Community Forums

mikebo · 08-16-2016, 05:49 PM

I have a 2016 Newmar Baystar Sport on the 20500 lb. chassis. I feel like the brakes are inadequate. I just drove about 400 miles without a toad and felt like I was always pushing the brake pedal with a huge amount of effort to get what I thought should have been a easy stop. I couldn't stop the motorhome quickly if I wanted to. Before I bought this motorhome I test drove another on the 22000 lb chassis and it felt the same way. I have owned two class C motorhomes and a sprinter based class A and they all stopped much better than this one. Any comments or suggestions?

rk911 · 08-16-2016, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebo

I have a 2016 Newmar Baystar Sport on the 20500 lb. chassis. I feel like the brakes are inadequate. I just drove about 400 miles without a toad and felt like I was always pushing the brake pedal with a huge amount of effort to get what I thought should have been a easy stop. I couldn't stop the motorhome quickly if I wanted to. Before I bought this motorhome I test drove another on the 22000 lb chassis and it felt the same way. I have owned two class C motorhomes and a sprinter based class A and they all stopped much better than this one. Any comments or suggestions?

maybe they need adjusting???

wildtoad · 08-16-2016, 06:19 PM

I have the same unit as you. Mine seems ok. I've only got around 3500 miles on it though. Towing or not seems to stop fine. Hope you find a cause.

Seems much better than my old Thor on a Workhorse.

bydnar · 08-16-2016, 06:51 PM

Have you tried enabling the tow/haul mode? If working properly, it can help a lot, even on flat ground. Technically, every time you drive your coach you are towing or hauling since you are loaded to nearly the max chassis capacity.

Now that my tow/haul is working, I love it. Enormous difference.

2016 Newmar Bay Star Sport 2705

TeJay · 08-16-2016, 08:08 PM

Mike,

Your 2016 MH should be on a 2015 chassis. First of all disc brakes never need adjusting. They more or less self adjust.

We have a 2013 chassis with 4-wheel disc brakes as you should have. It stops just fine. Some may tell you that driving a MH is different because they are heavier. That is true but the brakes are designed to handle the extra weight and will stop in a timely manner.

Here are some reason why is may not be stopping. Is the power assist providing power assist for stopping?? Have a qualified Ford truck service facility check that for proper operation. If you are the first owner it should still be under warranty.

If the assist is working then a close inspection of the pads could/should reveal glazed pads. If somebody or you did some panic stops to the point of causing the pads to smoke maybe the pads are glazed. Glazed pads will not provide the proper friction to stop properly. The only fix it to replace them.

Maybe the delivery driver did the panic stops and glazed the pads. If the assist is working glazed pads are about the only cause at this early point in its life.

TeJay

mikebo · 08-17-2016, 04:07 AM

My motorhome is on the 2016 chassis and I am using the tow haul mode and it is working.

MutinyGuy · 08-17-2016, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebo

I have a 2016 Newmar Baystar Sport on the 20500 lb. chassis. I feel like the brakes are inadequate. I just drove about 400 miles without a toad and felt like I was always pushing the brake pedal with a huge amount of effort to get what I thought should have been a easy stop. I couldn't stop the motorhome quickly if I wanted to. Before I bought this motorhome I test drove another on the 22000 lb chassis and it felt the same way. I have owned two class C motorhomes and a sprinter based class A and they all stopped much better than this one. Any comments or suggestions?

I agree with you...my 22k chassis is similar in braking...I use the Tow/Haul feature exclusively to help stop the MH...we are trading it in this week for a DP.
Except for the braking and the downshifting when in cruise control the chassis is great

gasser 38 · 08-22-2016, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebo

I have a 2016 Newmar Baystar Sport on the 20500 lb. chassis. I feel like the brakes are inadequate. I just drove about 400 miles without a toad and felt like I was always pushing the brake pedal with a huge amount of effort to get what I thought should have been a easy stop. I couldn't stop the motorhome quickly if I wanted to. Before I bought this motorhome I test drove another on the 22000 lb chassis and it felt the same way. I have owned two class C motorhomes and a sprinter based class A and they all stopped much better than this one. Any comments or suggestions?

look under chassis any of the rotors have rust on the surface if so those brakes are not working. I would suggest having the unit checked by a Ford dealer

TeJay · 08-22-2016, 03:00 PM

Oh come now, any brake rotor that has set for some time with moisture in the air or on the ground is going to have rust. That's a given. I defy you to let your vehicle set through a rain or two and not see some surface rust. It just won't happen.

