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When do I lift the tag axle & dump air?
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John, There is no risk to removing the brake chamber if it makes clevis removal easier.
There is no air to the chamber until you lift the axle so there will be no surprise when you remove the hose. As long as you are removing it you might just want to replace it with a new one. I think it is a #36 usually available off the shelf from any good size truck parts house. You will have to hacksaw the push rod on a new one to the same length as the old one.
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Jon,
Great advice, as usual.
Are all “type 36 brake chambers” the same regardless of manufacturer?
Is there a prefered manufacturer?
The difficulty I am having is it seems the shaft of the brake chamber is wanting to turn inside the brake chamber.
Does the shaft actually unscrew or would I damage the brake chamber by trying to unscrew the shaft?
Thanks.
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The tag lift chamber (verify the size, it will be stamped in the can somewhere) consists of the two outer shells held together with the bands, a big rubber diaphragm that is so big in diameter that it is pinched between the two shells, and the push rod which has a big round steel plate welded on its end inside the outer shell. There is a spring at the push rod side of the big round plate that pushes the rod and its plate back against the diaphragm so when air is not applied the push rod retracts.
You can take the old one apart and when you loosen the clamps just hold the two shell halves together with your free hand. The spring is not so strong it will hurt you but it does push a little. When it is apart you will see how simple the brake chamber is.
As soon as you see how the brake chamber is made all your questions will be answered.
The brand is relatively unimportant because this type of chamber has become generic and just telling a parts counter guy you want a #36 brake chamber he will understand completely what you mean.
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One time Iwas weaving through a security gate at Hill AFB and made a tight turn out when they told me I was at the worry gate, I said the hell with them and barrelled up to my daughter’s house. As I was coming up the road my daughter said something fell off your bus back there. Parked and walked back found a large brass looking bolt. Looking around I figured out it was the rods on the air chambers that lift the tags. Both tags chambers were broken off. Could never figure out what I had done wrong.
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Recently I had the opportunity to ask this question to Robert Hitt, the Service Training Manager at Prevost, and here’s his response:
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Nice job Andy! Keep up the good work!
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Thanks Dick! More videos coming soon.
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Deja Vue: two years ago I discovered that the clevis yoke that lifts the tag
had broken. Today, I found that both the curb side and road side clevis yokes
are broken. I don’t remember the last time I lifted the tag. Any ideas for the
cause?
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Great video, Andy! I have noticed while awaiting service at Prevost Fort Worth, the mechanics routinely raise the tag axles on the coaches as they drive around the lot getting into the service bays. Passenger coaches typically have the tag a few inches off the ground, on a lot of motorhome conversions, including ours, the tag tires never leave the ground. I suspect many coaches are too heavy to carry the entire weight on the drive axle air bags. If the tag tires are still dragging, although with a reduced weight, the benefit of “raising the tag” is pretty limited. As far as tire wear due to scrubbing, most of us put low enough mileage on our coaches to the point tire wear is not an issue. We’re replacing tires this year, and the tread wear is hardly noticeable.
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Good question John!
From the photos it appears the breaks occurred as the brake chamber (lifting force) was extended but in a straight line push it just doesn’t seem possible.
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HJ
Hadnt seen it mentioned yet, when you dump the tag, your tag brakes are removed from your braking capability. As others have said, if the bus isn’t too whopper-jawed, in that a coffee cup won’t slide off counter while parked, we don’t use our Level-low. But if we do, we lower the side that is highest. Your bus’s Level Low switch needs to be in the “travel” position for moving. It won’t air up unless it’s set in “travel mode”. Cheers and have fun
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I had 1 side froze up, the swing bracket on 1 side was froze up and the bushing had turned and grease could not inter and the clevis was broken, pulled swing bracket off with a puller, hammered bushing out put some locktight on bushing hammered it back in,cleaned up everything, put swing bracket back on greased it,put on a new clevis and now it works great. I think that the grease fitting gets ignored on that swing bracket.
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If I recall correctly lifting the tag does disable the tag brakes, but at about 15 MPH the tag axle will drop and all brakes will again function.
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Just an FYI.. A 40’ will lift the tag off the ground almost immediately. The 45’s may or may not lift on high idle, it takes some time as the drive bags are doing all the work.
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Jon
our tag stays up until lever is thrown back
truk, our tag hovers off the ground with tire crown touching pavement But doesn’t really pick tire off the ground like a 2002 Country Coach 40 Magna as ex
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