Workhorse brake problem

[Jack R]

I keep reading threads and responses about braking system on workhorse chassis not working properly and workhorse will fix under warranty in Nov. What is the cost to just having the brakes fixed??? I believe the cost of knowing when you step on the brake pedal your brakes will work is worth something. versus the stress of not knowing and only hoping they work....

[George Z]

There are no redesigned calipers available as of yet They should be available in the fall and will be changed under recall.
George

[bsinmich]

Workhorse has a recall on brake calipers that will be done when the parts are available. Bosch is making the calipers, hopefully at this time, and when they get 250,000 they will start replacing them. If you have the recalled brake you find that your brakes will hang up and get hot or hotter until they don't release at all. The word from WH to me was just pull over and let them cool off for an hour.

[wa8yxm]

Stress and worry are highly overrated EIther they work or they don't. if you have any kind of monitoring system you will know when/if they fail. To date, I know of no inuries and no accidents. There have been Incidents, but the drivers were able to safely stop the RV.

Now, this is where worry and stress come in.. If you are all stressed out you are LESS likely to be able to safely stop the RV

So don't worry, be happy and when Workhorse gets the parts.. Get them done.

[bsinmich]

John, It isn't the stopping that is the problem. The problem is getting started again when there are cars behind you and your brakes don't release. You are in Detroit. Try that and see how soon you are loved by them. My problem was in city traffic both times.

[E Z Livin]

Saturday night on the way to Myrtle Beach, my brake pedal started to soften to the point I pulled over in Conway at a Hight School. Lot of stop and go traffic.
I called and was told they were not taking calls on the recall anymore and for me to contact a Workhorse Dealer.
This did not set well with me and I explained I had several neighbors with me on the way to eat seafood and I needed to know what to do right then. They put me on hold and talked to a technican who wanted to know if my Rv would coast in neutral. I tried it in the parking lot and it would.
I asked for more explamation as my abs light was on and the rear wheels were hot and smelling. I was told it was safe to drive but be aware of my sourounding. I guess it cooled down the 45 minutes I was on the phone so I started out again. The brakes were not soft anymore.
I did eat and make it back to Florence, SC but boy did I us some gas. It did not feel like the brakes were all the way on, but they had to be dragging some. Now I need to make an appointment to a dealer and have them fixed. It is my understanding that the replacement parts will last for two to three years with no problems. I also understand that I will be on recall when corrected parts come available this fall.
Glad I go the pre-notice so at least I was aware of a possible problem.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by E Z Livin Saturday night on the way to Myrtle Beach, my brake pedal started to soften to the point I pulled over in Conway at a Hight School. Lot of stop and go traffic. I called and was told they were not taking calls on the recall anymore and for me to contact a Workhorse Dealer.

I'm glad you made it back to Florence alright. I was just wondering if you knew that we have a service center here on the beach over by the back gate on Bypass 17?

I went to pay a visit to my service center today and naturally I asked how he was making out with brake work. He told me that he had not turned anyone away, did not refuse to accomplish any work due to a disapproval from Workhorse nor were any pictures required. The center told me that if he saw a condition where the brake calipers have seized and have caused any type of collateral damage he was empowered to replace those parts without calling each and every single case into the RSM.

If the rotors are cracked he will replace those if not he will cut the rotors.

I don't know where it was that we spoke about the requirement for pictures and approvals in all cases however that's not the case all the time and Workhorse owners here are being well treated, their brake issues are getting resolved and the motorhomes are going back on the road.

Going forward there may be a interruption in caliper availability it was alleged and discussed because we're thinking how can Bosch make a bunch of old calipers on a loss basis and yet still have capacity to make 200,000 new calipers needed for the recall. It would seem that's 2 losses in a row by replacing a defective caliper with a current model and then replacing that caliper for the engineered caliper a few months from now.

That said my service center said he had received a shipment of calipers so the pipeline is not dry .... at this moment anyway. The service center also told me that he has secondary sources for calipers in the event that there is a delay in getting calipers from Workhorse parts just in case.

We spoke about flushing brakes and he highly recommends the procedure in fact on all brake work accomplished there, he will flush the system out before the machine leaves the property. He said that they use gravity bleed and 2 man bleeding as well. I brought up the fact that I have Speed Bleeders.

At the end of our discussion I am feeling much better about how the Interim Notice phase of the recall is proceeding. Well at least here in Myrtle Beach.

I was getting a little disappointed with how folks were being treated by some dealers however it seems to be a dealership issue rather than a Workhorse issue. The service center's take on brake problems is that if it's broke ... they'll fix it.

[TrekPR]

Once again I'm going to show my ignorance, if the problem is the pistons in the calipers why can't they just put out a kit with new pistons? Or, are they going to put out enough new calipers to get enough of the old to rebuild? It makes no difference to me as long as it is fixed.

[abarkl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer If the rotors are cracked he will replace those if not he will cut the rotors.

I need to find that dealer and quick. I've spoken to my WH RSM and he will not approve my repairs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer I was getting a little disappointed with how folks were being treated by some dealers however it seems to be a dealership issue rather than a Workhorse issue. The service center's take on brake problems is that if it's broke ... they'll fix it.

Sorry, but you've got that 180 degrees backwards! It seems to be a WH RSM specific issue and not my dealer.

[oemtech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekPR Once again I'm going to show my ignorance, if the problem is the pistons in the calipers why can't they just put out a kit with new pistons? Or, are they going to put out enough new calipers to get enough of the old to rebuild? It makes no difference to me as long as it is fixed.

There are close to 50,000 units. Take that number times 4 = 200,000 calipers. It takes some time to come up with the fix, TEST it and get the new parts in the repair pipeline.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekPR Once again I'm going to show my ignorance, if the problem is the pistons in the calipers why can't they just put out a kit with new pistons? Or, are they going to put out enough new calipers to get enough of the old to rebuild? It makes no difference to me as long as it is fixed.

In my opinion ...... At this point I believe that rebuilding the old calipers is going to be cost intensive, will put a lot of heavy RMA material in the shipping pipeline, may yield inconsistent quality results and may have to go through a separate certification process.

Again one might ask, where's the rebuild facility and how many people do they have to hire and then lay off. I don't expect that the individual service centers are going to be rebuilding calipers.

It's going to be difficult to get a number of people to rebuild the same component consistently with the same results I'm thinking that this process would be time and labor intensive like I suggested ....

Since Bosch is going to begin making production calipers anyway, turn up the volume for the next few months and I believe they'll have enough material to accomplish the recall. For a company like Bosch I don't believe the number is staggering production wise. The majority of the process I believe is most likely automated.

I'm thinking that when the campaign rolls out we're all going to get "new" calipers - but who knows? Aside from the engineering needs the end game as of right now has not been officially announced as to how the new calipers will finally roll out into production.

[E Z Livin]

Driver, thanks for the response. They gave me Larry's number but at this time on Saturday night, he was closed. I read somewhere that Workhorse would only authorize Larry if you had to be towed to far for another dealer.
Is he authorized dealer now? I was thinking about going to him anywasy as I have heard you speak so highly of him and it is not much difference than Columbia and I have not heard good things about Loves. Thanks again, Jerry

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by E Z Livin Is he authorized dealer now?

Larry's Auto Clinic is an Authorized Workhorse Service Center. Come on down and tell him Mike sent ya!

[E Z Livin]

Thanks again. Made appointment for next Thursday. I will drive down Wednesday evening, spend the night on his property so I will be ready first thing Thursday as I understand it could take up to eight hours to finish.