Front end Vibration- Shaking

[Rocket Man]

Greetings all.

I have a 2001 30' Winnebago Brave, V-10, F-53 chassis with 31,867 miles. Living here in So. Lake Tahoe one does use more brake than normal when coming down the mountains. Along with braking I do gear down gear to help it slow. Last week about 1/2 down Spooner Summit I had to apply the brakes lightly for the turn's and I thought the front end of the MH. was coming loose. It didn't just vibrate, it shook like hell, the more I braked the worse it became. DUH. I stopped braking and let it slow by itself. About 5 minutes later I had to brake again and guess what, it didn't shake the rest of the way down. Go figure. So fellow RV's what am I looking at here? Any and all suggestions will be greatly accepted.

Thank you in advance.

[jacwjames]

Possibly with the brakes hot a caliper was hanging up on the rotor. After you didn't use them for a while the cooling corrected the problem.

[keymastr]

could be a wheel bearing going or bushings, tie rod ends etc.

[Bamaman]

You'll want to have your Winnie looked at by a professional mechanic experienced in medium duty trucks.

Like they said, it could be a tie rod end, bad rotors or other problems. It's not worth coming off some of the inclines around Tahoe without knowing your coach is at 100%.

[PushedAround]

This is a classic case of overheating the brakes and causing excess material transfer from the pads to the rotors. Happens all the time in auto racing. The transfer happens unevenly and so the material grabs the rotor everytime it comes around and causes the pulsing and shaking. Sometimes it cleans off after everything cools down (like you found out) but sometimes it doesn't and you need to get the rotors resurfaced. Higher grade metallic pads will help prevent this.

[timetogo]

When you live in the hills, use 1st gear as necessary. Don't worry about engine reving. Your brakes will thank you.

There is a lot of info about about brake fade, rotors, and calipers on the web. Take a look.

[MnTom]

There is also the possibility of the infamous "death wobble". The problem is worn steering components that worn and allow the wheels to wobble. Do yourself a favor and have the front end checked out.

[djbmsu]

Ford chassis has a solid front axel and they have king pins and those bushings go bad. When they go bad and you either hit a bump or apply the brakes the front end will act just as you have described. Not a large expenseto have them replaced and an alignment

[TeJay]

You've gotten good information. It would be smart to have a good truck shop check: steering and suspension, machine rotors and replace pads with the best you can find. Any number of items mentioned could have caused or contributed to the problem. I'm going with the poster that said, "Brake pad transfer of material caused intermittent grabbing of the pads." I also believe that the excessive heat contributed to rotor warp. The problem went away when they cooled down some.

Be smart and safe by having everything checked. Make sure that they show and prove to you when they say that a part is bad and needs replaced.

Just an hour ago I had my 2002 Honda Civic toad in for some recalls. The tech did the work then reported that one of my axle boots was torn and all the CV joint grease was gone. When I got home I inspected them and there's no grease slung all over the place as reported. Most people would have believed them and spent $200-300 to have it fixed. I want proof that something is bad.

I will call the service writer and report for sure if it was a scam.

TeJay

[Rocket Man]

Sorry not to have answered sooner. Thank you for all the reply's. I talked to Ford in Carson City and they mentioned some of the same problems. I'll take it to a couple more shops and see what kind of money their talking about.

Thanks again to you all for the reply's. I'll report back with the results. Great site.