hot drivers side wheel

I think I have one of two things. Either a seized brake caliper or I have a bad wheel bearing. When I would go 45 it would make a rattling sound from the front end. I am not discounting a CV axle or any other crazy part. If it is a bearing, I have one for the front on the shelf.

Its at my trusted shop. They have been told if it is an axle they are to get a rebuilt from the dealer. They are good about those sort of things. They have been told no auto parts store ones, true OEM only.

It has been one of those weeks. Water heater died, daughter clobbers a deer with her 2015 Jetta. Can it stop?

Turns out a front caliper was sticking and I was getting thin on the brakes. So new front brakes should resolve things for now. I got 87,000 out of the fronts. Not bad for me. I got 120k out of the originals mainly because that first 120k was mainly 12 hour trips with one or two stops.

Glad you got it solved. Sorry about your daughter's Jetta. And your shop is right about the axles, should you ever need them. OE or quality aftermarket (GKN) only. No Autozone.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Glad you got it solved. Sorry about your daughter's Jetta. And your shop is right about the axles, should you ever need them. OE or quality aftermarket (GKN) only. No Autozone.

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Thanks! Those pesky deer are nuts. She hit the deer about a quarter mile north of her job....in the city no less. The body shop it is at does all the work for the local VW dealer and when we got the estimate, I saw no less than six big boxes with VW OEM markings on it get delivered. She will need a new hood, drivers side fender headlight and grill. Deer missed the bumper cover. She reported the damn thing just rolled over and ran into the creek area where she clobbered it. They did the deer damage work on my Passat when it had a mere 1600 miles on the clock back in 2005.

I drove out to Kirk Blackmore's GTG in Grand Rapids last weekend. Crossed into Michigan at Port Huron late Friday afternoon, and between there and Flint I saw at least 10 deer carcasses beside the freeway. Made me happy I wasn't driving that stretch at night.

I don't think night is as dangerous as early evening or early morning. I've seen more deer along the side of the road in that time of day where light of day is nearing its end. None the less, I don't take chances any more than need be. It settles down quite a bit around here after the first deer hunts start. It seems then they hide in the woods more.

At what point should calipers be rebuilt when something like this happens?

In my case, I had both calipers replaced with rebuilt units. I have 207k on the clock.

My Wagon has original calipers after 15 winters and 356K miles. It helps a lot to keep the caliper slide pins lubricated, both front and rear. I've gotten in the habit of doing it at least once a year, usually when swapping tires. Lately I've been lubing the rears twice a year. Clean fluid helps extend the life, too, I think.

My B4 also has original calipers. But it only has 284K on it.

Good tips. I will make sure I do this at yearly going forward. Since 2012 when this car was put into more daily service, I suspect the grind of start and stop did it no favors. They did a flush at the same time, so we should be good. It is nice to back to two of three cars in service. We are awaiting for Nov. 6 when the deer damaged Jetta can get fixed. Body shops around here say it is just crazy with the early onslaught of deer car kills.