Air brake questions?

[Coach_Cleats]

I realize that everyone's driving styles are unique therefore brake replacement differ. My question is what might the average mileage for Air Brake replacement and what is a cost associated with replacing all four?

We are at 71K on our 2004 Safari and its beginning to require more pressure on the pedal to stop. That's probably the answer to my question ay!

[wa8yxm]

There are two issues with Modern brakes or 3, that can lead to greater pressure needed (or 4)

ONE: wore out completly. this also leads to grinding noises and higher cost of repair.

TWO: Glazing.. Easily fixed by a brake man

Three: Loss of assist system.. Expenssive

Four: Driver.. For 3 years I was unable to drive motor for mechanical reasons (IT BROKE) but it fixed and after 3 years of driving the car the MH brakes do indeed take more pressure.. i'm still adjusting to that (Been less than a year since I got engine replaced).

IF you are worried, have a brake man check 'em.

Older brakes had additional issues.

[FIRE_UP]

Coach Cleats,
First off, before there's any thought about costs involved in replacing your brakes, do one of two things.

1. Get under there and either use a mirror or get your head up behind the front wheels and do a close up inspection of your shoes, both shoes, both sides.

2. If you think you're not capable of a quality inspection, have it done.


A couple of questions. Are you the original owner of the coach? If so, what is your driving/braking procedure on grades, coasting, off ramps etc.? If you're not the original owner, at what mileage did you take it over? And again, what's the driving/braking technique?
And, has there been regular maintenance on the coach, lubing it, etc.?

I ask all this because, it helps determine what kind of brake life you SHOULD have left. As has been stated, folks that know and understand how to use auxiliary braking, i.e. exhaust brakes, compression (Jake) brakes etc. will seriously extend your service life of your regular brakes.

We are presently at 81,000 miles on our '04 Itasca Horizon 36G with the C-7 330HP CAT and, it presently has at least 85% of the original brake shoes left. I most certainly expect to double that mileage before I'm needing new shoes.
Scott

[C20]

We have almost 80K on our and have about 80% left. We use the jake brake and most miles are highway miles. Retired FF and on our firetrucks we got well over 60k on most of them and they are all stop and go hard on the brakes kind of service. I drive a Semi part time in the city now and we still get over a 100K out of them.

[centerline]

more pedal pressure usually indicates a mechanical problem rather than worn brake shoes/pads...

you may have conventional air brakes, air-disc or the stopmaster type, and it really doesnt matter in this case, but it sounds more like a bad "auto adjuster" or an oil leak due to a bad wheel seal...

if one of the auto adjusters, no matter if its a slack adjuster or the internal type like air-disc and stopmaster use, if its worn and not holding the shoes at their proper adjustment, it will take more air to put them against the drum with the proper pressure...

for safety reasons, you need to have it looked at by someone who knows the system, as if one brake isnt working proper, which makes the other work HARDER, if one more should fail you could be left without enough brakes to stop the unit..

[slickest1]

It could just be a brake adjustment problem. Sometimes auto slack adjusters start to fail due to age or lack of grease. There also could be a faulty air valve.
I would have it looked at by a truck shop or professional hd mechanic.

[wolfe10]

lj2654 wrote:
I just had my front axle brakes replaced. Calipers, pads, rotors and brake lines. I had a left front brake that was sticking so I decided prior to going full time I would just replace everything. This was on a 2001 Beaver DP (43000 miles) with air over hydraulic brakes. My brake pedal seemed as if I had to push it a lot harder to stop and the left front overheated.

Have not worked on that new a Safari/Beaver product, but are you sure it is air over hydraulic and not hydraulic over hydraulic (hydraulic boost)?

[Trackrig]

Last year at 65,000 miles we had our 2005 DP into the Freightliner dealer to service the air dryer. While it was there they greased it and checked the brakes. They said we had a lot of years left of the brakes.

You might check to see if you have any oil leaks on both the front and rear axles that could be getting on the brakes. I had the right front plastic cover start leaking but I caught it long before it got to the brakes.

Bill

[Tom_Barb]

with air brakes, you'd have to go back a long ways to find ones with out automatic slack adjusters.

If they are working is another question.

[lj2654]

I just had my front axle brakes replaced. Calipers, pads, rotors and brake lines. I had a left front brake that was sticking so I decided prior to going full time I would just replace everything. This was on a 2001 Beaver DP (43000 miles) with air over hydraulic brakes. My brake pedal seemed as if I had to push it a lot harder to stop and the left front overheated.

[Ductape]

Requiring more pedal pressure is not a symptom I would associate with worn brakes. That would express more as noise or uneven braking.

Possibly you've gotten some oil on the brakes from a leaky seal. Or there could be issues with air pressure.

Best to get some professional assessment.

[wolfe10]

Do you have hydraulic disk brakes (like older Safari coaches) or air drum.

Maintenance is COMPLETELY different.

[jorbill2or]

Yes , I can only go on my prior experience as a commercial driver, not mechanic, that would say the average RV’er would never need to change the brakes out. 200,000 miles is I believe a realistic number. This is of course for a heavy duty air brake system.
If you ride the brakes , have a lot of mountain driving without proper Jake/ Exhaust Brake use, or any of a large list you may not get there. A competent inspection should quickly determine pad thickness and / or if a adjustment is needed. If in fact your pedal pressure needed is increasing it needs something. Get it looked at . I’ve never paid to have the brakes replaced , but like all things DP I can believe it “ain’t” . Cheap to have done.

[doc_brown]

I’m the original owner of my 2004 Country Coach and I have 84,000 plus miles. My Pac Brake is always on and I have always had a supplemental brake system on the three toads I have used. Most of my miles have been in the mountain west States. My mechanic at the last service said I had about 85% brake left.

[Triker33]

Do you use the exhaust brake more then 90% of the time?

Using it will help to extend brake pad life.