Another Brake Failure

[Richardrky]

I experienced another brake failure on a trip to Charleston, SC. This time it was the right front caliper. Everything worked find on the trip down, even on the two 6% grades on I-26 just before Asheville, NC. I babied my brakes at the expense of my engine and transmission. Coming back through Atlanta, I hit stop and go traffic. I really, really tried to gear down and stay off the brakes but sometimes it is just impossible to not use the brakes when some 4 wheeler pulls in front of you and stops.
Throughout the trip occasionally I would take my hands off the steering wheel to see if the motorhome was pulling to one side or the other. It always stayed straight. I had learned through this forum that one of the symptoms of a sticking caliper was pulling to one side or the other and motorhome creep when stopped when you take your foot off of the brake. When in the heavy traffic I would check for any pulling to the left or right by taking my hands off the steering wheel when moving and for creep when stopped. When the failure occurred the motorhome had a definite pull to the right and no creep. I spotted a Walmart and immediately pulled in. Thank you Walmart. The right caliper was hot but not red hot. I let the brakes cool overnight and drove home (366 miles) with no other problems.
I have done all the maintenance on the brakes (brake fluid, etc), and babied the brakes like I had no brakes and the failure still occurred. I am grateful for this forum but I am extremely unhappy with Workhorse, Bosch and the government for not kicking some read ends over this problem. I can't enjoy my motorhome because I am always on pins and needles.
I just wanted to pass on my experience and not create another bitch session but couldn't help myself on the previous paragraph.

[LAT-LON]

New member here, but your singing to the choir. Had/have similar problems with my 30' Class C Winnebago on a Ford cutaway chassis. Right front brake locked up while on vacation last year. Luckily I was within driving distance to a truck repair shop. Problem was partly contaminated brake fluid that had not been changed and the other part was an auxillary TOAD braking system that wasn't helping. Replaced both front caliper units, but brake system hasn't been the same since. One thing to watch out for though. When the rotors get real hot, they can compromise the tie rod end grease boots. The next time you have the front end lubed, there could be a possibility of getting grease on your rotors.

[Fred and Bonnie]

We are attending a Workhorse Chassis Rally in Palm Desert , CA. Alan Stegich, Workhorse Custom Chassis, presented a great rundown on the brake problems. The main factors effecting brake performance are 1) length of time the unit is inactive, 2) humidity level of your geographic location. While maintenance is important it will not prevent the problem since the brake pistons are affected by atmospheric humidity. Changing brake fluid will not prevent the problem, however fresh fluid will have a higher boil point. Dot 3 or 4 is fine, just don’t use brake fluid containing silicone, it is not compatible with the brake system seals. When it comes to preventative measures, use is the answer since it heats the pistons and disburses moisture that has built-up. Unfortunately once the piston has swollen to the point where the piston will not properly retract, use will not reverse the situation.
Production of the new caliper/piston assemblies will start in July and should be ready for installation in Fall 2010.
WCC repairs prior to Fall 2010 will be accomplished with the “old” parts and will have to be reaccomplished when the “new” parts are available.

Hope this helps.

[angelman]

I hear you richard. All I can add to your statement is try to drive off hours if possible. There are less idiots on the road so you wont have to use your brakes as much. I just got back from a 2500 mile florida trip without any incident. I had no toad and barely used the brakes. At this rate my brake pads should last 30 years. Now there saying Fall 2010! WOW, I cant believe the NHTSA is letting this much time go by without a fix.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelman WOW, I cant believe the NHTSA is letting this much time go by without a fix.

angleman, But there is a fix. We have already heard from the West Coast that a production schedule has been announced and an estimated start date was shared with us. That's the best info we have to date and I don't expect that NHTSA is going to be able to accelerate the process. It would be my assumption that Navistar has more than likely moved this process along further than we have previously discussed.

They are a major purchaser of automotive components.

[dezertcamper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred and Bonnie Production of the new caliper/piston assemblies will start in July and should be ready for installation in Fall 2010. Hope this helps.

So if this was told to you by Alan Stegich, a Workhorse Reps then I can assume this is the latest news, and this pushes back the release date even farther then we were lead to believe a month ago. We were lead to believe Workhorse was working hard on a mid to late summer release date. Now we are hearing that production will not start till late summer and calipers will not be ready until Fall?

What a Joke!

[Spoonman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dezertcamper So if this was told to you by Alan Stegich, a Workhorse Reps then I can assume this is the latest news, and this pushes back the release date even farther then we were lead to believe a month ago. We were lead to believe Workhorse was working hard on a mid to late summer release date. Now we are hearing that production will not start till late summer and calipers will not be ready until Fall? What a Joke!

