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Brake Caliper Frozen
I thought it would be worthwhile mentioning my recent misfortune. I am not sure that there is a way to avoid, anticipate or prevent a similar event for anyone’s coach.
I recently purchased an H3 Marathon 2000 in early August out at Premium Coach. I traveled back to Maine and then down to Richmond, VA where I am currently sidelined for a few days. On the last leg of the Journey from Hanover, PA to Richmond all pre-trip inspection was normal. The trip seemed uneventful until I pulled in to the RvPark and found my Right Rear Tag axle with a significant oil leak at the hub. I managed to remove the covers only to find a complete rupture of the seal and gear oil over. Prevost gave me 3 service centers, one less than 1/2 mile down the road – Colonial Truck – Ashland Va. Turns out that the break calipers froze and thankfully did not ruin the hub or create a fire. Only the entire disc brake assembly, bearings and races need to be replaced all for about 4K plus or minus. I guess its my intro to the ride of my life.
Frankly, it is not so aggravating as it just leaves one wondering how to avoid something like this in the future. The tech said that the less a unit is used the more likely these events could happen. The truth is that there was nothing felt while I was driving. If it happened on a steer tire, at least there would be pulling to one side….in the rear nothing.
So if there are any words of wisdom, I am all ears. Thanks for listening. By the way, the folks at Colonial have been pretty straight forward.
Bob
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5 Replies
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May I assume you have Knorr Bremse brake chambers or do you have the Rockwell Meritor?
Regardless what you experienced has been previously reported on both types of brakes. I think over greasing the slack adjuster pivot points creates a hydraulic lock and will not allow the caliper to open up. If it is on Knorr Bremse brakes I do not know what the possible cause would be.
However this is a condition not likely to be found in a pre-trip inspection unless your significant other walks next to the coach as it rolls on loose gravel and determines the wheel is dragging a little. We both know that is impractical. The best solution is to monitor wheel temps, particularly near the hub. Before I had the Pressure Pro I would use my IR gun to shoot wheel and hub temps, mostly to look for huge differences because all wheels are going to be close in temp to one another and all tires will also be close to one another.
Now the tire pressure monitoring system is going to give me an alert, not only for pressures, but temps. It won’t and can’t fix the cause of the problem, but it sure will alert when there is one preventing the issue you faced.
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Thanks Jon! I am up for the adventure. Just want to do my best to stay ahead of the curve.
Bob
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If you are paranoid about brakes or bearings locking up, stop after 20 miles and touch the hubs. I do that now after maintenance or if the coach has not been used for several weeks. Caught one over-greased slack adjuster last year.
Gerald
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Also if you get a tire pressure sensor monitor it will check psi and temp of each wheel and if a bearing or a brake freezes up it will warn you with an alarm when temp rises. Also the video on Meritor brake maintenance is helpful under Pneumatic (4) Meritor Air Disk Brakes Maintenance – YouTube
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I have the old TPMS ; maybe worth the upgrade that provides temp alerts as well.
Thank you all for responses. I hope no one else suffers the same trouble.
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