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Brake Pads Disintegrating
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It’s easy for someone to get themselves in trouble out west with the long 7% downgrades than can go on for many miles.
This year leaving the Eisenhower Tunnel west bound on 70 heading to Breckinridge there was a Entegra towing a Suburban that past me just out of the tunnel. I was down to 3rd gear at high rpm getting all I could out of the jake at 2200/2300 and needed occasional braking to keep rpm’s from getting too high. I was full of fuel and and water, so likely right at gross 54,000. No way the jake would hold it, had to use occasional braking.
So about half way down I’m starting to catch the Entegra and the guy finally figured out he was about to be in trouble, I could smell his brakes and he was really trying his best to slow down and hold what he had. It was a smelly trip to the bottom following him, but he probably learned a big lesson that day. You sure as hell don’t want to end up in the runaway ramp. He left the tunnel like he was in a car.
i didn’t see any smoke, but you can bet his pads and rotors where extremely hot.
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I wondering the too hot warning bells went off on the guys Pressure Pro system.
There are heat sensitive strips and paint that we can put on the race car calipers. They can probably be installed on drums too. Would be a good way to see if they got really, really hot.
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Lets be careful we don’t summarily cast blame on user error here. Yes overheating can permanently damage brake pads. However, many years of experience in the auto industry taught me there are some things that get shipped out the factory door that later prove to not work out in the “real world” over the many years of life the product will see.
In the case of our coaches the life cycle of the brakes is very different from what the engineers may have envisioned. Not likely they factored 20 years to get to 150k miles, or some other number of estimated life miles, into the corrosion resistance of brake lining materials.
Also with supplier, sub-supplier, and process changes parts made at different times or plants could vary widely in how they perform.
The bottom line may end up being check what you have, if bad, replace them, treat them right and we’ll see what happens.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
Just had JoSam’s in Orlando replace a leaking front seal on the passengers steer. JoSam’s called me about an hour after I left the coach and told me the front pads were disintegrated and they would not reinstall them. Upon my return to their shop and inspection of the pads, they were defiantly bad. About a half dollar size piece on the front and rear section of the pads was all that was left.
The coach is new to me 2000 H3-45 with 109,000 miles. I know 1st owner had it for awhile in AZ, 2nd owner had it for a while in LA, 3rd owner had it for only a couple of years in NC. No service records showing any previous break work.
Also just had coach at Prevost Winter Garden for trans and filter change. They found signs of leakage in both rear drive wheel seals. Had them replace those too. I asked if they checked the rear drive wheel brake pads during the seal replacement, with hesitation they said they did. Their hesitation concerns me.
Chuck
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Robert Hitt from Prevost has responded to my emails regarding this thread. It is his opinion the likely cause is overheating. To begin to address this the link below is a Bendix document and provides a checklist for an owner or mechanic to determine if this is a thermal event.
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/BW7514c.pdf
Pay very close attention to the checklist and if the thermal event is not isolated to a single point, but includes multiple wheels or axles the entire coach needs to be diagnosed and if it is not at fault the disintegration is likely to be caused by driving practices.
If the coach is unmodified from its as produced condition and the axles are within weight limits and the system is balanced driver practices are almost certainly the problem and cause.
I will follow this post with some of Robert’s comments.
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Robert has (in an email) mentioned several factors that need to be considered before a determination can be made as to the cause of the pad disintegration. He has indicated he will respond to questions from owners on a one to one basis because before offering advice on possible causes he needs to get all the facts.
He will not respond to questions on the forum.
In his response to my emails he did indicate there are a number of things that can cause the problems shown and for any advice or recommendations he needs to talk directly to the owner of the coach.
Anyone who has this issue or suspects there is an issue should contact Robert of the Prevost customer support team directly.
https://prevostcar.com/
contact-us/regional-service- managers -
Brake file won’t openwon’t
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Prevost is installing front control arms,tie rods,draglink and air bags. Since the front wheels are off should I have them inspect the pads or just replace them? The coach is a 2000 XL11 with 95k miles. What should labor be on new front pads? Do the pads un clip or do the calipers have to be removed?
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Prevost said my front pads are 60% good and dont really show any damage. They want $200 for pads and 1 hour labor for install. They also said the rubber boots are cracked on all 6 calipers and they have a caliper boot seal kit that covers all calibers for $122 and $200 labor.
I am just going to have them replace the front pads to be safe but the $200 for 6 boots installed seems crazy. Do they just snap on or are they lubing and making adjustments also?
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Do the boots, keeps dirt and crud out of caliper pin.
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What I am calling “boots” are the dust covers on the calipers covering the rods.
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