[HoosierDaddy]

I agree with Richard ...It looks like a few minutes with some hand tools would renew the threads in the canister. Russ did he let you keep your old canister?

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Yes I agree with ccjohnson. I would protest the charge for several reasons.

[arcticdude]

There are no parking brakes on the front wheels, only drives. So you probably could pinch off the broken hose and continue a short distance. You'd have to be mindful of a possible pull to the opposite side when braking, though.

The whole repair situation stinks to absolute high heaven. I'd not only be furious with the "repair facility" (using that term very sarcastically), but even more so with CoachNet. Any of the road service companies are simply brokers, but CN obviously hasn't vetted their recommended shops. I don't have either CoachNet, Good Sam or any of the others. Sounds like I'm no worse off, as I can at least call a local person to rip me off.

I wish you good luck with whatever retribution you can get out of either of the parties.

[RussWhite]

I have been a little occupied and apologize for not commenting and keeping up. Thanks for all the suggestions. I think what happens if we have a big air pressure loss has been pretty well covered. But, just to be clear, when the available air for braking drops to around 40 psi the parking brake valve will "pop-out" in it's own. You can and should test this occasionally, or more properly, probably everything time you do your DOT brake check on each day you will be driving. You can test it by shutting down the engine and feathering the brakes - on and off and on and off - and that uses up the air and the pressure will drop. Watch the gauges fall and before long you will see the parking brake valve ( yellow diamond ) pop out and also get a low air alarm. When the parking brake valve is engaged, pulled toward you, the air opposing springs in the brake canisters on the drive axle is exhausted ( that is what you hear when you engage the parking brake ) and the springs the push and put on brakes at that position only. No parking brakes on steer wheels.

The suggestion to pinch off the hose, which I could have done, would stop the leak but seriously compromise my braking ability. Whether to do something like that is a very personal decision.

Now for the stuff that interests me a lot, what caused this to happen? Of all the things I may have done wrong, I did manage to do one thing right and I have possession of the failed hose and canister. Good high resolution close-up pictures to follow so each guru may made his own judgement. I have my opinion now, but will hold it while you all have a chance to look at the pictures.
I'll take the images and download shortly.
Still no word from CoachNet. Russ parked with no travel plans for a while…..

[folivier]

Glad you're safely parked Russ. It's traumatic to be in that situation so glad it all worked out. Hope you can get the service guy to reimburse some of your money. Or at least put his name out there so nobody else gets burned so badly.

[RussWhite]

Here are some images to view.
I included pictures of the parking brake valve so you can see how there are not enough threads exposed to really give the nut a good chance to hold it in place. You have no chance of ever catching this one before it's too late because as soon as the nut is loose, it is off and when you push the valve just goes back into the dash and you are stuck right where you are for a while. As all coaches are different this may not apply to you, but checking is not real easy. You will have to drive the roll pin from the parking brake knob, remove the knob, then remove the trim piece ( held on with three nylon grips - just pull straight toward you and pull hard ). I will be adding Loctite to the threads in hopes of holding the nut in place. I see no easy what to make the bar that it mounts through thinner.

You will be the hose has a fitting on only one end. The service guy reached up toward the end that attaches to the coach and cut it with his knife. I think this make getting to that fitting up there easier. That fitting was not involved with the failure and when I got to loot at it, there were no issues.
You will also notice the pictures of the female threads show a very shiny sure on the boss of the canister. This is where the service guy used a high speed grinder in an attempt to grind down to good threads. That did not work as you can see the remaining threads are damaged.
Russ

[RussWhite]

Coach-Net is investigating. Here is their reply:

Thank you for taking the time to utilize your Coach-Net Roadside Assistance program. We understand that your recent service experience did not meet your expectations. We have forwarded a copy of your email to our Quality department for further review. You will be contacted after the review process. Without your feedback we could not make necessary changes to ensure quality customer service.

Please accept our apology for any inconvenience and frustration this situation may have caused you.


Sincerely,
Member Services

[ccjohnson]

It appears that a decent tap & die set could have fixed the problem utilizing the original parts. At least an emergency roadside fix. I would probably prefer to replace both with new parts for permanent fix though. From the photos it looks like the fitting worked loose due to vibration and just finally failed from the threads being hammered over time as the pressure was applied during braking.

[Richard]

Hmmmmm,

Thanks for the pics. Is it possible the fitting was cross threaded some time ago?

[Chester Stone]

My vote would be that the hose fitting was cross threaded when originally installed or a later replacement. As to the dash parking valve, I plan to check mine for a loose nut. Russ, I am very sorry that you had this unpleasant experience, but you have enlightened all of us and especially regarding the dash valve.

[RussWhite]

Richard,

Well cross threaded some time ago is EXACTLY what I think must have happened. Properly threaded, I don't think it ever would have come apart. All I can be sure of is it didn't happen since I purchased the coach. But that leaves a lot of room for it happening before that.

Thanks for the supporting opinion. Anyone that can tear their Newell Detroit Diesel apart and replace a cylinder liner rates way up there on my list of experts!

Russ