I am never going to drive through LA again!

On Monday I was driving home through LA on their bummpy a$$ highway when I hit a f*cking trench that was dug across I-5. I hit it so hard that my center consol flipped open. A few miles down the road I hear something hit the bottom of my car and bounce down the road.

Next morning as i am backing out of my driveway I hear this terrible grinding noise coming from the brakes. I pull back up the driveway to see what is going on and my left front caliper is noticably misaligned. After removing the wheel, I find that one of the bolts that holds the caliper to the hub is MIA. When I hit the brakes in reverse, the caliper shifted and started to rub against the inside of the wheel causing the grinding I heard.

Would you beleive that none of the Infiniti or Nissan dealers stock the bolt I need! I realize that it is probably not a part that needs replacing very often, but come on. I had to order it from Infiniti who said they could get it overnight... but nooo, its on back order. So now my car is out of commission for at least three days for a f*cking bolt!

BTW, I could not believe how much better Infiniti service is compaired to Nissan. At Nissan the parts guy just gave me the wrong part, and when I told him it was not the correct thing, he told me that he had been doing this for 20 years and that i did not know what I was talking about. I was working on the damn car not 20 minutes ago! I think I know what I am doing. He also told me that the Maxima used a different part than the I30 Now at Infiniti, the parts guy was still confused about which part I needed (their computer diagrams kind of suk), but he was so much more helpful. We actually went out to the shop and looked at another car to verify the bolt I needed. I will never go back to that Nissan again... Well except to return the bolt that guy gave me with his 20 years of experience I just cant leave without saying "I told you so".

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to share my troubles right now. I am actually experiencing withdrawal from my car

 

Did you try home depot or lowes for a replacement bolt? Or even a junk yard?

 

Sucks man, but dealers can't carry everything. You'll be back on the road soon enough.

 

I did not try a junk yard, but I went around to many different stores to find a bolt with the same thread and close size, and found nothing.

Right now my car is sitting out in the driveway, half way jacked up and pretty much blocking off any access to the garage. I thought it would be a quick fix so I didnt pull into the garage. Unfortunately I ran out of time and have not been able to put everything bach together I had to get by brother to pick up all of my tools and stuff after sitting in the drive for half a day. I am amaized that nobody ran off with my wheel or socket set.

 

A lot of bolts on the car have specific shoulders and lengths, etc. that can't easily be replaced from a store. I know, because I needed a bolt for my lower suspension in the rear a while back that no one had in stock.

But yes. Nissan dealers are horrible. We have 2 Infinitis and a Nissan in the family, and the Nissan dealer gets NONE of our business. Conversely, the Inifiniti dealer gets a great deal of business.

I don't go to Nissan anymore unless I want an air filter. They seem to be able to handle that.

 

More proof that the dealerships suck A$$!! Many times have I gotten into arguements with the parts people at Nissan.

 

Hey Orig. Poster, were you looking for the bigger bolts that hold on the entire brake assembly? Was is like a 18MM bolt with the number "9" on the top?

My brother was helping me do my brakes back in April when I first got the car. He only hand tightened the driver side brake assembly bolts (the two bigger ones) and the next day I started to hear a weird clunk when I went over a bump... then the next next it got really loud and finally I heard a bolt hit the ground and a loud grinding noise. I saw that ne of the big bolts fell out.

Just like you I needed the bolt and my Nissan dealership didn't have it... however, they did give me a bolt with the number "8.8" on top of it and it was almost exactly the same size, length, thickness, everything... just ever so slightly different. It was close enough that it smoothly and tightly fit right back into the missing caliper/brake hole.

 

I just takled to Infiniti, and my special order bolt is finally in! Ill have to go and put everything back together on my lunch

Yes, it is one of the two bolts that hold the entire caliper assembly in place.