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Frozen brakes on curbside tag
Our friends have a 2000 Featherlite H3-45. They got to Laughlin, NV, and found the tag brake caliper on curbside had pretty much welded to the disc. Talks with Prevost indicate they need to get the coach to a repair facility–the nearest one is in Las Vegas. My friend is looking at chaining up the tag on that side, and driving it slowly and carefully up to Vegas to have it worked on. I recommended inflating the drive tires to max (130 psi) and drive slow. Any other thoughts?
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10 Replies
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Is there any way you could pull the wheel off?
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Sounds like a recipe for a fire.
If the caliper cannot be released I would get hold of the insurance company and arrange for putting the coach on a trailer.
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More free advice worth every penny that was paid for it……..
If the tag can be lifted high enough to clear the road (doubtful, but lets pretend) then the drive axle tires will be at or above their load carrying capacity and all other associated components such as bearings, air bags, etc will be well beyond the Prevost axle limits.
It would be far less risky if a trailer is not part of the solution to get someone to do what is necessary to remove or release the caliper even if it means destroying it in the process. With the heat associated with a locked caliper it is probably junk any way. I would start by trying to cage it and if that did not work the next step would be to try to remove the caliper and disc and if needed replace the disc to drive it to a repair facility.
I would be very concerned if the heat of a dragging brake was enough to “weld” the caliper to the disc the tire and wheel almost certainly were subjected to a lot of heat so they might have to be replaced.
Lady Luck was at work here because from the description a fire was almost certain.
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Craig,
He did take the wheel off, but he is concerned driving without the wheel could cause damage to the coach on dips.
Jon,
None of his insurances (AA, Good Sam, FMCA) would cover the tow, and since the brake is frozen, he would have to get a flat bed. He already has a $2,000 towing bill to Prevost Ft Worth when his transmission would not go into gear at a rest area when he left here. If he can keep the wheel off the ground except occasionally for dips, he should be be OK. I suggested driving a few miles, check it, and proceed if everything is OK. We do feel for him. We’re home babysitting our new puppies, so we did not go with them this time.
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Get ahold of a roadside truck service company. Ask them if they can come to your location, jack up the tag axle, remove the tire and wheel.
With heavy duty pry bars move the disc brake pads back to release the grip on the disc. This only has to be moved appox. 1/8 inch away from disc. Disc brake material can be chiseled out enough for this required clearance.
This is a temp repair and you are going to abandoned brake service on tag, allowing driving to a service center.
Remove air line and cage off (block) the brake line to the caliper. “Cage off “is a term used in the air brake world …meaning block off air service.
I assume the oil seal is toast so this needs to be replaced along with oil replaced before traveling to a truck service center. This should be the hub oil fill type which is available at any truck shop, NAPA store
Call Prevost PASS to obtain names of roadside truck repair….They have a list.
Last thing….there is no problem driving with tag brake service caged off….you have plenty of braking power on 5 other axles.
AL
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No real good solutions here. He can chain up the tag axle, but that’s going to add 4,000 + lbs of weight to the drive on that side. The drive will eventually come to right height, but how long the bearings and tires can sustain the added weight and heat to come is unknown. Short distance probably wouldn’t be a problem, but it would have to be a very slow speed.
Hate it’s happening to him and a good example of how valuable a Pressure Pro would have been with temp monitoring.
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Keep in mind Al was able to put the wheel back on, if this one has the caliper welded to the axle, he will be using a flatbed or chaining up as I mentioned.
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It sounds like $$$$$$$$ are a large part of the consideration.
That being the case then a lot of the thinking has to be a risk versus reward calculation. First, see if the $$$$$$$$$ can be taken from the equation by advising the insurance company if road side repairs are not possible, and a tow is not part of the insurance company’s obligation you are prepared to drive it but are advising the insurance company the risk of a fire is substantial and the insurance company does have responsibility for that. See if they still want to not pay for a tow. I am not talking about Good Sam’s or any of the other RV related companies but a company that understands this is a 50,000# bus. If the insurance company is not one that insures conversions, best of luck.
Al posted good advice. Whatever it takes get the caliper to release, and do it by caging or chiseling away the pads or anything else including cutting it in half at the bolts with a die grinder. Failing that a flat bed trailer is far less risky and may cost a lot less than chaining up a tag axle and hoping no further damage occurs while driving. Keep in mind unless you isolate the air bag on the good side and are able to deflate the air bag on the bad side the whole tag axle has to be raised and chained. Further I am not sure the four drive axle air bags can carry the weight.
The drive axle air bags have a theoretical diameter of 11″ so four of them should lift 38,000 pounds @ 100 PSI (their limit) or 45,000 at 120 PSI (coach air system limit) but the worst nightmare would be to actually get started driving and have an air bag burst. Here is where relatively new air bags versus originals might be worth their weight in gold.
I’m sticking with a roadside repair that releases the brake and cages it or a trailer. I cannot stop thinking of the potential for damage otherwise.
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+1 on the roadside repair suggested by Al and Jon. There is a Loves and a Pilot at AZ 95 and I 40 and I’m pretty sure one or both have road service. You may actually be closer to Kingman, Az. and that’s a major truck center. Google truck road service on your phone or gps service.
I would much rather do roadside than have it towed or flatbedded. My guess is it will be cheaper with virtually no chance of damage.
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Just talked to our friend. He was able to get a roadside service out the cut the brake houosing as Al suggested, and with the wheel free to turn, he is good to go to Las Vegas. He will post an update here when he has the coach fixed.
Thanks for the good responses!
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