03-28-2020, 11:52 AM
My first day heading back north from Key West is always a tough day. I am alone and I have found no good stopping place for a 45' coach towing my Jeep until I am just south of Ocala, at Ocala Sun RV Resort. That is a lot of hours behind the wheel without ever getting up. I tell you this as it is part of the reason my thinking is dull at the end of that journey.
I was happily putting off at my destination exit and waiting for the light to turn green. Eventually it did, I straightened myself up and eased down on the accelerator. RPM's responded but the coach did not move! Oh great! "D" was just blinking at me. No amount of going back and forth between "N" and "D" produced the desired result. If horns were honking, they were so far behind me I could not hear them.
Finally I looked at my air pressures - Oh no - way low. I put the coach E brake on and pressed down on the accelerator to run the compressor at a high speed. I watched the needles go up. Reduced to idle, canceled E-Brake, and pushed "D" and I was moving. Within a mile or so I was at the campground and waiting for a golf cart escort to my site. When that was ready, you guess it, flashing "D" again. I had sat there with my foot on the brake - mind numb from all the driving, and air was low again. Went through the whole thinking process and got air and got parked.
I called Richard just to have someone to talk to. Bless him, he listened and offered any assistance I might need. What I really needed was fluids, food, and rest. I told him we would deal with it in the morning when I could think straight.
This is something I have done you might want to consider. I purchased, some time ago, an expandable rod that mechanics use to hold up the hood of a car whose spring shocks are shot. I purchased it with the intent of being able to hold the brake pedal down when I was away from the seat. Drive axle spring brakes have been known to slip on a steep incline. The rod was to keep that from happening if I had to be outside the coach.
I aired up, chocked the wheels, put the e-brake to off installed the rod and exited the coach. The air leak from the front passenger wheel was awesome. Well, Houston the problem is identified.
I asked Richard if he thought I could get away with driving if I would handle stopped situations, after stopping, with E-brake and foot of brake pedal. That sounded pretty stupid as it came out of my mouth and we soon agreed it was just not worth the risk.
He said he wold load up some tools and see me soon.
In the mean time I raised the coach and cribbed it. The air hose was just hanging down and no longer connected in any way to the brake chamber.
When Richard arrived and crawled back out ( we did not remove the wheel ) he said the brass fitting at the end of the air hose had fractured. Part was in the brake chamber and part still on the hose. We hope we could replace the fitting, but it turns out it is part of the hose assembly and not replaceable. Thinking it was probably a custom assembly we shopped for a fitting to screw onto the few remaining threads on the hose. But, at that point of the pipe thread fitting it had tapered out enough that another fitting was not going to thread on. He suggested, and I was okay, with cutting off the failing end and using a hose barb and clamps to get me back on the road and a DOT compliant repair at a later date and a more convenient location. The Easy Outs were purchased as were the fittings, and on the way to his truck he asks if I would be willing to try a truck parts place where he had been once. It was going to close shortly, but I said sure and off we went. The counter guy kind of looked at the brake hose and goes, "Well ours have swivels on both ends" I have rarely been so happy. We bought one the correct length . Now if the Easy Out worked we were home free and better off than new. Having a swivel on both ends, versus no swivel was a much easier install. No leaks and I am ready for my next leg of the trip.
Hope you enjoyed reading and maybe this will help someone down the road.
Many thanks to Richard the Ultimate Guru.
Russ
I was happily putting off at my destination exit and waiting for the light to turn green. Eventually it did, I straightened myself up and eased down on the accelerator. RPM's responded but the coach did not move! Oh great! "D" was just blinking at me. No amount of going back and forth between "N" and "D" produced the desired result. If horns were honking, they were so far behind me I could not hear them.
Finally I looked at my air pressures - Oh no - way low. I put the coach E brake on and pressed down on the accelerator to run the compressor at a high speed. I watched the needles go up. Reduced to idle, canceled E-Brake, and pushed "D" and I was moving. Within a mile or so I was at the campground and waiting for a golf cart escort to my site. When that was ready, you guess it, flashing "D" again. I had sat there with my foot on the brake - mind numb from all the driving, and air was low again. Went through the whole thinking process and got air and got parked.
I called Richard just to have someone to talk to. Bless him, he listened and offered any assistance I might need. What I really needed was fluids, food, and rest. I told him we would deal with it in the morning when I could think straight.
This is something I have done you might want to consider. I purchased, some time ago, an expandable rod that mechanics use to hold up the hood of a car whose spring shocks are shot. I purchased it with the intent of being able to hold the brake pedal down when I was away from the seat. Drive axle spring brakes have been known to slip on a steep incline. The rod was to keep that from happening if I had to be outside the coach.
I aired up, chocked the wheels, put the e-brake to off installed the rod and exited the coach. The air leak from the front passenger wheel was awesome. Well, Houston the problem is identified.
I asked Richard if he thought I could get away with driving if I would handle stopped situations, after stopping, with E-brake and foot of brake pedal. That sounded pretty stupid as it came out of my mouth and we soon agreed it was just not worth the risk.
He said he wold load up some tools and see me soon.
In the mean time I raised the coach and cribbed it. The air hose was just hanging down and no longer connected in any way to the brake chamber.
When Richard arrived and crawled back out ( we did not remove the wheel ) he said the brass fitting at the end of the air hose had fractured. Part was in the brake chamber and part still on the hose. We hope we could replace the fitting, but it turns out it is part of the hose assembly and not replaceable. Thinking it was probably a custom assembly we shopped for a fitting to screw onto the few remaining threads on the hose. But, at that point of the pipe thread fitting it had tapered out enough that another fitting was not going to thread on. He suggested, and I was okay, with cutting off the failing end and using a hose barb and clamps to get me back on the road and a DOT compliant repair at a later date and a more convenient location. The Easy Outs were purchased as were the fittings, and on the way to his truck he asks if I would be willing to try a truck parts place where he had been once. It was going to close shortly, but I said sure and off we went. The counter guy kind of looked at the brake hose and goes, "Well ours have swivels on both ends" I have rarely been so happy. We bought one the correct length . Now if the Easy Out worked we were home free and better off than new. Having a swivel on both ends, versus no swivel was a much easier install. No leaks and I am ready for my next leg of the trip.
Hope you enjoyed reading and maybe this will help someone down the road.
Many thanks to Richard the Ultimate Guru.
Russ
Russ White
2016 Winnebago Vista LX 30T
#530 ( Sold )
1999 45' Double Slide - Factory upgrade 2004
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