Forum Discussion
j-d
Jul 04, 2018Explorer II
Bits... You're gonna LOVE that 30A power right there at your parking! We've done that on two houses and it's great to be able to cool/heat while getting ready for a trip (let alone cleaning up after!) with Fridge cool, etc. You can also use your RV if house HVAC goes out, you need a guest room, and so on. Those Calipers are SO easy to rebuild! I'd never done any so I paid a mechanic to do ours. Put'em on and one leaked! Had to buy my own kits and do it myself anyway.
For the Splice, I found double thick large diameter adhesive lined heat shrink tubing from Vertex Marine. Part 81473. Starts out at 1" inside diameter so it'll slip over a splice in 30A Shore Tie Cable. Only 6" long though so I overlapped two pieces when I repaired our cable. From the Class C forum, you'll see how I hate shore tie extension cords. The less "plugging" you do, the better. We were on a side in Georgia using a 25-foot 30A extension. Had the plug under the coach to keep rain off of it...When it Caught Fire!!! Repaired with Yellow butt crimp connectors and tape. When we got home, I found the Vertex tubing, re-spliced with more butt connectors, but... split the yellow plastic off and soldered the crimped connections. Then put the split plastic back over and secured with small heat shrink. Staggered splices to make less of a bulge than all three lined up. Wrapped in black tape to approximate original cable diameter, then shrank the Vertex tubing over all that. We now have an approx 50' shore tie that doesn't overheat like it did at the extension receptacle and plug.
Eric, congrats on the 75-140 axle lube. Did you use Synthetic?
Brake Fluid... You can make a pressure bleeder with an extra master cylinder cap with a hose fitting added to it. Then a pump-up garden sprayer. You could put fluid in the sprayer, or just use it as a pressure source and keep refilling the master.
Tip on brakes dragging: Think of brake application as a Handshake. When Drum brakes release, the Shoes are retracted by Springs. You can actually see that, so think of breaking the handshake and letting go of the other person's hand. Disk is different, no springs. Think of a handshake where the grip is released but hands are still together. You can't look at the hands and see if the handshake is strong or weak. The Pads stay in contact and only two things release them. One is taking the pedal pressure off. Hoses can get restrictive so it's good you replaced them. The other is motion on the road. As the calipers are released, they try to rattle around a little and that action works the pads loose.
BUT! Because there's so little pressure on disk brake release, there's no "jet" of fluid back to the Master Cylinder like the springs cause with drum. The little Equalization Port in the front chamber of the Master can "heal up" with corrosion. Then a little apply pressure remains against the Caliper pistons. I had this on a car. As the brakes heated up they'd actually Apply! Slowed the car down, tried to stop it! Rebuilt the Master twice before I noticed the tiny little plugged hole. Cleaned it out with a very small drill and ran a hone down the bore to make sure I hadn't caused a burr that would ruin the piston seal.
The clue is this: Probably a Hose or Caliper will drag on one side. Master cylinder will drag both front brakes at once.
I was in Hamburg recently and see you aren't too far from there. If I can get back, might try a visit to your area and look at those churches. We were on a Rhine River cruise and I was sick the day we were in Cologne. It was also raw cold and rainy, so being sick I stayed aboard. Really wanted to climb to that dome. Daughter's in Hamburg for two years, so we transferred over there by train. She picked us up in the early afternoon and by dark she had me at Helios Klinik where they found my "cold" was acute pneumonia. So I had a cultural immersion into German medicine and hospitality with six nights there. Gave me a real appreciation for the kind and competent German People.
For the Splice, I found double thick large diameter adhesive lined heat shrink tubing from Vertex Marine. Part 81473. Starts out at 1" inside diameter so it'll slip over a splice in 30A Shore Tie Cable. Only 6" long though so I overlapped two pieces when I repaired our cable. From the Class C forum, you'll see how I hate shore tie extension cords. The less "plugging" you do, the better. We were on a side in Georgia using a 25-foot 30A extension. Had the plug under the coach to keep rain off of it...When it Caught Fire!!! Repaired with Yellow butt crimp connectors and tape. When we got home, I found the Vertex tubing, re-spliced with more butt connectors, but... split the yellow plastic off and soldered the crimped connections. Then put the split plastic back over and secured with small heat shrink. Staggered splices to make less of a bulge than all three lined up. Wrapped in black tape to approximate original cable diameter, then shrank the Vertex tubing over all that. We now have an approx 50' shore tie that doesn't overheat like it did at the extension receptacle and plug.
Eric, congrats on the 75-140 axle lube. Did you use Synthetic?
Brake Fluid... You can make a pressure bleeder with an extra master cylinder cap with a hose fitting added to it. Then a pump-up garden sprayer. You could put fluid in the sprayer, or just use it as a pressure source and keep refilling the master.
Tip on brakes dragging: Think of brake application as a Handshake. When Drum brakes release, the Shoes are retracted by Springs. You can actually see that, so think of breaking the handshake and letting go of the other person's hand. Disk is different, no springs. Think of a handshake where the grip is released but hands are still together. You can't look at the hands and see if the handshake is strong or weak. The Pads stay in contact and only two things release them. One is taking the pedal pressure off. Hoses can get restrictive so it's good you replaced them. The other is motion on the road. As the calipers are released, they try to rattle around a little and that action works the pads loose.
BUT! Because there's so little pressure on disk brake release, there's no "jet" of fluid back to the Master Cylinder like the springs cause with drum. The little Equalization Port in the front chamber of the Master can "heal up" with corrosion. Then a little apply pressure remains against the Caliper pistons. I had this on a car. As the brakes heated up they'd actually Apply! Slowed the car down, tried to stop it! Rebuilt the Master twice before I noticed the tiny little plugged hole. Cleaned it out with a very small drill and ran a hone down the bore to make sure I hadn't caused a burr that would ruin the piston seal.
The clue is this: Probably a Hose or Caliper will drag on one side. Master cylinder will drag both front brakes at once.
I was in Hamburg recently and see you aren't too far from there. If I can get back, might try a visit to your area and look at those churches. We were on a Rhine River cruise and I was sick the day we were in Cologne. It was also raw cold and rainy, so being sick I stayed aboard. Really wanted to climb to that dome. Daughter's in Hamburg for two years, so we transferred over there by train. She picked us up in the early afternoon and by dark she had me at Helios Klinik where they found my "cold" was acute pneumonia. So I had a cultural immersion into German medicine and hospitality with six nights there. Gave me a real appreciation for the kind and competent German People.
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