My neighbor had an odd "transmission" problem

[DaveB]

One of my neighbors that I help out with Jeep problems brought their son's 97 TJ by for me to look at. All forward gears worked fine but it wouldn't go in reverse. The problem ended up being something I have never seen. The left front caliper bolt had come out and the caliper would flop back in reverse and jam the wheel. In forward gears it would flop out of the way and let it move. They had a much cheaper fix than a tranny rebuild.

 

[jeeper]

Odd one for sure. Good job figuring it out.

 

[Kiel]

Used to happen all the time on cars, usually after someone did their own brakes. A big shiny scrap all the way around the wheel was always the giveaway

 

[TurboMinivan]

This happened to me in 2021, right after Matt upgraded my front end to WJ brakes (while also doing a steering upgrade). While running Fins 'N Things, I heard something metal fall off my Jeep and go bouncing along the rocks and off into the distance, but when I stopped and hopped out I couldn't find the piece or figure out what it was. "Oh, well," I told my passenger, "I guess we'll figure it out when the Jeep falls apart!". I drove the rest of the trail without incident, then loaded onto my trailer and came home.

In front of my house, I put the Jeep in reverse to back off the trailer, but after moving just a couple inches the vehicle stopped and would not budge another millimeter in reverse. That's when I figured out the noise I heard on the trail was one of my brake caliper bolts fleeing the vehicle. Since I never engaged reverse anywere along the trail, I had no idea this had happened until I was home.

Attached photo is me "stuck" on my trailer.