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Topic: Brake service (Read 863 times) previous topic - next topic

Brake service

There is a good heavy duty frame and axle shop near me and I always see lots of trucks, buses, fire trucks, motorhomes there.  This is a stupid question but do shops like this typically do brakes too or is that something more often done at a truck tire shop?
Dwayne Keith
1992 U240
3116/MD3060

Re: Brake service

Reply #1 –
Dwayne, not sure if your truck tire shops do brakes but around us (Texas) most don't. But if you go check out your local big truck shops like International, Mack, Kenworth should be able to help you, they are familiar with air brakes and the repair or replacement of them. Most of the big trucks are drum brake style but fire trucks, motorhomes, medium duty big trucks are disc type.
I would look at their dealership shop and talk with their service manager and ask them about what you need. They can also get the parts you need like the pads and any other serviceable items by matching the part number from the parts taken off, it may take a day to get them in but usually they have vendors that they can order them from that also Foretravel orders from.
Hope this helps Kerry
Kerrybob
1995 U295
1997 F250 4dr

Re: Brake service

Reply #2 –
My brake experience in Tucson indicated to me that many service facilities that deal with large trucks are clueless when it comes to the air disk brakes used by Foretravel.  There are several large RV service outfits in Tucson and they were clueless too.  I think the Meritor brakes are fairly rare.  You can see my tale of woe in a post back in March of this year.  Wrong grease in brakes You might want to find out where your local fire department gets their trucks serviced.  When it comes to these brakes it is best not to assume anything. 
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George Hatfield

  Never ever use World Line Motors of Nacogdoches for service!

Re: Brake service

Reply #3 –
I understand the thing about costs from Foretravel and shipping, etc., on buying from them. Something to think about...if we don't support Foretravel with replacement parts purchases do wwe have any complaint when they can't continue to build and/or repair our units. I say bite the bullet and buy rom a friend.
Larry
1996 U295 36'
Build # 4805
Actually we sold it but just like to lurk

Re: Brake service

Reply #4 –
We have been pleased with the service at FOT. We had the brakes serviced last time we were in. The mechanic adjusted the brakes and lubricated them. He said they were very dry and needed lubrication. I am confident he know what he was doing, used proper procedures, and used proper materials.

I expect we could get most parts, services, and repairs for less money somewhere else. I am willing to pay the premium for what I consider to be proper parts, good service, and the opportunity to deal with people who appear to be eager to do a good job for the customer.
J D Stevens
1997 U295 CAI 36' Build #5085
2002 Subaru Outback
Motorcade 16869
Bellville, TX

Re: Brake service

Reply #5 –
Quote from: J. D. Stevens –
We have been pleased with the service at FOT. We had the brakes serviced last time we were in. The mechanic adjusted the brakes and lubricated them. He said they were very dry and needed lubrication. I am confident he know what he was doing, used proper procedures, and used proper materials.

I expect we could get most parts, services, and repairs for less money somewhere else. I am willing to pay the premium for what I consider to be proper parts, good service, and the opportunity to deal with people who appear to be eager to do a good job for the customer.

Either Foretravel or myself, no other mechanics on this coach.  If it was brakes, no question, I'd take it to the mothership.  Too many stories about clueless mechanics screwing these things up.  Their labor rate is reasonable in comparison to others, and really reasonable when you compare it to the cost of paying another mechanic the same rate to learn or experiment on the job.  They know what they're doing and hop on it.

J.D. said it well.  The factory being there, along with their willingness to support the vintage coaches is a huge plus and deserves our support in turn. 

