Clipper Air brake Question

[tom120]

our 47 Flxible brakes seem to fade just before the bus comes to a full stop. pedal doesnt drop and there is no air pressure issue. brakes come on hard but the final roll seems long. we are going to have a shop look at them. linings are excellent.  any ideas on the issue? bus has sat for 7 years. thanks tommr86@msn.com

[belfert]

Without knowing your level of experience with air brakes I would not recommend driving that bus anywhere until the brakes are checked out.  Wasn't it a Flexible of some sort a number of years back that had poorly adjusted brakes and ended up with front end damage from not being able to stop?

[luvrbus]

Go to the Flx site some great info on the Flx brakes and some great people there, very few here can answer a brake question on a 65 year old Flx I know I can't lol

good luck

[TomC]

Sounds to me that the brakes are out of adjustment.  This is classic-when the brakes are cool, they work well-but when they suddenly warm up while braking, the heat expands the brake drum away from the linings.  Adjust the brakes to 1/3 turn out, or 1 inch of rod travel.  If that doesn't work, then your S cam bushings are probably worn, or you need new linings.  I agree-figure it out before going anywhere else.  Need brakes ALWAYS at 100% Good Luck, TomC

[chev49]

i thought a 47 yom would have wedge cam instead of s cam...

[luvrbus]

He could have air over hydraulic on his Clipper all were not air brakes some were even straight hydraulic brakes 

No telling what he has so I am not guessing lol I will leave it to the FLX guys they do wonders with the FLX keeping that old bus road worthy 

good luck

[tom120]

thanks for the responses.  transmission is going back in tomorrow. got flywheel repaired and resurfaced and rebuilt the clutch disc and pressure plate. we are going to check those adjustments before we go on the road test. there are no air pressure losses or issues with the bus. this has S cams and they are all fine. bus has 95k original miles. thanks

[buswarrior]

Over time, brake linings change/decay/absorb/harden/soften, whichever words you want to use to describe they simply don't grip or make friction like they should.

With everything mechanical accounted for, fresh linings can sometimes have dramatic effects.

Also, many old buses simply stop poorly by modern standards, due to the smaller brake parts used in those days.

Add the smaller design and decay together....

WHOA bus bus bus!!!!!

happy coaching!
buswarrior