
that the plaintiff's lawyer would use in court. "Your honor, this
mechanic did an incomplete and improper brake job and the next day my
client was gravely injured (or killed) in an accident..."

Doesn't matter that the accident had nothing to do with bad brakes,
but the lawyer doesn't have to admit that - he can simply say there's
no way of knowing, but he found "A Smoking Gun" and is following the
available evidence. (There is actually no law saying that the
plaintiff's lawyer has to tell the truth - if he can fabricate a good
enough story that (s)he can fool a Judge or Jury into thinking is true
and complete, he's golden in more ways than one.)

The lawyer is fishing for dollars, and (s)he gets 33% to 50% of
anything he dredges up, so there is plenty of incentive to "do
whatever it takes" to win. Sometimes your insurance company will
acquiesce and admit to a small percentage of liability and pay him a
little money just to get the plaintiff and his mouthpiece to shut up
and go away without a long trial - but it still counts against you as
a loss.

You normally do everything with brakes or other bilateral systems
both sides at the same time to save time and money in the long run -
both sets of brake pads wear out at the same rate, both calipers go
cruddy inside or have seals fail at roughly the same rate. And
repeat brake failures is one of those things you do not want.

You wouldn't take the entire dash cluster out to replace a single
illumination lamp, because there are six to ten in there and they all
have the same hours on them - you would be back in there every few
months changing them one at a time till you did them all. So the
smart person changes them all at once when one goes bad. Same thing
with headlamps, tail and marker lamps, shock absorbers, belts and
hoses, motor mounts, etc. The labor is usually a lot more than the
cost of the parts.

Feel free to change one caliper on your own car, but when you run a
shop and professional liability is on the line you can't be that way.

If the customer pleads poverty, write a small disclaimer on the
ticket and get it signed that you strongly suggested to do both
calipers as a pair but the customer insisted he only wanted one. It
might save your ass later.

--<< Bruce >>--