Chuck
"Not so  long ago we were a nation of risk takers, riding five million pounds of  thrust straight into space."  Joe Gresh
Chuck Pearson
1996 U295
2018 Can Am X3 TurboRS

Re: Brake service

Reply #6 –
I'd pay a premium to use FOT if it was nearby but I'm in Florida.
Dwayne Keith
1992 U240
3116/MD3060

Re: Brake service

Reply #7 –
George...you mentioned fire trucks.  Do most modern fire trucks have the same brakes as my 20 year old motorhome.  Perhaps with brakes I should bit the bullet and use Lazydays.  I'm assuming that my brakes are not unusual for a motorhome. I hate to use them as they are so expensive.
Dwayne Keith
1992 U240
3116/MD3060

Re: Brake service

Reply #8 –
Now I could be wrong on this, but it is my impression from my "brake fiasco" last March that Meritor air brakes are 1) not usually found on RVs or heavy trucks, but 2) they are found on many fire trucks.  I took this to be great news and typical of Foretravel quality. 

I did call Lazydays in Tucson about getting someone to look at my brakes after the lithium grease was used on the automatic slack adjusters.  The service person I talked to had no idea what I was talking about when it came to Meritor brakes.  And I got the distinct impression that they didn't want to know anything about them.  I then dropped by our local fire station in Tucson and looked at one of their engines.... air disk brakes and found out where they had them serviced.  I subsequently found that the lithium grease did not get into the calipers and was OK for the slack adjusters, so I waited until I got to Nac a few weeks ago to have them checked by MOT. 

I still have to put wire ties on the grease nipples (3 per wheel), which I think is a good idea. 
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George Hatfield

  Never ever use World Line Motors of Nacogdoches for service!

Re: Brake service

Reply #9 –
With both the parts and overhaul procedure manuals already in our Foretravel manuals, I can't imagine any decent big rig mechanic or for that matter, any good mechanic not being able to do a good job on Foretravel brakes. The procedures are very simple and the manual has excellent illustrations to go with the instructions. They spell out each step.  Any DIY owner with stands, a jack and strong back should be able to easily do the work. Air brakes are not rocket science but DO require reading the manual before starting the job for your own safety. 

If the manuals have been lost over the years, they can be ordered for a very nominal cost.

As far as shops or mechanics go, yelp or other online rating services give a lot of user reviews on almost any business. Fire departments may have a good recommendation or if they do repairs in house, their mechanic may moonlight on the weekends.

Pierce
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Brake service

Reply #10 –
When I was in charge of large municipal fleets we serviced the disc brakes on the fire equipment as a matter of course.  Nothing complicated about them.  JUST FOLLOW THE SERVICE MANUAL!!!!

The difficulty is not the brakes but these "know it all" mechanics that do it their way.  One of the biggest personnel problems I had was the "If all else fails read the manual" mentality.  Took a while to convince some people that professionals read manuals IE: Pilots, Doctors, Astronauts etc.

As suggested find a shop that services fire equipment and ask them "How do you service Meritor brakes?" after YOU have read the instructions.  If their answer agrees with the proper procedure then go there.

J.D. Stevens mentioned paying a premium for work at FoT.  Their labor rate is lower than my local Camping World in Illinois.  The only difference is CW is guaranteed to screw it up first time!

Best option is FoT or the factory.

Here is a link to Barry Beam's site on disk brakes:

Brake Maintenance

Keith
Keith, Joyce & Smokey the Australian Cattle Dog
1995 U320 SE Extreme 40' WTBI Build # 4780, with a Honda CR-V hopefully still following behind.
Motorcade # 17030
FMCA # F422159

Re: Brake service

Reply #11 –
Dwayne arn't your brakes drum brakes on the 240? Just asking as it has been a while since I last worked on one of them. If drum brakes any truck repair place should be able to work on them. Where in Florida are you? I live in Riverview. Right now am at the factory, but should be back home next week
previous 1984 35 ft ORED 250 HP 3208 Cat       
previous 1998 40 ft U295 CAI 325 hp Cummins
previous 2003 40 Ft u320 build #6140 450 Cummins M11.                                                         
1999 Mazda Miata
Ron, Nancy, Tipper the cat, Max The dog
1997 U 270 36 ft build number 5174 8.3 Cummins

Re: Brake service

Reply #12 –
Quote from: red tractor –
Dwayne arn't your brakes drum brakes on the 240?

Yes, and earlier I PM'ed Dwayne about his drum brakes.

Brett
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: Brake service

Reply #13 –
Go to Parliament.
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT