11 years thousands of miles, this was a first for me. Coming to a stop at in intersate exit the rig was just not slowing down like it usually does. Really glad I have the F450 with the extra big brakes. Ok, something not quite right with the expensive electric over hydaralic disk brake system. Maybe my pads are worn down. Check the truck, show's I have traler break output. Meh, things happen. Next day hook up, test the brakes, shows activated, I can her the pump running. Do a slow trailer control brake check, nada. Hmmmm!. Pull open the front compartment and check the brake fluid level in the pump, empty.... ???
Run to the store buy brake fluid, put it in, activate the pump, pump changes pitch, ok. Just needed to keep the fluid level at appropriate level, dummy, PM pays.
Brakes work leaving the park. Stopped for gas mid afternoon, brakes aren''t working at the exit. Hmmm! Get parked, well empty. Where did the brake fluid go? Crawled around in the gravel and fire ants, can't see a leak. Filled well back up.. Brakes work. Bought more brake fluid, I'll get ahead of this. Nope! End of day, no brakes. Fill well, run pump. Morning, brakes work. Pit stop, no brakes. Still looking for fluid dripping. Add more, run pump.. Finally, after three days of this business I see brake fluid running down the front left tire. More crawling around with the fire ants, obvious leak from left front caliper..
I didn't know that calipers had seals that could fail. Top half no brake fluid, bottom half wet. Repair facilities? Hahahaha... I might get in by Christmas. I got six brakes, so a trip to NAPA and some fittings I take off the offending feeder hose and cap it. Add more fluid, pump, bring the pressure up. I know I should bleed the brake sytem, but dont' have the stuf to do it with. Figure that most of the lines have solid fluid with little or no air in them. Fill, pump, fill pump, fill pump. Well is full and no obvious leaks.
Tomorrow for the big brake test to see if my patch job will work until I get to my destination.
So here are my nagging unanswered questions:
1. Does brake fluid on the surface of tires cause harm?
2. Does excessive brake fluid on rotors cause harm?
3. Should I have worked harder at bleeding the system? My thoughts were that bleeding the lines occurs on initial installation, but hydralulics being what they are there should be little air in the lines...hmmmm!
4. When I replace the offending caliper should I get all new brake pads on all 6 brakes?
5. Will brake fluid contaminate the bearing grease?
6. What type of repair place should I look for to get all new brake pades, replacement caliper?
7. While getting that done should I get the bearings repacked?
8. It's been thousands of miles, all hubs are running under 100f, while I am getting the rest of this stuff done should I get new bearings also?
9. What caused the caliper to fail? Should I anticipate more caliper seal failures?
Mostly these are rhetorical questions just for dicussion. I will run like I am until I get to my winter destination in just 10 days, Then, I will hunt around for a facility that works with Kokiak brake calipers and take the rig in. I expect I will do bearings, pads, and have the other calipers inspected, hopefully by someone who has seen a few of them and know how they fail. Maybe I will just replace all the calipers, that would give me new brake pads all around. Well poop, as long as I am having that done I might as well get new wet bolts installed, aligned, greased.
If you can't have fun with this stuff you should'nt be here.
Run to the store buy brake fluid, put it in, activate the pump, pump changes pitch, ok. Just needed to keep the fluid level at appropriate level, dummy, PM pays.
Brakes work leaving the park. Stopped for gas mid afternoon, brakes aren''t working at the exit. Hmmm! Get parked, well empty. Where did the brake fluid go? Crawled around in the gravel and fire ants, can't see a leak. Filled well back up.. Brakes work. Bought more brake fluid, I'll get ahead of this. Nope! End of day, no brakes. Fill well, run pump. Morning, brakes work. Pit stop, no brakes. Still looking for fluid dripping. Add more, run pump.. Finally, after three days of this business I see brake fluid running down the front left tire. More crawling around with the fire ants, obvious leak from left front caliper..
I didn't know that calipers had seals that could fail. Top half no brake fluid, bottom half wet. Repair facilities? Hahahaha... I might get in by Christmas. I got six brakes, so a trip to NAPA and some fittings I take off the offending feeder hose and cap it. Add more fluid, pump, bring the pressure up. I know I should bleed the brake sytem, but dont' have the stuf to do it with. Figure that most of the lines have solid fluid with little or no air in them. Fill, pump, fill pump, fill pump. Well is full and no obvious leaks.
Tomorrow for the big brake test to see if my patch job will work until I get to my destination.
So here are my nagging unanswered questions:
1. Does brake fluid on the surface of tires cause harm?
2. Does excessive brake fluid on rotors cause harm?
3. Should I have worked harder at bleeding the system? My thoughts were that bleeding the lines occurs on initial installation, but hydralulics being what they are there should be little air in the lines...hmmmm!
4. When I replace the offending caliper should I get all new brake pads on all 6 brakes?
5. Will brake fluid contaminate the bearing grease?
6. What type of repair place should I look for to get all new brake pades, replacement caliper?
7. While getting that done should I get the bearings repacked?
8. It's been thousands of miles, all hubs are running under 100f, while I am getting the rest of this stuff done should I get new bearings also?
9. What caused the caliper to fail? Should I anticipate more caliper seal failures?
Mostly these are rhetorical questions just for dicussion. I will run like I am until I get to my winter destination in just 10 days, Then, I will hunt around for a facility that works with Kokiak brake calipers and take the rig in. I expect I will do bearings, pads, and have the other calipers inspected, hopefully by someone who has seen a few of them and know how they fail. Maybe I will just replace all the calipers, that would give me new brake pads all around. Well poop, as long as I am having that done I might as well get new wet bolts installed, aligned, greased.
If you can't have fun with this stuff you should'nt be here.
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