F53 Brake Advice

[treeDodgingCamp]

I am looking to replace the brake system on our 1996 Dolphin 535 (Ford F53), as the pads are worn and have begun to gouge the rear rotors. Not to mention the entire system is old, so I want to replace all the rotors, calipers, pads and rubber lines as well as flush the system. It's very important to me that the MH is safe so my question is what is the actual best type of rotor, pad and caliper to use?

Are slotted rotors better for a motorhome? What is the best type of material for rotors and pads? I'm looking for stopping power, longevity and durability. I don't want to spend my life savings on brakes, but at the same time I want the best possible (and safest).

[treeDodgingCamp]

Drove 1600+ miles to Colorado and I'm very happy with the new ride and braking, although I still feel the braking can be improved (still think I have air somewhere in the lines). If I pump the brakes twice, this motorhome will stop as fast as my pickup... which is much better braking than I ever expected in this thing... problem is, it takes two little pumps to get that full braking. Without pumping I still have good brakes, but the pedal travels and is nowhere near as effective stopping.

On a side note.... I thought we were going to flip over coming into Denver on I70. The cross winds were so strong I had the wheel turned 90 degrees and was still getting pushed into the other lane... I could literally feel the tires rolling from the pressure. It was crazy.

[treeDodgingCamp]

John&Joey wrote:
As far as the spongy brake pedal, you may want to drive the rig for awhile then do the bleed. As I remember the caliper is setup to capture the air and will bleed when cracked. Sometimes you just have to let things come into balance (as long as it's safe) before you go forward.

Thanks for the advice. I was looking in the manual I have (not the exact one for this chassis, but real close) and it mentions bleeding the master cylinder and ABS control (forget the exact name) before bleeding the wheels, so I'm going to find this ABS thing and give that a try tomorrow before heading to Colorado from Pennsylvania.

[treeDodgingCamp]

RLS7201 wrote:
Mr. treeDodgingCamper,

While looking at your last pictures I saw your sway bar end link and that reminded me of the high failure rate of the sway bar bushings on the rear axle. Take a look-see while your there. There is a guy on Ebay (skuterdude) that has urethane replacement bushings for a good price. He has been selling bushings for 5 or 6 years. I have some of his first offerings and they still look good.

Richard
95 Bounder F53

The garage which inspected the motorhome just put new rear sway bar bushings in. They were indeed shot 🙂 It definitely made a difference in the ride... mostly feels tighter in the back, less sway, but didn't seem to make much difference hitting bridge abutments! However, the new tires made a huge difference. Before the entire house felt like it was coming apart, now it's much smoother. Next, I plan to replace the shocks and I think this thing will ride very nice for what it is.

[John_Joey]

RLS7201 wrote:
Mr. treeDodgingCamper,

While looking at your last pictures I saw your sway bar end link and that reminded me of the high failure rate of the sway bar bushings on the rear axle. Take a look-see while your there. There is a guy on Ebay (skuterdude) that has urethane replacement bushings for a good price. He has been selling bushings for 5 or 6 years. I have some of his first offerings and they still look good.

Richard
95 Bounder F53

What?? you must have X-ray vision or connected to the seller who has a huge inventory and a dying market.

As a side note, he is correct the sway bar bushings will help (but don't expect a miracle) and they are an easy fix since they are split. Definitely worth the time and money and will give a good bang for the buck.

As far as the spongy brake pedal, you may want to drive the rig for awhile then do the bleed. As I remember the caliper is setup to capture the air and will bleed when cracked. Sometimes you just have to let things come into balance (as long as it's safe) before you go forward.

[RLS7201]

Mr. treeDodgingCamper,

While looking at your last pictures I saw your sway bar end link and that reminded me of the high failure rate of the sway bar bushings on the rear axle. Take a look-see while your there. There is a guy on Ebay (skuterdude) that has urethane replacement bushings for a good price. He has been selling bushings for 5 or 6 years. I have some of his first offerings and they still look good.

Richard
95 Bounder F53

[treeDodgingCamp]

John&Joey wrote:
Very good chance the prior owner cooked that rotor. You either have hard and soft spots on it, or it is warped causing the pulsing pedal. Also notice the uneven wear on the pad, meaning less contact area for braking power.