That gives them about 6 mo to change their story how many more times??
I wonder why their reputation and market share are making a parallel nose dive!

[texans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dezertcamper So if this was told to you by Alan Stegich, a Workhorse Reps then I can assume this is the latest news, and this pushes back the release date even farther then we were lead to believe a month ago. We were lead to believe Workhorse was working hard on a mid to late summer release date. Now we are hearing that production will not start till late summer and calipers will not be ready until Fall? What a Joke!

Kind of a SICK joke, huh?

[dezertcamper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Workhorse is still expecting to want 1/2 of all the needed calipers on hand in order to begin the recall so that is progressing. The best information as of 1:08pm today is that it is expected that a late-summer launch date is being pushed for quite hard by Workhorse.

Driver you posted this on 3/24/10. What was not stated was if this was the launch date of production of the caliper or when WH was releasing the caliper to the public. IMO we all took this as when WH was releasing the calipers to us. I guess this could have been left open for interpretation so WH can now say this was when Bosch would start building calipers?

It was also said in your letter which you stated your info was directly from WH that all testing of the new caliper was completed. If this was the case then why a possible pushout again? The more I hear and learn the more I see WH as the man behind the curtain and all I am hearing is a load of sheet being handed to us.

I'm not bagging on you, but I wonder if your connection at WH really knows what is going on and what is true and what is wishful thinking. Can you find out is this Alan Stegich guy with WH is actually in the know and if so why the new story?

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dezertcamper It was also said in your letter which you stated your info was directly from WH that all testing of the new caliper was completed. If this was the case then why a possible pushout again?

Producing and testing a caliper is one thing, getting all the end users that buy the caliper to sign off on it is another and yet queuing this new caliper so as to be the go forward solution for Bosch and everyone else in the market is a little more complicated. Yes the caliper design is good to go and yes there is an expected flip the switch date. That date is close at hand and I expect it to be no later than the end of May from what I have heard. Manufacture of recall calipers and production calipers will run concurrently and that's all that is going to be coming from Bosch. The timeline for the recall to begin is reset in my understanding to late summer.

Quote:

I'm not bagging on you, but I wonder if your connection at WH really knows what is going on and what is true and what is wishful thinking. Can you find out is this Alan Stegich guy with WH is actually in the know and if so why the new story?

Alan Stegich is the Workhorse National Service Director. He is where the buck stops in regard to all things related to service. Alan is doing what he can to help his customers however he does not have any power over the production of the calipers from Bosch. I'm sure that Alan is as anxious to begin the recall as all of the owners are wanting to get this issue behind them.

The NEXT best opportunity to see Alan will be this October on Cape Hatteras for the East Coast Club Rally. I'll be there. If all goes as expected the recall will have started by then however the rumor mill has this recall launching from September to November depending on whom you are speaking with.

[Rick Stephenson]

This is rather disturbing. We are not talking about a minor component of the vehicle, especially one of this size, weight and mass. I am currently out of pocket over $1,200 as a result of this situation due to multiple brake failures. As a result, the repairs consisted of the same sub-standard, defected parts. Will I buy another motor home on a Workhorse chassis - not at this time.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Stephenson This is rather disturbing. We are not talking about a minor component of the vehicle, especially one of this size, weight and mass. I am currently out of pocket over $1,200 as a result of this situation due to multiple brake failures. As a result, the repairs consisted of the same sub-standard, defected parts. Will I buy another motor home on a Workhorse chassis - not at this time.

Have you requested or processed a request for reimbursement?

According to the majority of the users of these brakes, there is nothing sub-standard about the calipers as they perform well on a daily basis in commercial applications. Our routine operating procedures call for different conditions and our brake performance degrades.

All of this is now put behind us with the development and successful testing of a new caliper which will soon be available to resolve the problem.

[Spoonman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Have you requested or processed a request for reimbursement? According to the majority of the users of these brakes, there is nothing sub-standard about the calipers as they perform well on a daily basis in commercial applications. Our routine operating procedures call for different conditions and our brake performance degrades. All of this is now put behind us with the development and successful testing of a new caliper which will soon be available to resolve the problem.

This issue is far from behind us, just rumors of a start dazte months from now, and we have been here before MANY TIMES.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoonman This issue is far from behind us, just rumors of a start dazte months from now, and we have been here before MANY TIMES.

Spoonman, I don't know what to tell you. If you can come up with better information for us please provide the details. Thanks.