Re: Big truck parking brakes

Posted by NC Wayne on August 10, 2007 at 22:48:35 from (166.82.164.156):

In Reply to: Big truck parking brakes posted by Roy Suomi on August 10, 2007 at 20:22:45:

Just had to do a complete brake job on my Freightliner that had been having some "stopping issues". In trying to figure out what the problem actually was I talked to a friend that owns a truck repair shop. He and all his guys had just gone through a brake repair course earlier in the week. The old thought on run it out tight and back it off X amount is no longer acceptable with auto style slack adjusters. The new way to do the initial setting is to actually use a feeler guage and run the shoes out til there's .020 clearance between the pad and the drum. He said the instructors told them anymore was doing nothing but causing the brake to be "loose" and created more slippage and therefore more heat when stopping and we all know that means glazing of the pads and drums. When parked all you've got is a spring in the chamber applying the drum with x amount of pressure but when your stopping you've got alot more pressure acting to apply the brakes via the service side of the chamber. If yours has been loose and out of grossly out of adjustment like you said the pads and drums might be glazed and that can effect the holding power of the brakes tremendously when parked, especially on a hill. Once you've got everything adjusted try throwing some bon ami or other abrasive cleanser, or even a handfull of find sand in the drum and do a few slow stops in the drive or somewhere safe. It ought to cut the glaze on the pads and drums and take care of the problem if that's what it is.-----As far as the problem I found with mine, it turned out to be in the slack adjusters. I did a complete brake job including replacing the cams, the cam bushings, and all the other "normal" parts. In 5 years the truck has always stopped Ok but not like I thought it should. With the new parts and everything adjusted per my buddies advice it'll slide the tires now. Idiot was stopped in the middle of the road coming out of a blind curve the other day and I got a chance to really test them...he was lucky, they work great now.... Good luck with yours. Let us know what you find.

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