Brake squealing

[Ohsirr]

I just purchased our first motorhome. It's a 98 Winnebago Adventurer on a Ford chassis and both front brakes are squealing while we are driving at slow and highway speeds. I've taken it to both the local RV dealer and brake shop and nobody seems to know why the brakes are making this nose. Does anyone have any ideas or is this normal?

[dsbike]

It could be the metalic material the brake pads are made from. If the shops you took it to pulled the wheels & looked at the amont of pad that remains, then I would assume there is plenty of brake pad. If they didn't pull the front wheels off, I would take it to some one who will.

[rmmpe]

It may also be "Wear strips" which, when the brakes need replacing, come into contact with the rotors to give warning of nearing metal to metal contact.

As dsbike said, have the wheels pulled to check the pads and rotors.

Best move: if the rotors are OK, have the pads replaced when the wheels have been removed for the inspection.

A regular action by brake shops providing lifetime warranties on brake pads is to install Metallic pads because they last longer than straight composite. But they are prone to making noise. I don't like them.

Good luck.

[Ohsirr]

yes both shops removed the front wheels and calipers. The pads look good.

[InPursuit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohsirr I just purchased our first motorhome. It's a 98 Winnebago Adventurer on a Ford chassis and both front brakes are squealing while we are driving at slow and highway speeds.

??

I'm going to assume that you don't normally use your brakes while driving at speed and assume that this squealing noise is happening independent of you using the brakes: that may be louder (more noticeable) when you brake but it is there all the time.

wheel bearings.

If nothing else it won't hurt a 12yo Motor Home to break down and reassemble the axles with new grease, lube and check everything else in there, lube the caliper slides and while you're at it flush the brake fluid too.

[Slang]

Flush the fluid and use Ford HIGH PERFORMANCE DOT 3 break fluid, My dealer did not even know they had anything other than heavy duty. Lube the slide pins and the caliper pistons with Ford dialectric (sp) caliper lube and replace the boots if melted like mine were. Also avoid hosing off the wheels It's the water that gets into the fluid that causes most of the problems.


Hope this helps

[subford]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slang Flush the fluid and use Ford HIGH PERFORMANCE DOT 3 break fluid, My dealer did not even know they had anything other than heavy duty. Lube the slide pins and the caliper pistons with Ford dialectric (sp) caliper lube and replace the boots if melted like mine were. Also avoid hosing off the wheels It's the water that gets into the fluid that causes most of the problems. Hope this helps

How is water going to get into the fluid? If water can get in then fluid can get out. Do you drive in the rain?

But do not forget to file (do not grind) the outer pads or you will have less braking and melted boots. This is all on a Ford TSB. The outer pads must move free and not hang like most new pads will.

[denochs]

While not being familiar with your MH chasis, it sounds like you have disc brakes. If that is the case, check the splash plate (I'm sure there is a technical name for it) that shields the disc from water and debris. It's located on the inside of the brake disc. There should be at least 1/4 to 1/2 in clearance. These are generally made from thin metal that can be damaged or bent by a person changing the brake pads/discs. I had a car that made a noise like you are describing and that's what it turned out to be. All you would need to do is get each wheel off the ground and spin it while under the MH. It may reveal a worped rotor or bent splash plate.

Dave

[speed racer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subford How is water going to get into the fluid? If water can get in then fluid can get out. Do you drive in the rain? But do not forget to file (do not grind) the outer pads or you will have less braking and melted boots. This is all on a Ford TSB. The outer pads must move free and not hang like most new pads will.

Brake fluid does absorb moisture and it is recomended to flush your brake fluid system every two years. The miosture in the system is what causes calipers to rust and stick. The early drum brake wheel cyls. would rust and leak and the early disc brake calipers would rust and stick. It seems the newer caliper materials are having problems with the moisture expanding the pistons and causing them to stick. At any rate the moisture lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid and while desending a long hill or heavy braking in trafic can cause the brake fluid in the calipers to boil and cause the lose of braking power.

[subford]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speed racer Brake fluid does absorb moisture and it is recomended to flush your brake fluid system every two years. The miosture in the system is what causes calipers to rust and stick. The early drum brake wheel cyls. would rust and leak and the early disc brake calipers would rust and stick. It seems the newer caliper materials are having problems with the moisture expanding the pistons and causing them to stick. At any rate the moisture lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid and while desending a long hill or heavy braking in trafic can cause the brake fluid in the calipers to boil and cause the lose of braking power.

I do not know about a Workhorse but on my F53 all four of the calipers are sealed and if the seal brakes I replace the calipers. We do not use drum brakes.

[speed racer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subford I do not know about a Workhorse but on my F53 all four of the calipers are sealed and if the seal brakes I replace the calipers. We do not use drum brakes.

I did not mention WorkHorse. What I said applys to all hyd. brake systems and if you think yours is amuned to this good luck.

[Slang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speed racer Brake fluid does absorb moisture and it is recomended to flush your brake fluid system every two years. The miosture in the system is what causes calipers to rust and stick. The early drum brake wheel cyls. would rust and leak and the early disc brake calipers would rust and stick. It seems the newer caliper materials are having problems with the moisture expanding the pistons and causing them to stick. At any rate the moisture lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid and while desending a long hill or heavy braking in trafic can cause the brake fluid in the calipers to boil and cause the lose of braking power.

Thank you, Brake fluid is Hydrophilic (loves water) A hydrophilic molecule or portion of a molecule is one that is typically charge-polarized and capable of hydrogen bonding, enabling it to dissolve more readily in water than in oil or other hydrophobic solvents. A hydrophilic molecule is made up of alcohol and fatty acyl chains. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules are also known as polar molecules and nonpolar molecules, respectively. Some hydrophilic substances do not dissolve. This type of mixture is called a colloid.

I know we drive in the rain, my sugestion is to limit the amount of water contact to the braking system. The water boils and expands causing the pads to push on the rotor which sonwballs. The caliper seals and boot are simple to change.

Steve
97' F53 George Boy Pursuit

[96 Wideglide]

I highly doubt water is going to get into your caliper from washing / rain, etc. It gets into the system from condensation, ( temp change ).

[TroutScout]

I had the brake squeal on my E-450. I went to a NAPA store and talked with a very experienced mechanic/employee. He said that "Shims" solve the very common squeal problem. I replaced my almost like new front pads with NAPA pads that had shims, they are little metal sheets on the back of the brake pad. This stopped my squeaks. That was on the front pads. Once that front squeal was quieted I began to hear a rear brake squeal. I noticed that the squeak was evident when I was not applying the brakes, just coasting, so I figured that it wasn't brakes. After further investigation I discovered that when the rear rotors got hot they developed a warp, I could feel it in the brake pedal when going down steep mountain grades, enough so that when they are hot they rub the rear brake pads and create a squeak, even when I wasn't applying the brakes, the high spot on the rotor was hitting the pad and creating the vibration squeak, squeak...squeak...squeak, a pattern like a flat spot on a tire would make. When the rotor cooled the warp receded and didn't touch the pad, creating no squeak. So I had the rear rotors turned and replaced the rear pads with the NAPA shimmed pads and I no longer have any squeaks.