I have used the form to do some research on my brake job, I wanted to post my experiences doing a brake job on my RV and maybe this information will help others attempting or about to attempt this repair.
2009 Ford F53 Chassis V10
Winnebago (Itasca Suncruiser) 38Ft
22.5” Wheels 30, 000 Miles with ABS
Link for Pictures if they do not show in post
A few weeks ago I was getting the RV up to par to take it on a 5 week road trip from Florida to California with my family. I was check tire pressure, changing the engine oil, and greasing the front end and a visual inspection of the chassis. I just happen to look over at the brakes and saw a large crack in the rotor both sides. (The RV has no pulsing brake pedal or signs of a cracked rotor) After calling around to shops about getting the front brakes repaired I got many different quotes from $1400- $2000. I felt this is unacceptable price for a brake job. I have done many of brake jobs/repairs on my other vehicles so I was thinking how hard it could be? After doing much research on the iRV2 forums I was confident that I could make the repair myself.
I had my dad help me with the brake job, it was defiantly nice having a second set of hands to handle the heavy parts. We started at 9:30am and finished both front brakes at 3:30pm this included a trip back to the auto parts store and lunch. All the work was done with simple hand tools.
First I parked the RV on solid ground to start the brake job. I use a pair of channel locks and a rag to protect the chrome lug nuts to pull the hub caps on both sides. (There are only two lugs on each hub cap that need to be removed they are the ones with the “dimples” on the nut) The other “fake lugs had little foam pad behind them some fell out while removing the hub cap other stayed it. I’m guessing this is for vibrations.
This next step was the part I was most worried about, taking off the lug nuts from the rim. After my research on the forums the torque specs on the lugs are 400+ foot-pounds and I only had a breaker bar. Right directly after removing the hub cap I sprayed each lug nut with
PB Blaster (you can find this just about anywhere) and let sit for 10 minutes. I bought an
impact socket set from Amazon with the correct deep well sock for my lugs (33MM). I put a breaker bar on the socket at stepped on the bar with both feet and all my weight (190 lbs) and the first lug broke loose. I continued to break lose all 16 lugs.
I then placed wood under the front levelers and jacked up the front wheels off the ground just enough to get the wheel off. After a quick inspection you could see the rotors large crack and also see micro cracks. I believe this was caused by heat. The RV does have these “air duct directors” to push cool air into the brakes I don’t know how well this works because the front bumper skirt area looks like it would block the air flow to the intake.
The next step I removed the 6 bolts holding the bearing cap on the spindle. (10 MM socket) There was some old dark grease in the cap and a gasket was still intact on the pub. . I bent the ends of the cotter pin, I grabbed the top of the cotter pin with a pair of vice grips and hit the vice grips with a hammer and the pin came right out. I used a screw driver to score a mark on the spindle and the castle nut to make sure they are put back on correctly. I used the same flat head screw driver to tap the castle nut loose with a hammer because I did not have a socket that fit. I pulled the nut and the washer off the spindle and cleaned them up and inspected the bearing.
I then removed the two bolts holding the caliper on with an 18MM socket and a ratchet wrench with a little effort it broke loose. I slip out the caliper and placed it on a 5 gallon bucket to keep from putting tension on the flexible brake lines. I removed the pads and inspected the calipers the heat did not get the calipers so I was happy about that, and the pad still had a lot of meat on the pad but if I have it tore apart this far I’m going to replace them. After trying to pull the rotor off the spindle I realized that I need to remove one more part to allow room to pull the rotor off. (I’m not sure what this is called) But I include a picture the bolts used were torx star heads I was worried that I didn’t have a socket for this but a 10MM 6 point socket worked well just be careful not to strip them. I was only able to break lose 3 of the 4 bolts but I was still able to tap the bar aside to allow me to remove the rotor.
I pulled the rotor and the larger back bearing, cleaned up the bearing and inspected it for damage. I also sprayed the 10 bolts holding the rotor to the hub with PB Blaster and let them sit for 10 minutes. I put the hub on the wheel to keep the hub from spinning and allowing me to use a breaker bar and an 18 MM deep well socket to brake the bolts holding the hub to the rotor. After unbolting two or three taps with a hammer and the rotor came right off. I cleaned up the bolts and flat washers and bolted the new rotor back down. You can see the ABS sensor ring in the picture. I had to do some research when because not all the F53 rotors have the ABS rings.
I Packed all the bearings with new grease and started bolting it back together, I did find out I had the wrong brake pads for my RV. Advanced auto parts website only lists the pads for a lower GVW I had to return them and I was not sure if they would have the correct ones in stock. The guy at the store looked it up and realized the pads were listed wrong in the system. He did find the correct series pads in the back. I also greased the caliper slides before bolting them back together. I used the old pads and a large C clamp to compress the calipers.
Below is a list of parts and a total price.
I ordered my parts from the advanced auto parts website, and used a 25% off the total order coupon. I also used a 20$ coupon sent to after the first order when I returned the old pad for new ones.
(2) wearever 15” Rotor with ABS ring installed (10 hole) 139.99 each
(1) wearver Platinum simi metallic pads 59.99 These were the wrong ones after retuening and using $20 coupon they were $39.99.
Wheel bearing grease $5.29
Caliper slide lube $4.49
Impact Socket set $35.00
Total 364.75 before the discounts.
I ordered online my order was ready for pick up in the store 15 minutes later.
Yes, I used 
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