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Old 12-21-2007, 07:23 PM   #1
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Prior to my Endeavor, I owned gassers. With a non-air brake gasser, the parking brake was on the back tires (only). However, if I understand the air brakes on my diesel, if I dump the air, aren't all 4 brakes engaged or just the two rear?
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Old 12-21-2007, 07:23 PM   #2
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Prior to my Endeavor, I owned gassers. With a non-air brake gasser, the parking brake was on the back tires (only). However, if I understand the air brakes on my diesel, if I dump the air, aren't all 4 brakes engaged or just the two rear?
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Old 12-22-2007, 02:19 AM   #3
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I believe the parking brake air is only on the rear-axle. Confusion may come in because the service brakes on both axles are controlled by your foot and air, but only the rear axle parking brake is controlled by the mushroom (and air).

BTW, I was recently informed by a reliable source that the mushroom will 'pop up' (or engage) when the air pressure in the tanks gets below a certain point (I think he said it was around 30psi), so if you have a catastrophic loss of air you will still stop - albeit rapidly.
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Old 12-22-2007, 04:44 AM   #4
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My understanding is that with air brakes; air pressure keeps the shoes away from the drums. When you dump the air, the springs engage the brake shoes both front and rear. With no air in the system the parking brake should have no effect. Not 100% sure of this answer.

Green lights and soft breezes,
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Old 12-22-2007, 07:29 AM   #5
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I had an air switch failure, and it locked up jsut the the rears....to move the rig, they blocked the rears....don't ask me what blocking the rears meant, but it released the wheels.
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Old 12-22-2007, 07:33 AM   #6
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This is a great topic and not a dumb question. Air breaks are an amazing improvement over standard breaks, however if not used properly they will get you into a lot of trouble.

If I were you, the first thing I would do is contact the frame manufacturer to find the correct answer to your question. Since there are multiple builders, not everyone will use the standard design. Most air brake systems will only lock up the rear end when there is a loss of pressure or the emergency brake handle is pulled. This is done so you can still steer the unit while it is coming to a screeching stop.

Secondly, you should go to your local Department of Motor Vehicles and ask for a Commercial Vehicle Test Guide. In this guide is an air brake section. This is a free and easy way to read up on and get some initial knowledge of how standard air brakes work.

The last thing to do would be to find a dealer who offers an air brake training course. Remember, you are driving a 20 to 30 thousand pound monster down the road, wouldn't you rather feel safe in your ability to handle an emergency because of good training instead of a trial by fire if one should arise.

I have been driving tractor trailer rigs for over 20 years and I still go through the air brake safety checks each day that I use my MH. It only takes an extra ten minutes and I know my unit is going to operate properly.

Be Safe and Happy Holidays,
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Old 12-22-2007, 07:53 AM   #7
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mbl Cndo:
Prior to my Endeavor, I owned gassers. With a non-air brake gasser, the parking brake was on the back tires (only). However, if I understand the air brakes on my diesel, if I dump the air, aren't all 4 brakes engaged or just the two rear? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Only the rear brakes are used for the parking brake. There is a very strong spring on each rear wheel brake that will force the rear brake shoes to full on when there is no air pressure applied. It is a safety feature so that if you break an air line the brakes will be applied to full on. That is why you see long black marks on the highway from the 18 wheelers. If they brake an air line they will be dragging the trailer wheels down the road. When you apply the parking brake it dumps the air in the mushroom things on the rear axle and applies full on rear brakes.

If you need to be towed and there is no air a large bolt is screwed into each mushroom to release the parking brake. It is against the law to throw these mushrooms into the garbage or scrap pile without first using a fixture and a cutting torch to cut through the spring. The fixture contains the force while the spring is being cut.

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Old 12-22-2007, 09:33 AM   #8
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Roland:
My understanding is that with air brakes; air pressure keeps the shoes away from the drums. When you dump the air, the springs engage the brake shoes both front and rear. With no air in the system the parking brake should have no effect. Not 100% sure of this answer. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, kinda. Not considering the park brake, but unless there are redundant air systems, and knowing that when the brakes are applied they affect all 4 corners, I was just thinking that if I dumped the air, then ostensibly all 4 corners should lock up? I'll contact Roadmaster and find out. Here's what brought this whole thing up. We frequent a campground in the nearby mountains that have spaces on an incline, or decline depending on your perspective. The last time we were there I had a gasser. These are all back in spaces. When I backed in, I found that if I did level the RV out, the rear tires would have been off the ground. Bad bad thing for any RV, but especially a gasser. So we ended up pulling in to a back in space. Kinda awkward having the utilities on the patio side, but the view out the front was great. So that made me wonder whether the front brakes on an air brake system lock up - not that I'm looking to raise the rear up off the ground, with a system that lowers before leveling, I wouldn't have the same problem.
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Old 12-22-2007, 09:42 AM   #9
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I believe you will find that the rear brakes are the only ones with the park brake.

It would be rare to have the front brakes to have the park feature.
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