New brake Issue

[John316]

 In getting ready to leave (that's why I've had the issues lately) I greased the chassis and brakes (not the drums just the moving components ). When moving it a short ways today the front right (maybe left side too but couldn't tell) brake was sticking. Could that have anything to do with the greasing, I checked and there isn't any grease on the drum? It released after backing up a little then stuck again after applying the brakes again. We need to leave first thing tomorrow, so we don't have a lot of time to deal with this.

We also rebuilt the brakes 1000 miles ago, and everything worked great until now. Could this be a slack adjuster issue?

Any help would be great,

God Bless,

John

[gus]

Strangely enough grease on the linings will cause that brake to grab. You may have grease in the lining but not be able to see it on the drum from the edge.

The slack adjusters may have been over greased and the grease migrated to the linings, they only take a shot or two at the most.

[Tom Y]

John, Brake cleaner should wash it out if not to bad. Check the springs and  s cam to make sure it is free.  Tom Y

[John316]

Thanks I will start by rinsing them off (with brake cleaner of course).

What are the regs on the throw of slack adjusters? I thought it was 1.25 in. to 1.75 in. Is that correct?

God bless, and thanks for the help,

John

[luvrbus]

John I have a Eagle and the stroke on it is 1.00 to 1.50 for the drive axle and .88 to 1.38 for the front axle and bogie axle MCI should be about the same but you never know   good  luck

[ol713]

Hi;
    Another idea is rust.  If they have been sitting for
    awhile, the breaks will grab until the rust is polished
    off the drums.   Check it out.
                                Merle.

[John316]

I cleaned the slack adjusters and made double sure that there was no grease, that I could see, where there wasn't supposed to be. We took it on a test run, and the problem appears to be fixed.

I adjusted the slack adjuster to 1.25 throw on the front. The drive are set at 1.5.

Of course other issues pop up. I just replaced a switch in the dash and I don't have any lights on the dash, not a huge deal, I know (GPS tells us the speed to), but still a hassle. I checked the connections and everything appeared fine, but it still trips the breaker when the bus is on.

God bless,

John

[Lin]

Sounds like you have a short in the dash light system.  Probably something simple.

[John316]

Lin, it is a short and I'm sure it is something simple, but I sure haven't been able to find it yet (when I do find it, it will probably be really obvious just to make me feel really dumb ). I will research it later.

Thanks, and God Bless,

John

[hargreaves]

John, did you grease the brake anchor pins. If the pins have no grease they will cause the brake shoe to stick on application. They may free up while in use but when you park it for a while they will sieze up again.

Have a nice trip

Gerry

[John316]

Yup, Gerry I sure did grease them.

John