BRAKES AGAIN
!!!???1-14-15
As you know we're SB again in Florida. The new engine
is doing just fine. I planned on a stop in Silver Springs, Fl. to hit
“Harold's Repair Shop” to get an oil change & lube job. We've
used that place many times do to their good service. We should have
about 400 miles on this new engine and I figured it'd be wise to
refresh the break in oil.
As we got near Panama City I detected a change in the
feel of the brakes and there was a weird noise. NOT GOOD !! We pulled
into a Walmart lot and the brake pedal went to the floor ! We parked
and got out and I looked for leaks and checked the master cylinder
brake fluid level, all seemed okay..hmmm! I started back up and
pulled forward and reverse and the brake pedal was back to normal.
This doesn't do a thing for my confidence. Hopped on the internet and
found a truck repair place very nearby. Drove slowly over there and
the mechanic had the rig jacked up and spent about an hour inpecting
and found nothing wrong. I had him bleed the brakes to make sure
there was no air in the system and there was none..hmmmm!! I really
hate come & go problems..needless to say I was going to drive
cautiously to Spring Hill !
We got into Spring Hill about 2PM and made an
appointment at Harold's Repair Service for the next morning and got
settled into a nearby RV park for the night. It really poured rain
that night, about 4”. The next morning was very foggy and we
crawled into Harold's for a 9AM start.
I had a small list of minor things to get done and I
told our mechanic, Mike, about the brakes. Up on the truck lift
again. I don't think it took him 5 minutes and he said to come and
look at something. The rear wheel backing plate has 2 observation
ports and he showed me that one of the brake pads was gone ! 5
MINUTES !!We just had all new pads installed last September. After
Mike disassembled the wheels he pointed out that the rivets to adhere
the pads were too tightly installed and that cracked the pad. He just
poured out 1” chunks of brake pad from the wheel drum. Another
great aftermarket part ! GRRRR!! The thing that makes me mad is the
previous mechanic didn't find that and charged us $95 and put us on
the road again !! I'm a great believer in preventive maintainence and
I don't like reactive maintainence. I also like to have superb
braking available to stop this 14,000# rig.
We left Spring Hill and headed towards Sarasota where
we found out that the park we were aiming for was full up. Hopped on
the internet and found an alternative. Spent the night at Windward
Isle RV Park. It was okay for a night but they really jam the units
in tight! We got the next to last place that was open.
Up a bit early, for us, in the A.M. And on the road at
1100. Only have about 70 miles to get to Fort Myers. YAHOO !!
We pulled into my friend Daniel's yard at 1215. Gonna
visit for the night.
Oh yes....did I mention it's warm !!
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS
TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!
Charlie & Heather
When I worked at the front end shop we had the 'no pedal' a couple of times. On a car or pickup, not sure about a truck ... my '87 P-30 with the brake booster might be different (I changed both about a year ago, no trouble getting the parts)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the brake pedal goes right to the floor, zip on the brakes, nada, nothing. Your eyes get big, you let up the pedal and try it again and they work great, totally normal.
It's the master cylinder, it needs to be rebuilt of replaced (on a car or pickup).
The last time it happened to me I was driving it into the shop to put it on the hoist, 15' to the back wall of the shop, No brakes then normal, that was cheap thrills.
It HAS to be exciting when it's you whole house!
Good luck!
I don't think that was "too tight rivets" cracking.I am sure is was excessive heat, radiated through the rivet areas. Might have been very inferior product, even though you paid for the best. There are brake shoes, and then there are brake shoes.. Sound s like you have good brakes and motor now ! yahoo
ReplyDelete