My girlfriend Jackie noticed that she lost pretty significant braking power in her vehicle one day last month. The brakes were certainly functional, but the pedal would go almost to the floor in order for the SUV to completely stop.

The vehicle we are talking about is a 2021 Ford Expedition MAX. We have five children, so a large SUV is a must. This vehicle is one of our primary daily drivers, so the kids are always in it. This part of the story is important to note.

An Open Letter To My Mass. Auto Repair Shop

Johnson Ford in Pittsfield, MA

I noticed that the brake fluid reserve was extremely low, so I filled it. That didn't solve the problem. Did the brake lines need to be bled?

Let's fast forward to today's service appointment at Johnson Ford in Pittsfield, MA. I dropped the SUV off notifying the service writer of the issues with the brakes as well as some noise up front. The vehicle has 75,000 miles on it, so it's due for brakes and multipoint inspections, etc.

What you see below is something the technicians have never seen before. After putting the vehicle on the lift, the tech had noticed a tree branch was lodged between the spring and the caliper. How did this get there?

We live on a dirt road and driving over fallen tree branches is just a reality, but when we rolled over this branch, someone was watching!

The branch had jammed perfectly in between the brake lines. Millimeters closer and the branch would have punctured the lines completely and my girlfriend would have instantly lost all braking power and crashed.

We are believers in God in this family and will certainly be saying extra prayers tonight. We just wanted to thank the service technicians at Johnson and letting us know just how grateful we are to be alive today.