Community Forums

Gordon · 10-22-2008, 08:38 PM

You know. The brake plunger on the drivers arm rest.

I was getting ready to take my coach down for its annual oil change/lube/maintenance.

Just as I was ready to depart, I pushed the plunger and it continued down without resistance, never releasing the brake.

Specifically, the plunger unit under the armrest came loose from the bottom of the arm rest. It appears, looking up underneath through the access panel that the actuator assembly was just glued under the armrest and the glue failed.

I was able to pull the brake actuator assembly through the access panel and got it to the work shop for it's oil change.

Now, I am faced with trying to secure the plunger assembly in its proper place.

If I use epoxy glue and re-glue it back in place, I'm sure it will come lose again.

Have any of you folks had this happen? If so, how did you secure it?

It would appear that the two bolts that were glued under the arm rest could be removed and I could drill a hole and put the bolts through the arm rest back into the actuator, but, It would take away from the "clean" look of the armrest.

I really can't complain much. We have owned the coach for 2 years and this is the only malfunction (knock on wood) that we have had.

Gordon · 10-22-2008, 08:38 PM

You know. The brake plunger on the drivers arm rest.

I was getting ready to take my coach down for its annual oil change/lube/maintenance.

Just as I was ready to depart, I pushed the plunger and it continued down without resistance, never releasing the brake.

Specifically, the plunger unit under the armrest came loose from the bottom of the arm rest. It appears, looking up underneath through the access panel that the actuator assembly was just glued under the armrest and the glue failed.

I was able to pull the brake actuator assembly through the access panel and got it to the work shop for it's oil change.

Now, I am faced with trying to secure the plunger assembly in its proper place.

If I use epoxy glue and re-glue it back in place, I'm sure it will come lose again.

Have any of you folks had this happen? If so, how did you secure it?

It would appear that the two bolts that were glued under the arm rest could be removed and I could drill a hole and put the bolts through the arm rest back into the actuator, but, It would take away from the "clean" look of the armrest.

I really can't complain much. We have owned the coach for 2 years and this is the only malfunction (knock on wood) that we have had.

Logthumper · 10-23-2008, 01:14 AM

I would go with the bolts thru the armrest. There is a fair amount of force used when the Brake Plunger is activated and I think because the glue pulled lose once, it will fail again if glued again. Bad idea in the first place.

The bolts that hold my Aladdin Monitor in place were attached (stuck to) to the back of the dash material and two of them pulled lose also. I felt to make a permanent repair required a stronger attachment so I used bolts thru the dash material. I then placed black plastic caps (from Ace Hardware) over the bolt heads. Looks great and will never come lose again. Should have been done that way in the first place.

Look at my pics below in folder "Making it ours". The last pics will show the finished look.

Hope this helps.

Logthumper · 10-23-2008, 01:16 AM

Pics at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/logthumper

Gordon · 10-23-2008, 05:50 AM

Thanks Logthumper. You gave me an idea that will work.

Sixpack98 · 10-23-2008, 06:39 AM

Our brake plunger did the same thing. It was attached with self threading screws to the top panel and they stripped out. Also, the push/pull of the brake plunger was causing the top panel to flex quite a bit and I was afraid it would someday crack the panel. So, I shaped a piece of 1/8" aluminum to bridge the 2 plywood panel on either side of the plunger and bolted the plunger to the aluminum. Very stable now. The original was not a brilliant piece of engineering by Monaco.

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