bleeding air breaks

Dutch Star 02: I guess by now you realize being right will get us Canadians nowhere here: Everything you said was soooo correct . Unfortunately as people we only know what we know but we don't know what we don't know.
Prstik was very attimate about his views which were only his views. Quote: Given but how do the front brakes work I smoked the rears pretty hard down the grade today nothing from the fronts. How come?
Well the two most likely explanations would be worn out shoes or Brake way out of adjustment.
That said everyone is of the opinion that automatic slacks can't cease to adjust as necessary. That is why in Ontario we are required to check brake travel of the pushrod every day prior to driving. The only way you can do that is by knowing what size chambers you have eg 16, 18 , 20, 30 etc and whether long or regular stroke. You then need a book to know the allowable stroke for your particular chamber which is not necessarily the same as the guy parked beside you. My neighbor in Florida had one coach with #16 and his new one had 20L long stroke. The one with 16 the front chambers were way out of adjustment and I confess although unacceptable in Ontario I adjusted for him. He drove it to Lazy Days to trade and couldn't believe how much better it stopped. He only had rear brakes before like Prstik. The main point they try to drive home is that if there is anything wrong you must not move the vehicle and call a Mobile Mechanic.
We don't think we are smarter than Americans. For every mechanic we have you have one Hundred. You have the biggest and best of everything and have dominated the racing world forever, Flown to the moon. We love our best friends and would like to keep you alive. Don't be offended about what you may not know but go find out. Like yourselves we didn't learn because we wanted to we had no choice if we wanted to drive with air brakes
One more thought for your Govt and ours. Everyone of us senior citizens that would have a fatal accident air brake related is 2 less people to pay old age security to.

The reason why I am against a lot of laws is that it's like a camel with his nose under the tent type of thing. I feel that DP owners and drivers get training on air brakes absolutely. I am even for a certification of such thing as lone as it stops there and not get more and more restricting. Americans where i live in the rural areas of the mid west like to be left alone and not deal with more laws. I think it would behoove anyone who spends 500K on a DP to protect it from accidents and themselves.. I got a class B with air brake and passenger with school bus endorsements and it took me about 4 hours of testing time. no big deal in the scheme of things but I have the certifications to legally operate anything that is straight. I am getting a semi tractor and my employer who is giving me the truck will help me with getting a class A I am probably going to go for it.

sahneperch: Why are you against it becoming law? You were being very responsible in worrying about the lives of the people in your bus. I can never understand the attitude Americans have when it comes to Gov. intervention. Many times I concur but an air brake license?? You need a special license to operate a motorcycle why not an air brake equipped vehicle? I was at a Nebraska rest area about 3 years ago. A fellow DP driver saw me pull in and asked if I could help him. He wondered of something was wrong as his compressor was running almost constantly. ( at least he knew it was his compressor making that noise!) I asked him if his air pressure was normal. He could not answer that question! Turns out he had only owned this unit for 3 weeks. Knew absolutely nothing about air brakes. I went over and he had a leak underneath that was so bad I could hear it from the step area. The unit was low slung and I was not going to go under a vehicle with an air leak. Neither of us had any air line or fittings. I suggested a mobile diesel mechanic and that he not drive the vehicle as it is dangerous. There are probably hundreds on this very forum who also have zero knowledge of air brakes. It is not difficult to learn the basics. One does not have to be a mechanic. I would not trust an RV dealer to teach the course. Their business is selling not teaching.

Moisheh

David0725 wrote:
Thank you RON! There is always some rude person that will say something about someone's spelling. I will be the first to admit I cant spell but do the best I can. After been kicked out of school in the 7th grade. So I find it very offensive.

Don't be offended. you have a diesel pusher,, you are doing well and the hell with educrats, I am most impressed with people that didn't finish school and make something of themselves it is most impressive. screw spelling ignore the rude ones. My Grandfather didn't finish 8th grade cause of the great depression but he had a Pepsi distributorship in California and he was a customs inspector in NY and his peers were SHOCKED that he wasn't a college graduate. degrees mean squat. success is what matters.

moisheh wrote:
gfs: Your sarcasms ignores the point of this discussion. There is a reason why truckers have to have air brake knowledge. That same reasoning applies to RV'rs as well. Canada,like any US state, accepts your DL as equal to one issued in Canada. We are not California!!!!! Can you answer the question I posted without using Google? BTW: Mountain driving is one of the reasons why RV'rs should have air brake knowledge. Even if you do not do a test one should read portions of the manual I posted. Or go online for more Info!


Moisheh

As long as it doesn't become another law. it would be a great idea if the RV dealers would offer a course on air brake safety. I have three buses and they use air brakes. I have a CDL to drive school buses and I got the air brake endorsement. I was so glad as I learned a LOT about air brakes. and I learned about slack adjustment and that it exists!!! I hadn't known that before. I am very lucky that my buses had fresh brakes when I got each one. Imagine my driving a bus with mal adjusted brakes cause of ignorance. Missouri you need certification for air brake equipped motorhomes. do I agree with that law,, no,, but it is a good idea to learn before you purchase an air brake equipped private vehicle.

Thank you RON! There is always some rude person that will say something about someone's spelling. I will be the first to admit I cant spell but do the best I can. After been kicked out of school in the 7th grade. So I find it very offensive.

we aren't all Rhodes Scholars, nor are our typing skills and spell checkers all top-notch and evidently "giving someone a break (not brake)" has died along the side of the road somewhere.

I don't think you need to be a Rhodes scholar to know the difference between break and brake...maybe a 6th grade graduate. But I do agree, we all knew what the OP meant by "breaks", just like we all know when someone missuses "there, their, and they're"....or to and too..or many other homophones as the English language is full of them.

Hope the OP got his answer.

Ron

gonesouth wrote:
In Nova Scotia my air brake endorsement test was about 40 minutes long, very straitforward and didn't include any practical, on the vehicle, work. I have heard that Ontario and some other places require you to do a manual slack adjustment. Since my rig had automatic adjusters I didn't feel not doing the physical test was a problem.

You're not doing a manual slack adjustment - you're required to know how to measure the amount of travel in the push rod and know the limits of that travel in relationship to the size and type of brake chamber. Anything outside of tolerance requires the service of a certified air brake adjuster. The course teaches you how the system works so you can make intelligent decisions on when to have it serviced. Passing the MTO test is the easy part.

In Nova Scotia my air brake endorsement test was about 40 minutes long, very straitforward and didn't include any practical, on the vehicle, work. I have heard that Ontario and some other places require you to do a manual slack adjustment. Since my rig had automatic adjusters I didn't feel not doing the physical test was a problem.

I didn't have a course, just downloaded the NS manual and studied it. Got the questions right, so I don't think you really need a course.

moisheh wrote:
Even though the manual does seem complicated when you take the air brake test( not the written test) you will be applying for a single vehicle endorsement and will not be asked to perform the same test as a tractor trailer. You do not need to show that you can do a slack adjustment. I do agree that they could have a separate manual for Motorhomes . In Canada most community colleges offer a one day( or is it 2 days?) course. They have an airbrake board that explains the whole system. I know some senior women( and men) who passed the test easily. Once you understand the system you would not post that you smoked the brakes. That poster has ruined his rear drums! They are now warped and not performing as designed.

Moisheh

In BC the system I went through was 2 days of full classroom insruction on truck and trailer brakes, a couple of written exams
then out to the truck to ajust slack ajusters with instructor watching
etc then once you were given a pass on the classroom deal you go to DMV and you do a muti question test on air brakes in general
Thus my point we need a condensed Version that is for class A MH non commercial drivers