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mjvalliere · 08-20-2021, 09:22 PM

More Questions. I just picked up my new to me 36 SDS. We reside in Massachusetts and all vehicle need inspection stickers. I stopped at a local RV service facility for the inspection only to get the RV back with a rejection sticker. I was told the parking break would not hold and that it needed to hold in drive at 1200 RPM's. Is there an adjustment for this? They started telling me it would be a couple of thousand to fix. Jeez I haven't even taken a trip yet I hope this isn't a bad omen. Confused on Cape Cod

Jeff and Cheryl · 08-20-2021, 10:57 PM

The likelihood of coach holding with parking brake on at 1200 RPM would be pretty close to NIL. Find another place for inspection or have the shop show you in the law where it says this is a requirement for DP's.

arcaguy · 08-21-2021, 07:54 AM

I'm kind of with Jeff and Cheryl on this one. 1200 rpm is about half throttle for a diesel engine to say nothing of their relative low gearing. I'm thinking the $2000 price tag is pretty out of line too if it's just an adjustment. You might call around to a couple of more shops and see what they have to say about the 1200 rpm but I wouldn't just take the shop's word for it. Good luck,

Ljwt330 · 08-21-2021, 09:53 AM

Agree with the previous posts.

You should do some research on your state's requirements for parking brakes on diesel pushers or, at least, diesel vehicles. It shouldn't be too difficult to find either on line or by calling different inspection/repair shops and asking directly about the specs for diesel vehicles.

When the max torque rpm is around 1500 rpm, and the brake is to hold at 1200 rpm, that is asking a lot. Much different on a gas vehicle where 1200 rpm is not too far above idle.

Please let us know how this all shakes out.

Ljwt330 · 08-21-2021, 10:57 AM

I did a little searching and found the Massachusetts procedures for vehicle inspections. It does, indeed, specifically state the brake must hold the vehicle when the engine is between 1200-1300 rpm and in the lowest forward gear.

Here is what is curious, however. A diesel pusher is considered an "auto home" and inspected under the non-commercial vehicle regulations, stated above. Commercial vehicles, which includes large diesel trucks and are more like a diesel pusher, have a slightly different parking requirement. It states, "The parking brake on all vehicles shall be tested by sufficiently accelerating the motor with the vehicle in the lowest forward gear against the brake in the applied position. The vehicle will be rejected if the parking brake will not hold."

In other words, the commercial procedure does not have a specific rpm range to test the parking brake.

I think the OP is going to have a difficult time getting this resolved, but let's hope reasonable heads prevail. Perhaps his coach does need an adjustment, I cannot comment as there are no inspections here in Ca. for such things and I have never tested my coach against the specs mentioned.

Now I am curious. Has anyone with an Alpine tried to meet the above parking brake requirements? If so, were you successful

Kid Gloves · 08-21-2021, 03:33 PM

I haven’t, but when we were shopping for an Alpine about 5 years ago in Arizona, the salesman drove the coach out of the parking lot and along a 40-45mph road for at least a mile before realizing that the parking brake was still set. So, it obviously failed to hold right off idle.

c_oneil · 08-21-2021, 04:24 PM

We need volunteers to test your parking brake. The bonus is you can test a u-joint and your transmission at the same time. When I was test driving my coach before purchasing I gave the accelerator a little nudge just to see if the parking brake was working and the owner was a bit perplexed.

Ljwt330 · 08-21-2021, 04:40 PM

Well, I just returned from my coach and I performed the parking brake test. I had to move the coach forward a bit to install a new rear view cam. Started the coach, put the transmission into 1st, and slowly raised the rpm. Everything held solidly to 1300 rpm at which point I stopped the test as that was the outside range of the test under discussion.

Honestly, I didn't think it would hold, but clearly I was wrong. I guess the OP will need to have some work done after all to get the parking brake to pass the inspection.

c_oneil · 08-21-2021, 04:56 PM

Keep in mind that Alpines have a driveshaft springbrake as opposed to the typical air brake system with brakes at the wheels. We have just the one brake drum instead of two on the drive axle. The gear reduction on the rear end wold more than compensate for that.

Kid Gloves · 08-21-2021, 05:44 PM

That salesman must have had quite the lead foot. We didn’t buy that coach.

mjvalliere · 08-21-2021, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

Well, I just returned from my coach and I performed the parking brake test. I had to move the coach forward a bit to install a new rear view cam. Started the coach, put the transmission into 1st, and slowly raised the rpm. Everything held solidly to 1300 rpm at which point I stopped the test as that was the outside range of the test under discussion.

Honestly, I didn't think it would hold, but clearly I was wrong. I guess the OP will need to have some work done after all to get the parking brake to pass the inspection.

Thanks Larry, I'm bringing it to another shop Monday. They did confirm that the 1200Rpm is mandated by the state of MA. I guess I'll find out if it's just an adjustment. Thank you for all the responses.

Hayduke · 08-21-2021, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kid Gloves

I haven’t, but when we were shopping for an Alpine about 5 years ago in Arizona, the salesman drove the coach out of the parking lot and along a 40-45mph road for at least a mile before realizing that the parking brake was still set. So, it obviously failed to hold right off idle.

How did you ignore the alert noise?

My switch sensor is touchy, so my coach will sometimes think the parking brake is off even though it's engaged. AFAICT, the sensor is on the dash switch. I just wiggle it a little and the alert sound stops.

If the salesman could drive it with the brake on, then that noise maker system was not operating correctly.

mjvalliere · 08-24-2021, 09:48 PM

I looked up the RMV guidelines and indeed states the vehicle should be in drive with the parking brake on and should not move forward at up to 1200 RPM's

Jeep401 · 08-24-2021, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjvalliere

I looked up the RMV guidelines and indeed states the vehicle should be in drive with the parking brake on and should not move forward at up to 1200 RPM's

Is there different guidelines between light duty and heavy duty vehicles?
As it has already been said, that's a lot of rpm for a hd diesel ...