How to check brake pad on a Freightliner DP ?

Some drum brakes are exposed and some have dust shields.
If dust shields there will be a slot roughly 12 o'clock 6 o'clock for inspection of shoe thickness.
Always check for oil leaking, grease slinging, ie bad seal.

cbeierl wrote:

FIRE UP wrote:

cbeierl wrote:

Ava wrote:
On a diesel pusher they should be disc brakes.

Actually, I think you'll find that the majority of them have drum brakes. Some have front disc brakes (as does my 2005 Winnebago Vectra), and a smaller number have discs all around.

Wow Chris,
Your coach and ours, even though a year apart, should be close to identical. Especially since they're both 36' units. But, yours has disc brakes up front and ours has drums, hmmmm. You don't by any chance have independent front suspension do you?
Scott

Late response, Scott--sorry! Yes, I do have IFS along with the discs.

Hey Chris,
No worries on the late response. I do it too. Thanks for getting back to me on this. Good to know there's these kinds of differences in very closely made coaches.
Scott

FIRE UP wrote:

cbeierl wrote:

Ava wrote:
On a diesel pusher they should be disc brakes.

Actually, I think you'll find that the majority of them have drum brakes. Some have front disc brakes (as does my 2005 Winnebago Vectra), and a smaller number have discs all around.

Wow Chris,
Your coach and ours, even though a year apart, should be close to identical. Especially since they're both 36' units. But, yours has disc brakes up front and ours has drums, hmmmm. You don't by any chance have independent front suspension do you?
Scott

Late response, Scott--sorry! Yes, I do have IFS along with the discs.

cbeierl wrote:

Ava wrote:
On a diesel pusher they should be disc brakes.

Actually, I think you'll find that the majority of them have drum brakes. Some have front disc brakes (as does my 2005 Winnebago Vectra), and a smaller number have discs all around.

Wow Chris,
Your coach and ours, even though a year apart, should be close to identical. Especially since they're both 36' units. But, yours has disc brakes up front and ours has drums, hmmmm. You don't by any chance have independent front suspension do you?
Scott

I have an 94 Bounder DP with 4 wheel disc brakes, I assumed anything newer would have the same thing.

Ava wrote:
On a diesel pusher they should be disc brakes.

Actually, I think you'll find that the majority of them have drum brakes. Some have front disc brakes (as does my 2005 Winnebago Vectra), and a smaller number have discs all around.

I didn't know drum brakes lasted so long. I had a mechanic check mine when it had 105k miles. I'll try to check mines out when the weather clears. I'll bring flashlight and mirror as suggested.

supercub wrote:
Thanks for the input. I just crawled under and checked the pads, easiest thing in the world to see. There's no back cover, it's completely open,. I didn't measure, but my pads looked to be at least 3/4 of inch.
Thanks again.

Partner,
You've got a long brake-life ahead of you. Especially if you use your exhaust brake accurately and efficiently. Of all the repairs, maintenance, questions, inquiries on here, almost none have ever asked on how to replace the brakes on a DP. Not that very many DP drivers could do it anyways, but a few can and, would be willing to do it, if the need arises. Anyway, you're good to go for quite a while.
Scott

A couple of years ago I spoke with the service manager at Spartan Chassis regarding the brakes on my American Tradition DP and asked him about how much does it cost to change the shoe brakes. His response was something like "in all my years as service manager, I don't remember ever having to do a brake job on a customer coach". Nuf said for me. 143000 miles on factory brakes.

Thanks for the input. I just crawled under and checked the pads, easiest thing in the world to see. There's no back cover, it's completely open,. I didn't measure, but my pads looked to be at least 3/4 of inch.
Thanks again.