Community Forums

scep · 04-18-2015, 03:02 PM

where do you hit them?

Mine are stuck in the engaged position after sitting for 6 months. Do you hit the drums? or somewhere else? Do you disengage the parking brake so they can release easier when hitting them?

I feel like such a newbie.

twinboat · 04-18-2015, 03:20 PM

Try getting the air up, push in the park button and then step hard and hold down, on the pedal. It may shift the shoes enough to break them free.

On the beat the shoe method, you need to block the wheels and push in the brake button. Otherwise the shoes are held against the drum, with the big springs in the brake chambers.

A couple of toward and the reverses may free it up also.

Good luck

scep · 04-19-2015, 06:03 AM

I've tried the things you mentioned, except the hammer beatings. Thanks.

I need to know what to hit. The drum? The plate the shoes are attached to?

D Lindy · 04-19-2015, 06:11 AM

Look under at the back of the drum, I'm not sure if there is a cover plate or if you have direct access to the shoes. On all the semi's I drove there was never a cover plate and I could use a pry bar and gently apply pressure to the end of the shoes and pop them loose from the drums. I was always a little leery of hitting the drums directly with a hammer and cracking the cast drums.

twinboat · 04-19-2015, 07:08 AM

If you have backing plates, they are in the way, if not you want to hit the side of the shoes ( the steal part, not the material ) and try try to knock them in, towards the inside of the drum. You need to realise the brakes to get the pressure off.

Personal, I would be standing on the throttle, trying to free them. If that didn't work, a neutral drop would.( disclaimer, don't try this )

Good luck

Vanwill · 04-25-2015, 09:47 PM

Scep, are you sure you tried the Forward-Reverse procedure hard enough? You certainly could have brakes frozen harder than any I've ever seen, but I've experienced one on a friend's coach that was really, really, really stuck. He had tried the Forward-Reverse and I watched him. He was FAIRLY aggressive, but not SERIOUSLY AGGRESSIVE. I did it for him--just floored it, and it broke loose. That's a lot simpler than the hammer method.

And before the naysayers chime in with all the doom-and-gloom, read the Allison manual about full-throttle transmission tests. The only thing you need to watch is the trans temp gage. It will rise VERY fast. You will only get one or two tries before the temp will have gone high enough that (like the Allison manual says) you will have to let it cool.

Good luck! Nothing at all wrong with the hammer method, especially if you use a huge punch and be sure to bang only on the metal part of the brake shoe. But sitting in the driver's seat is a lot easier. <G>

scep · 04-28-2015, 03:49 AM

Van,

I did break loose the brakes last time with the engine. I had to floor it and when it finally let go it did so with a huge bang. Probably the drums and shoes made all the noise, but there is no way I'll be doing that again. It's kind of one of those things that you only need to do once to realize, nope, thats definitely not the way to do it.

The current job is coming to an end so I will try hammering the drums a bit with my thor hammer this weekend. I'm almost tempted to park it on the next job by using wheel chocks and leave the air brake off. FYI it has rained more in the past 6 months in Houston than it did in Portland.

On a side note, does anyone know if they make ceramic shoes for these things? I would think the ceramic ones wouldnt rust to the drum like the semi-metallic ones do.

**JohnRR** · 04-28-2015, 04:35 AM

Just for reiteration if your going to try and free them up with a hammer it would work best with the park brake off However make sure you chock a wheel first you don't want it trying to roll away while your under there!

twinboat · 04-28-2015, 05:55 AM

Parking brakes come on, once your air runs down.

You would need to cage the brake chambers, to hold them off.

Then you need to Undo them, before using again.

twinboat · 04-28-2015, 03:57 PM

The caging tool is usually a " t-bolt " and nut, stored on the chamber.

It goes in the hole, on the back of the chamber. You chock the vehicle, release the parking brake, put the T end in the hole and feel for it to drop in and turn a half turn. Then run the nut and washer, down to snug it up. Once you set the parking brake, the rod will hold the spring back. Remember you now have NO parking brake.

If you have no air, you can release your brakes the same way, you just need a wrench to run the nut down.

nothermark · 04-28-2015, 04:11 PM

FWIW if you just started the coach and moved it 2 ft once a week you would not have the problem.

twinboat · 04-28-2015, 05:33 PM

If it's stored near your house.
No air brakes, but I haven't seen mine, since November.

nothermark · 04-29-2015, 03:46 AM

What I found the hard way with our first mh was letting the brakes rust in place sets up pitting of the rotors that results in a lot of noise and vibration. Brake jobs are not cheap on units that big. My impression is that the OP is using his MH for portable living while doing contract work. Easy enough to move it a bit if one is living in it. I'd be tempted to take it for a ride every month or two just to keep the lubrication stirred up and the tires happy.

twinboat · 04-29-2015, 05:18 AM

Northermark,
I agree that the OP could take it for a spin, occasionally, but I'm also putting out the info, for the other 300 people reading this post.

I see many DPs sitting in storage yards down in the salty climate, of the FL. Keys. Gets me wondering, what they do, to get them rolling.