[Bernie]

Even if they are Knorr-Bremse they are adjustable.

[Roger]

I just cannot see grease dragging a brake. The force it takes to drag a brake cannot be done with grease in my opinion.

I can see an adjuster hanging up or a rust spot or something on the splines not releasing the brake after its applied.

Just seeing the surface rust in the pictures?

I don’t know, over 45,000.000 million miles on our trucks never had one drag because of grease.

All of us suffer from NON Usage. No different than what my pop always said.

You rest you rust.

Later

bv

[DON]

Bernie, The way the brake application assembly is designed over greasing sets up a hydraulic lock. The pressure of the grease is what applies the pressure to the pads.

[Archived]

I know how it works A1.

We’ve greased a couple trucks, never heard of this happening.

Later

bv

[Deleted User]

Where ya been Bernie, I’ve been there and experienced the over greasing. Did you read my above post or do you have cotton in your ears?

Here’s an old post dealing with Meritor up to 1998 chassis.

1991 to 1998. These calipers had pressure relief valves installed by the grease fittings. Meritor recommends lubrication of the internal actuating components 2 to 4 times during the life of the lining or every six months. These are the steps to lubrication:

1} Turn the adjusting nut on the automatic slack adjuster to move the inboard lining against the rotor (basically tighten the brakes)

2} Plug the pressure relief valve by holding a finger over the poppet (for calipers with grease fittings in the caliper and the camshaft cap, first apply grease to the caliper fitting than the camshaft cap.

3} Apply grease through the grease fitting in the caliper until grease flows out of the camshaft cap.

4} Remove the pressure relief valve from the caliper. Turn the slack adjusting nut in the opposite direction to fully retract the caliper piston and force excessive grease through the pressure relief hole.

5} Install the pressure relief valve and adjust the brakes per brake adjustment procedures.

Note: This procedure forces excessive grease from the caliper. If this is not done than the brakes can drag and reduce the life of the lining.

[Roscoeapproved]

Bernie, I don’t know how the Meritor brakes compare to the trucks you are familiar with, but this problem on our coaches has been widespread and we have cautioned owners to make sure those who grease their coach understand the potential results if over greased.

---

Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL

[Todd]

I never read what you write but I actually read some of the manual posted.

I am not saying it can’t happen but I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life, I have never seen it happen or know someone it happened to.

So you 2 can bite me.

Later

bv

[Archived]

O.K. Back to helping Andy & Jill.

Andy, I feel really bad recommending Stewart & Stevenson and then them not following up with a return phone call to you. That was not the kind of experience that I had with them, but I didn’t give them the opportunity NOT to call back, I followed up with calls to them until I could talk to the Service manager. But that is neither here nor there now.

How are you doing NOW. What is your situation?

I have been giving your situation some thought and here are some things that I would be concerned about.

What caused the hub to overheat to the point of boiling the lube in the hub?

Was it a dragging brake? Maybe? The energetic posts above are exploring that possibility. Replacing the brake pads is relatively easy but what about the damage caused by the overheating.

Did the overheating cause any collateral damage?

Is the wheel bearing overheated to the point of being on the verge of failure? Should it be replaced? Without disassembly and inspection I would always have a doubt about it’s condition.

Is the hub seal overheated to the point of failure? Should it be replaced?

Is the hub lube overheated to the point that in needs to be changed?

Is the actual hub cap window and plug overheated to the point that they need to be replaced.

Just some thoughts that may or may not apply to your situation.

I may be worrying too much???

Let us know how you are doing.

[Archived]

Any time someone says “bite me” I expect to hear the word “please.”

And Tim is expressing exactly the correct concerns. Our coaches do not repair themselves so unless the cause is determined along with verification things are now OK the effort to give everything a detailed inspection will be worth it.

[Andy]

I thought that I had replied to Tim last night but my reply is apparently still floating around in the cloud somewhere. When I went to see my post the thread said that I had the last post but it showed Tim’s as the last. So I’ll try again.

First of all I want to thank you all for your help. It just goes to show that my dues have been well justified.

We are doing well. S&S Denver never called back. I also never heard from Arrow Stage Lines even though I talked to them and sent them my VIN as they requested. When I contacted All Aboard America by phone the voice mail box did not give a name for its owner and I received an undeliverable for the follow-up email that I sent. I’ll contact the company on Monday through their general number on Monday. We will be near Prevost’s Mira Loma, CA facility in a couple months so maybe that’s where we will have to have the service.

We live full time in the coach so I don’t have a way to do any chassis work or inspections on my own.

As for the bus:

• The hub spun smoothly (wheel off) and I could not detect any resistance. This was before any work was done.
• The brake engaged when the parking brake was applied. Also before any work was done.
• The bearing looked fine.
• The rear seal was intact and did not leak. I don’t know if it may have been compromised.
• The disk was not perfectly smooth but it did not appear to be warped.
• The pads were toast.
• The calipers looked like they were overheated so they may also need replacement.
• The hub oil and seal were changed out.
• The pads were readjusted so that they had more clearance.

We we plan to head to Santa Fe as planned on Sunday. I will compare the hub oil temperature of both tag axle wheels about every hour for the first several hours and if all is ok then I’ll check it about everybody 2 hours which is our regular time for a break. If there is a delta of 50 degrees or so then we will evaluate our options at that time.

If I am missing something please let me know.

Thanks again everyone.

[Rudy]

Having new grease and outer hub cap (seal?) replaced is good.

Consider maybe…when you get somewhere where you are having some maintenance done have them remove the tag hub and inspect both the inner, the outer bearing, and the hub (rear) seal.

Without getting into too much detail just know that after a few firm stops the slack adjuster will re-adjust the pad clearance. May or may not be a problem again.

I might be worrying too much…again!

Be safe and have a good trip.

[Archived]

Yes, the aluminum casting with the window in it was replaced.

I thought that the slack adjuster would just adjust to whatever it was originally set to. I’ll keep an eye on it in any case.

[Archived]

I would urge a little caution by verifying the automatic slack adjusters are not over tightening the brakes and by measuring the push rod travel to make sure it is between 1″ and 2″.

Unless the brakes are Knorr-Bremse in which case you need to verify the brakes are not dragging and that they are releasing.

[Art]

Andy there is also a spring kit that I added to my Foretravel Meritor disk brakes, They help hold pads and calipers off disk, My Bus already has them. 2 springs per caliper. Picture from Berry Beam.

[Jim]

Thanks Art! I guess that I first need to verify that I actually have Meritor brakes.