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Evugrandtour · 10-10-2020, 02:17 PM

Hi everyone

Newbie here and I have a 1996 Winnebago vectra grand tour with a tag axle (36WA/ford 460 chassis) and we are currently in Denver, Colorado. We drove here from California and last night I lost my tag axle brake (left one). The pedal controller shows “SC) and the brake doesn’t work. Is there anyway to reset the light to temporarily use the brake?
I appreciate any input.

Gary RVRoamer · 10-10-2020, 02:56 PM

Are you saying you have no brakes at all, or that the pedal doesn't operate the tag axle brakes but the other axles are ok. Can you drive th coach with the tag axle brakes inoperative? The only effect should be somewhat longer stopping distances, which should be manageable with some driving care.

Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, but I owned a '96 ford chassis with tag axle and there was no "pedal controller" or separate display for tag brakes (mine was a '96 Fleetwood Southwind on a Ford 460 chassis).

Evugrandtour · 10-10-2020, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Are you saying you have no brakes at all, or that the pedal doesn't operate the tag axle brakes but the other axles are ok. Can you drive th coach with the tag axle brakes inoperative? The only effect should be somewhat longer stopping distances, which should be manageable with some driving care.

Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, but I owned a '96 ford chassis with tag axle and there was no "pedal controller" or separate display for tag brakes (mine was a '96 Fleetwood Southwind on a Ford 460 chassis).

Hi.
So I have a device under the dash on my left foot that I can adjust the number ( to adjust sensitivity I think) and a red button to step on to activate the tag axle brake. My other brakes work just fine but I just want to get it fixed because my RV is 26000lbs and having the axle brake helps a lot when I have to stop suddenly (like when some dummy cut in front and brake thinking I can just handle the gap like normal car).

Gary RVRoamer · 10-11-2020, 11:57 AM

So you have to manually brake the tag axle? Seems strange! In any case, I can't help with that problem.

denk · 10-11-2020, 12:48 PM

Just a long shot here but if you bought this coach used it may have been retrofitted with a separate brake system for the tag. I'm basing this on my experience with a 1999 National that had a tag axle. We had lost brakes on a trip and found out that a steel brake line on the tag had rusted and leaked. Since the tag was old there were no replacement parts available. My solution was to separate the tag hydraulics from the coach and to add an electric hydraulic pump with a brake controller(like on a trailer) in the coach. The controller had a sensitivity adjustment with lights.

Look to see if you have a separate system for the tag.

Sorry for the long story......

chboone · 10-11-2020, 09:21 PM

Sounds like a previous owner upgraded the hydraulic tag brakes to electric. I believe Dexter offers a electric brake conversion for the tags. Attached is a simple drawing of what the original tag axle brake system would have looked like

Lt46 · 10-12-2020, 08:16 AM

My 97 Winnebago Adventurer has a tag axle designed by the Jet Co. It provided braking power to the tag via electrical brakes (trailer brakes). It too operated by a device (brake controller) under the dash. I believe it was a voyager brand controller. I hated it's location so I installed a dash mounted one for easy access. The wheel on the controller sets the 12v power going to the brakes. Full "on" means 12v applied with each pedal touch. This always produced skidding on the tag wheels. Full off meant no power applied to the brakes at all. Finding the happy middle ground produced best tag braking.
I guess for you you need to identify what type of braking system you have hyd. v.s. electric. I agree, additional tag braking action is a plus but in the interim, prudent driving should not be a concern as the chassis braking system is independent of the add on tag axle system.

Evugrandtour · 10-12-2020, 08:45 PM

Hi everyone. Thank you for your replies.

So I ran into a much bigger problem. The transmission went out on me. Tranny was rebuilt by AAMCO in 05/2018 with less than 3000 miles (18month/18k miles warranty).
It’s been dropped off at AAMCO and I can’t wait to see what will happen.