I completely agree. Either way my logic is a new rotor is better than a scored one.

Everything is smooth as can be now... except I'm not happy at all with the pedal travel. I've bled over a gallon of fluid with no air, but the pedal still feels spongy to me. So, I've been doing some research and I believe this has the hydroboost braking system, so tomorrow I'm going to bleed again using that method turning the steering wheel Stop to Stop.

[John_Joey]

Very good chance the prior owner cooked that rotor. You either have hard and soft spots on it, or it is warped causing the pulsing pedal. Also notice the uneven wear on the pad, meaning less contact area for braking power.

[treeDodgingCamp]

And here's a shot of the driver's side reassembled. In order to jack the motorhome up for this job I used 2 bottle jacks. One is a 12 ton and the other an 8 ton. I use the 8 ton on the end of the axle (there is a circular hole towards the end which allows access), and the 12 ton on the frame. First, I jack the frame up until I think it's going to be high enough, then I jack the axle up with the 8 ton. This way the axle isn't bearing all the weight. Once I have plenty of clearance for the tire, I put 2 6-ton jack stands under the frame, then bring the 12 ton jack on the frame down some until the frame is resting on the jack stands. At this point I have 4 points of contact (2 bottle jacks and 2 jack stands), and all the wheels chucked of course.

Just thought I'd mention that because it took me awhile to figure out how to safety do this (after I first got the MH I took it to get inspected and the mechanic jacked the passenger's side of the MH up and popped the windshield out. No they didn't fix it).

[treeDodgingCamp]

Here's a shot of the rotor and the pad. The other side of the rotor is smooth, unlike this side. Since the pads have little wear I'm assuming the previous owner just put the pad over the scored rotor. Besides the squealing and brake pedal pulse, it also seemed to diminish braking capability compared to the new equipment.

[treeDodgingCamp]

ddndoug wrote:
Glad that it sounds like you have it figured out.

Doug

Did the entire other side today in about 4 hours. Went so much smoother knowing how it all goes together now and having the proper tools (and no broken bolts).

The tires on this side were the 2 remaining old tires. Although they look brand new they're 9 years old, so the wife is out getting new ones mounted now.

I also picked up calipers and pads for the front, so I'll be doing those tomorrow.

On a side note... I've heard much talk about simply replacing the pads with grooved rotors. I can tell you that's exactly what the previous owner did on this motorhome, and I don't think it worked too well. Although the pads were brand new, they were not performing very well at all against the old grooved rotor. Simply replacing one side I've noticed a significant difference, and I'm hoping an even more significant difference after completing this side.

[ddndoug]

Glad that it sounds like you have it figured out.

Doug

[treeDodgingCamp]

So I'm next to positive someone reassembled the brake hose incorrectly before. It was twisted, and the connector (I'm almost certain) was backwards. I reassembled the hose the way I removed it (backwards). Now I realize the shouldered portion of the connector should be on the outside. I'll be replacing the washers and reattaching it correctly tomorrow when I do the driver's side drive axle brakes.

On a side note, I drove the MH 4 hours (stopping regularly and inspecting the brakes, brake lines and axle, re-torquing the lugs at 20 and 100 miles) and braking is already much better. Driving also seems smoother... like maybe greasing the axle helped remove some vibration. Eager to finish the brakes and see the total improvement.

[treeDodgingCamp]

Big Katuna wrote:

treeDodgingCamper wrote:
Oh, and if anyone is curious, these Napa brake hoses were made in China. Brand name is Sunsong. I'll be replacing them asap, I don't trust anything made in China.

Why I recommended OEM. Usually Hecho in Mexico with American supervised inspection.

Napa used to always give me Motorcraft parts.. not sure when that changed 😕

[Big_Katuna]

treeDodgingCamper wrote:
Oh, and if anyone is curious, these Napa brake hoses were made in China. Brand name is Sunsong. I'll be replacing them asap, I don't trust anything made in China.

Why I recommended OEM. Usually Hecho in Mexico with American supervised inspection.