Community Forums

roger1938 · 01-14-2009, 11:21 AM

We have a '04 Safari Trek on a W22 chassis. We live near Ft. Worth, TX, 76180 area. Does anyone know of a shop in our area that will change the brake fluid and the power steering fluid. I have tried all of the national types, Just Brakes, Meinike, Midas, etc. and they will can not or will not do it. My local Workhorse shop says $200-$400 for the brakes and $250 or so for the power steering.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

Roger Deal

edgray · 01-14-2009, 01:07 PM

Roger: I'm linking your post into the Workhorse forum down below in hopes of getting you more exposure. ED

DonavonP · 01-14-2009, 03:05 PM

Roger, check out this web site. http://oemys-performance.com/index.htm

He's one of our sponsors and you might pick up enough info there to do the job yourself. He's currently working on some brake speed bleeders for our Workhorse brakes.

The power steering fluid should be easy with the suction pump from Walmart. Under $20.00 in the automotive section. Walmart has the fluid too.

Gary RVRoamer · 01-14-2009, 05:10 PM

In our area the Cummins shops will do Workhorse service. Might not be any cheaper than a Workhorse dealer, though.

Actually, the price quote does not seem far out of line. We are talking a 2-3 hours of shop time plus the fluids, and most shops get $85-$110 per hour these days. Makes do it yourself really attractive, eh?

DriVer · 01-14-2009, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RV Roamer:
In our area the Cummins shops will do Workhorse service. Might not be any cheaper than a Workhorse dealer, though.

Gary, There are a number of Cummins Shops that are authorized Workhorse Service Centers and quite remarkably there are also several Ford dealerships that are as well.

DAN L · 01-14-2009, 08:08 PM

ROGER...
i changed my power steering fluid to AMSOIL SYNTHETIC UNIVERSAL POWER STEERING FLUID, PSF. it took almost 2 qts.
on my moho, there is a blue hose that runs from the bottom of the power steering reservoir to the top of the brake master cylinder booster. i removed this line at the brake booster and drained the fluid through the hose. then i cut off about a inch of this hose and reconnected it to the brake booster using a new hose clamp. then i ran the engine, operated the steering and brakes, checked for leaks and topped off the power steering reservoir.
i used 9ea 12 oz cans of CASTROL LMA brake fluid to flush my brake system. castrol lma has a very high boiling point both wet and dry and is readily available at most auto parts stores and is priced reasonably. check out my previous post on how to do this using the aux brake electric motor with a large set of vice grip pliers on the brake bellcrank. my dw operated the bellcrank and refilled the master cylinder while i bled the fluid, under pressure, from the individual brake calipers using a 2' length of 5/16 plastic hose and liter soda bottles. on the front brakes, it was necessary to remove a brake hose bracket to gain access to the bleeder valve.
if you have any questions, you may pm me or send me an email.
dan

Oemtech · 01-15-2009, 04:57 AM

Roger,

I sent you a PM.

bsinmich · 01-15-2009, 07:36 AM

I think you have gotten some very high estimates. I do this as a regular procedure every 2 years and it takes around 20 minutes with 2 of us working. My SIL does the underneath work and I do the brake pumping. I used 4 12 oz cans of Ford brake fluid last fall and got the whole job done. I would try a local mechanic.

bdaball · 01-15-2009, 04:59 PM

did you try the member list in the back of FMCA magazine. May be a source of information. Just a thought

Richard 34A · 01-16-2009, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by roger1938:
We have a '04 Safari Trek on a W22 chassis. We live near Ft. Worth, TX, 76180 area. Does anyone know of a shop in our area that will change the brake fluid and the power steering fluid. I have tried all of the national types, Just Brakes, Meinike, Midas, etc. and they will can not or will not do it. My local Workhorse shop says $200-$400 for the brakes and $250 or so for the power steering.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

Roger Deal

Don't forget to have the brake pin slides lubed at the same time.

roger1938 · 01-16-2009, 02:04 PM

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I am taking the expensive, easy, cowards way out. I found a local Chevy dealer that is going to do the work.

Thanks again.

babock · 01-19-2009, 08:19 AM

Just bled the brakes yesterday. Found the easiest way to do it was to have a helper stepping on the brake pedal for me. Was extremely easy. To drain the master cylinder, I used a 4 foot section of hose and used it as a siphon to get all of the fluid out.

JCM · 01-20-2009, 04:16 PM

I tried doing mine today with the pump kit from Harbour frieght. After the ist wheel I threw that away and had a helper pump the brakes for me. It was easy but messy in poring the new fluid into the master cylinder since it is so high up on the firewall.
I used 8 12oz containers including what I spilled.

two2go · 01-21-2009, 04:18 PM

Just had my brake fluid flushed and refilled at a local independent shop today. The mech drew out the fluid in the master cyl. with a pump, then filled with fresh. He then drained fluid from the rear pistons until they ran fresh, then the fronts, and added fluid to the master cyl as he worked. He only used gravity, saying that since the master was so high in relation to the pistons, the fluid fairly gushed through. When he was done, he cleaned all up, topped the master, and I was done. No bleeding required since the pistons fill from bottom up, and not pumping the brakes avoids any mixing in the pistons.
Seemed to work. I go. I stop. Cost $137 included replacing the fuel filter with an adapter kit I supplied. At 19.3k miles and three years, the old fluid was not too gunky at all.