After a minute or two of driving and stopping the surface rust is gone and the brakes will work. Think about this. Most pads have metal particles in them already. How's, "Semi-metallic" sound???? Yes most pads are semi-metallic so a little surface rust (metal flakes) will not effect their performance a bit.

Truck brakes are designed to stop your truck MH. They can not be sold in the US unless they pass strict DOT braking tests. You can use T/H for added assistance using the engine but it will stop without using the engine. T/H should not be relied on as a way of stopping a MH. THE BRAKES WILL STOP YOUR MH. IF THEY DON'T SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT AND THEY NEED TO BE EVALUATED BY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON.

If you are having issues refer to post 5 above. Most of the possible issues are covered.

TeJay

allegro1x · 08-23-2016, 01:23 PM

might have brake lines inspected. my brakes were going out, when I took MH to body shop to have laminate crack repaired. got call from body shop, front brake lines had rusted out and fluid leaked out. bought 2012 MH with 6,400 miles on it in 2013. previous owner had New Hampshire tag on it, so it probably had been on salted roads some. waiting on Ford to call back about warrenty repair.

Hikerdogs · 08-23-2016, 02:03 PM

There is a considerable difference between the "feel" of the brake pedal on the newer chassis than the older versions. We went from a 2001, 20,500 lb. chassis to a 2013, 22,000 lb. chassis. The older chassis required far less brake pedal pressure than the newer one does.

When this change was made (the first reports were late 2012) there was quite a flurry of activity on the board claiming the inadequate feel of the brakes. However after a few thousand miles of driving nearly everyone got used to it and it now seems normal.

We have a little over 26,000 miles on our 2013 motorhome. It took me 7,000 or 8,000 miles to get used to the feel of the brakes. In that time I had to use them aggressively several times when people didn't stop for a stop sign ,or entered a round about only inches in front of us. In all cases the brakes worked fine and did stop the motorhome and Jeep without hitting anyone or anything.

If you feel the brakes aren't functioning the way they should take the motorhome to an experienced technician at a Ford truck garage and have him/her inspect them. I'm willing to bet they will say they function properly. If not they should be able to correct the problem.

I'm also willing to bet that after a few thousand miles of driving you'll get used to the feel and they will seem "normal".

allegro1x · 08-23-2016, 04:52 PM

got call back from Ford, no coverage on brakes after 36 months, but towing covered till 60,000 or 5 years. closest Ford truck repair dealer is in Knoxville, TN around 140 miles from my house in North GA. next call will be to Good Sam's towing policy. body shop where MH is being repaired is less than 20 miles to repair shop I use on all my vehicles. if all else fails I'll just pay to have it repaired and cuss about it till I get rid of it or get to old to drive.

Rvbuzz · 08-23-2016, 10:22 PM

I have a 2013 20k chassis and have experienced the same issue. I have had 4 previous motorhomes from early class A, 99 class C, 2005 DP and my current ride.

Brake feel is the worst of any so far and requires alot of pedal pressure in comparison to others I have owned.

I have had to make panic stops and it does get the job done, just doesnt feel great.

I did install a more aggressive pad from Hawk and it had better feel but also ate the rotors in 5k miles. So now I am all back to factory parts and same braking feel.

You do get used to it but it still sucks. Mine now has 26k on chassis as well.

TeJay · 08-24-2016, 06:01 AM

I'm not doubting reports concerned with the brakes. We've had three MH's and I've got a lot of seat time with larger vehicles. I can't really say that the brakes on this 2013 chassis 2014 WBGO feel weak or any different from what I driven before.

I do understand that one gets use to how things drive and behave. Over the years having changed dozens of shocks woke me up to that fact. One does not realize how poor the ride is until new shocks are installed. We get use to not having good shocks.

What has changed over the year is the braking material used in the pads. We went from asbestos material to metallic, semi-metallic and ceramic with combinations of all those materials. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the brake feel but I'll repeat what I said before. The brake systems still have to meet DOT stopping specifications or they can't be sold to the public.

I don't feel unsafe driving the MH. It will stop in a reasonable time. One does have to anticipate increased stopping distances associated with a heavier vehicle.

TeJay