Community Forums

brian-nicola · 10-15-2012, 02:23 PM

How do others find the brakes in their units? I find little pedal travel and alot of pressure to get the stopping power. It seems these hydraulic brakes are right on the limit for this size of unit. Comments?

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-15-2012, 02:25 PM

That is not the case with my 08.

Cliff

chuckftboy · 10-15-2012, 07:16 PM

The brakes on my 09' seam just fine. I really haven't had to think about them

gygreyhawk · 10-15-2012, 08:41 PM

I would agree that the pedal effort needed to stop my 2013 35K bounder seems to be excessive compared to a commercial truck of the same weight. In an emergency stopping situation I believe that it may not be possible to stop where needed to avoid a possible hazard. I believe the lack of braking to be a friction issue rather than a brake booster assist issue. Anyone else having this same experience?

brian-nicola · 10-15-2012, 09:04 PM

Could not have said it better myself! Exactly my feeling, would be curious to see if others feel the same, why I leave at least 3 coach lengths between me and those in front of me.

Mr_D · 10-15-2012, 09:04 PM

Put everything away and take it to a deserted stretch of highway and hit the brakes hard and see how it does.

mst0neham123 · 10-17-2012, 05:37 PM

We have noticed no problems in our 2012 35 K while traveling 10,000 since May towing our Honda CRV.

MichKim · 11-14-2012, 09:22 AM

We ordered our coach (2012 Bounder 35K) from the factory through our local dealership. Once it arrived at our dealership delivery was delayed because they said there was a problem with our anti-lock brakes. So this coach has had a problem from the get go.

We have had it at the Ford Truck service department twice since then to deal with the brake problems and now they work fantastic! (This last time it was at Ford for 3 weeks, it would have been over 4 weeks if they hadn't gotten permission from Ford to use an after-market part)

Our problem with the brakes was more serious than just not being able to stop easily. Our vehicle would intermittently lack throttle response and have no power while the relay box was clicking excessively. The found that the brake switch was intermittently showing brakes applied when no brake request was present. They found that the brake switch was damaged (they said on installation) and was broken and will not "self adjust" to correct level. They replaced the switch and adjusted.

This fixed the problem for a few months and then we had the same problem again.

They found brake booster was leaking and replaced. (Took two weeks for them to get this part), but this did not resolve the problem. They replaced master cylinder and now it works great.

Here's the thing: before we had all this done (when we weren't having the intermittent problem) the brakes worked fine, at least we thought they did. But now that we have had these problems fixed our brakes work so, so, so much better. I would suggest having them check these three parts on your coach: brake switch, brake booster and master cylinder. And you have to find a Ford Truck place, the regular Ford dealerships don't seem to be equipped to work on an rv.

I hope this helps! Now on to look for a solution to my rear bathroom heating problem!

SarahW · 11-14-2012, 12:37 PM

We have a 2012 33C, but no complaints with our brakes so far.

Oscar Mike · 11-14-2012, 02:34 PM

We just got our Bounder 33U and the braking power seems adequate. I have less than 250 miles on the MH though, so the jury is still out.

Bajanbounder · 11-17-2012, 08:51 AM

Just completed 6500 mile trip in our 2012 35K towing Mazda Tribute...Brakes were just fine.

Dave A

Starstreams · 03-25-2013, 03:27 PM

Hello Brian,

We purchased our 2013 last summer and one of the first things I noticed was the rather sluggish response from the brake pedal in slowing the rig down--if you really take it to the floor, it will slow it down quickly, but I like the feel of it grabbing fairly quickly and authoritatively which it doesn't. Haven't thought yet of taking it in to see if it can be tightened but will.

Other than that, just an annoying humming noise from the upper left portion of the windshield between 55 and 70 m.p.h. Have tried some of the remedies suggested on different forums but so far no success.

A real bear in even the slightest crosswind--usually take it down to 55 to keep it between the lines.

Hope you're enjoying yours.