08-28-2020, 04:41 PM
Gurus,
So yesterday I was driving the coach in rural Ohio. All of a sudden my tire air pressure monitor system told me that my driver’s tag tire was loosing air. At the same time, I started smelling the unmistakable smell of hot brakes.
I pulled over and checked the air pressure. It was fine but the tag wheel was very very hot. My belief was that the caliper was jammed in the “on’ position. I tried a couple of things to free it up. 1) I banged on caliper with a hammer And 2) I rocked the coach forward and reverse with the brakes applied. This helped but did not solve the issue.
I drove carefully to my destination 30 miles away. I watched the temperature of the wheel all the way. The temps were approaching 200f by the time I stopped.
It turned out that there was a truck mechanic right across the street. They dropped what they were doing to come over to coach and take a look. They pulled the wheel off and pulled the caliper loose. It turned out that the rubber boots that keep grit from jamming the guide pins were missing. The guide pins were completely dry of grease. With the caliper loose and the pads removed, it was easy to push the guide pins out from the inside.
Once they greased the pins and reassembled it was clear that they had solved the issue. (The caliper moved easily in and out by simply pushing and pulling on the outside). The mechanics got new pads from the parts store and I was back in business.
I tell you this story to share a couple of insights.
1). I never have monitored tire temperatures on a regular basis while driving. If I had, I might have known that I had a problem earlier.
2). The mechanics said that this sort of failure is very common. The tag wheels gets coated with dust blown up by the other wheels. This contaminates the guide pins and causes them to jam the caliper movement.
I am not sure how long the fix will work and will do more research when I get home. Hopefully this story will help someone down the road.
Bill
So yesterday I was driving the coach in rural Ohio. All of a sudden my tire air pressure monitor system told me that my driver’s tag tire was loosing air. At the same time, I started smelling the unmistakable smell of hot brakes.
I pulled over and checked the air pressure. It was fine but the tag wheel was very very hot. My belief was that the caliper was jammed in the “on’ position. I tried a couple of things to free it up. 1) I banged on caliper with a hammer And 2) I rocked the coach forward and reverse with the brakes applied. This helped but did not solve the issue.
I drove carefully to my destination 30 miles away. I watched the temperature of the wheel all the way. The temps were approaching 200f by the time I stopped.
It turned out that there was a truck mechanic right across the street. They dropped what they were doing to come over to coach and take a look. They pulled the wheel off and pulled the caliper loose. It turned out that the rubber boots that keep grit from jamming the guide pins were missing. The guide pins were completely dry of grease. With the caliper loose and the pads removed, it was easy to push the guide pins out from the inside.
Once they greased the pins and reassembled it was clear that they had solved the issue. (The caliper moved easily in and out by simply pushing and pulling on the outside). The mechanics got new pads from the parts store and I was back in business.
I tell you this story to share a couple of insights.
1). I never have monitored tire temperatures on a regular basis while driving. If I had, I might have known that I had a problem earlier.
2). The mechanics said that this sort of failure is very common. The tag wheels gets coated with dust blown up by the other wheels. This contaminates the guide pins and causes them to jam the caliper movement.
I am not sure how long the fix will work and will do more research when I get home. Hopefully this story will help someone down the road.
Bill
Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama