W-20/W-22 Workhorse Chassis Brake Problems?

Lindsay Richards said:

They put back the same design rotors as the new ones are not ready. I talked with them today about the refund of the towing bill as this seems only fair. When the new parts are designed and made, I will be getting this installed.

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My understanding is that their is no new rotor design, only the calipers. My local WH dealer told me recently that if the owner wants new rotors and/or brake pads, that will be a customer-pay. He told me that the new calipers will be produced by Bosch and that at this time, Bosch is not on board with any reimbursements to WH. That could change in the future, since there is a design problem in the calipers, though I don't know if WH or Bosch designed the calipers that were used in the affected model-year chassis.

I had a complete brake-rotor replacement done under warrantee at 25000 mi WH 22 2003. Ijust had it done again 73052 mi. Wh covered the new calipers and the rear rotors. I had to pay for the front and all the pads. My cost $870C$. The front rotors were severely spider checked with several deep cracks. Unfit to use and too bad to lathe. Why shouldn't WH pay for the damage caused by their faulty calipers? I am having trouble getting in contact with WH. (computer-phone).I intend to appeal their decision. From Surrey B.C.

Does anyone know if Workhorse is going to reimburse people who paid for these repairs prior to the recall? I contacted the local dealer to schedule my repairs,  since I had a problem last week and mentioned what I had done previously and had paperwork to submit for reimbursement. ($1588.00)  They said that Workhorse was not reimbursing for previous failures.  ???  I went to a workhorse service center to have this done 2 years ago, after talking with the district field engineer/manager to take it in for evaluation, and now they are not reimbursing for following their advise??????? 

Well, after more than three years, wasn't sure that this day would ever come. Went in to my local WH dealer a couple of weeks ago due to a fuel gauge failure. When dropping off my MH after hours, I noticed four WH chassis MH's with all the wheels, calipers and pads pulled. I called them the next day and asked if they were now doing The Brake Recall; sure enough! Had to wait until the next supply of calipers came in, but can now say that my '05 MH has new calipers installed all the way around.

It's a shame that it took more than three years to get a safety issue resolved and that WH had to suffer such a black-eye for fighting the owners all the way to the end, but I'll always remember that getting banned at the WH forum was worth it to me, because I, along with others, WERE RIGHT about the faulty brakes and never rolled over for anyone over there. Just wish I knew how many WH owners and members over there, that fought me tooth and nail saying WH was not at fault and it was all owner's fault for the failures due to lack of maintenance, poor driving skills, and 'non-use' have now had their brakes repaired and/or replaced because of the BRAKE RECALL.

TO those people, FROM all the people who helped challenge WH, wrote letters to the NHTSA and politicians, etc, I say 'You're Welcome'...

Anyone who hasn't talked to their dealer lately should give them a call; they might have parts available and can get the recall done. I wasn't actually contacted by WH or the dealer, just happened to stop by and got my done. Dealer told me that once they got the 'walk-ins' done, they will go through and contact all local owners, so you just might be able to speed up the process for your MH by checking in with your dealer.

Richard - it is very gratifying to finally see this long and difficult journey finally coming to an end.  The problems in another forum were the catalyst (in a large part) of why I'm here and not there.

WH isn't the only manufacturer trying to keep their corporate checkbook tightly zippered up.

I have a 2000 F-250 with the 7.3 L Powerstroke diesel (Navistar).  It's a wonderful engine and extremely reliable.  Around the 2003 model year, Ford went to a 6.0 L diesel which has the very unhelpful tendency to blow head gaskets  .  The last time I had my truck in for service, I noticed two trucks in the shop with the bodies completely lifted up and off of the frame (and this is a small town!).  The service writer said they were in for blown head gaskets and lifting the body off was the easiest way to gain access to the engine.  He asked what year my truck was and smiled when I told him - he said "keep it."

Ford's solution to the problem was to change engines in 2008 (to a 6.4 L.)  As far as I know, if you were out of warranty with a blown head gasket, that's too bad.

And then there's Chrysler.  They have a problem with the camshaft position sensor (CPS) on the 2005 and 2006 model year Wranglers with the I6 engine.  The gear gets worn down sometimes after 20,000 miles and sometimes with 50,000 miles or road time.  If the problem is bad enough, it affects the mating cam gear, affects the engine timing, and it could destroy lifters and valves.  There are a whole bunch of very mad Wrangler owners on this particular Jeep forum.  Some are covered under warranty, many are not.  Chrysler's replacement CPS is apparently an exact clone of the part that keeps failing.  The forum thread on this problem is about 50 pages long 

Chrysler's ultimate solution to the problem was to change engines for the 2007 model year.  They are now using the V6 3.8 L engine from the minivan in the Wranglers.

John Canfield said:

Richard - it is very gratifying to finally see this long and difficult journey finally coming to an end.  The problems in another forum were the catalyst (in a large part) of why I'm here and not there.

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John, I appreciate your participation here and not over there.  Your posts are very informative and lay the facts out fair and simply.  It's very much noticed and appreciated, and is the reason I (like Richard) are here and at RV.net.  The management change there and some of the current admins are just as bad as the Soup **** on Seinfield.  Some of the sponsors were posting volitile posts also, and the management let them get away with it. 

Several over there had their heads stuck so far in the sand about this issue, and that's why this communication, or lack of therein, by Workhorse caused so much grief to some over here.  Maybe now we can get on with what we like to do best....use our RV's the way they were intended.

Richard...yes!  We finally made it, and like others, we appreciate your posts!  The ones over there who said nothing was wrong (and it was OUR fault) were FIRST in line to have their brakes replaced, and were willing to pay the $1,500 "special" that Workhorse was pushing.  Thanks to you and several others who wouldn't back down from this issue.  Lets meet up for a Coke sometime! 

Would like to post that we got our Recall notice and have a appt. for November 11th to get our brakes fixed on our 2003 Dolphin LX motorhome with the workhorse chassis, will be interesting to see if this fixes the problem as we had them replace the rotors, pads, calibrers, and Bolts in 2004 and it didn't help, have to go down the hills in 3 or 2 if it is very steep just to keep the brakes from overheating, makes the truckers behind you very unhappy!
I'm looking forward to seeing posts after this recall is all done and how everyone is doing with there brakes on the Workhorse chassis. My Thanks to all those deadicated to getting this recall done!  GrandpaDuke

We had the recall work done a couple of weeks ago and just went over the Rockies on I70. The brakes worked fine but 2nd or 3rd going down some of the grades was common. Used 1st a few times also to hold 25 mph. The trucks were doing the same thing.

The Allison dropped down to 1st  a couple of times going up some of the grades and 3rd often.

I just bought a new fleetwood terra 34 b and had the recall done earlier this week.  took about 4 hours.

I own a 2010 Hurricane 31G. I had had by far the worst experience ever. I was driving back from Michigan to Quantico, VA. I got in the tow road near Cleveland Ohio, and as I stop to pick up the towroad ticket the ABS light came on. It had came on before for about 5 minutes and then went off, so I pay no attention to it. Well this time 5 minutes after the light came on I saw another warning message on the dash board about erratic speed not matching or some thing like that and the RV would not go anywhere. I stopped at a emergency stop luckily it was close. I put on the selector lever on parking, then drive and reverse and the RV would not move. I proceded and called those idiot ROADCALL ASSISTANT, which they decide that it would be best to tow it to Youngstown Ohio, when there were other workhorse shops closer. I didn't know that cause I'm from TX. The tow company came looked at the RV and said that my differential was broken, even made a stupid remark as us RV'er are drag racing and putting the RV on Reverse as we are driving on the freeways, who does that while you are cruising nice and easy on the highway. not me, that's for sure. Well on the way to Youngstown after 55 miles of towing the RV, we get pulled over by another trucker, thank god. The RV was on fire the left rear wheel brakes were on fire and it was so bad that the tow truck driver stopped on the middle of the freeway and emptied to big fire extinguishers on the rear of the RV. I had walk about 100 yards back cause I was afraid some poor driver was going to run on the back of the RV and tried to wave everybody to stop, or move over. The worse to come, the tow company Rich's Towing called road side assistance for more money cause now they needed to tow my RV on a flat bed cause the rear wheels were leaning in as wheel bearings were melted on the inside, and the rear brakes were burned. I was left on the  cold no towtruck no roadside assistance out of my pocket to tow the RV 3K. Take it in have it checked for ABS, Brakes and, rear bearings. Of course they are going to try not to pay as in my case as now. I wish I new a Good lawyer

  Just had my recall completed. I love how a recall cost the owner money. I now have a total of $2400 tied up in the repair ($1600 before recall and $800 after). Does anyone know of any means to recoup these expenses????  Small claims court?? Class Action???  The repair facility identified to me that they have had 100's of customers identifying the same concerns. Seems to me that workhorse is side stepping their responsibility by only covering the calipers, when the concern has caused additional damage to the rotors, and sensors. All of which have been replaced on my unit due to this concern.

Though I agree with you that secondary damage should be covered.. I have not the means to pursue it.

The best thing might be to ask your question in IRV2 (The official Workhorse forum) if it does not get you kicked off that is...... If enough folks think alike, Class Action is possible (BUT I do not recommend it)

I will tell you the problem with Class Action.. THE LAWYERS GET PAID FIRST and you get what's left over

Last class Action I was in the issue was a hundred dollar issue.. I got 2 bucks. STORE CREDIT.

I would be interested in comments from other Winnebago owners that have had the above recall work completed.  During the Bosh Caliper replacement on our rig it also was found that all four rotors were heat cracked and needed replaced along with the pads and seals.  Workhorse has refused to pay for this additional work...stating the rotors were not the cause  Since want to keep using our rig, we paid the out of pocket cost of $1466.56.  I have been reading about this caliper / rotor issue on different RV forums for months / years.  While I am happy WH finally issued the recall, I am very unhappy about their cost coverage.  We all can't have the same problem (cracked rotors, etc.)  and not have the same issue of cause. 

RV LadyLinda

I had mine done in mid October. I was very pleased with the service center I used as they allowed me into the garage area as they pulled the wheels and examined the brakes. My pads showed about 80% remaining and rotors were in perfect shape -- no scoring or signs of heat. The only thing I had them do was rotate the tires and pull my speed bleeders off the old calibers and install on the new calibers. Total cost to me was $22.
The only issue I had during the 3 or so years I have driven the coach (>20K miles with lots of mountain driving and Alaska and back) was some boiling in the right rear. I have bled my brakes 2 - 3 times over the last 2 years which has eliminated the boiling condition. I expect I will continue the bleeding procedure in the spring of each year.
Frank O.

Thanks for your response, FrankO.  We have used the same RV repair facility since we started RVing.  They were great about repairing via the recall above.  Since we only have 35,200 miles on our rig, everyone was suprised that the rotors were also cracked, etc.  The shop took complete photos and sent their comments,  and request for a reimbursment on our behalf.  WH declined.  Of course, we are appealing their response. 

RVLadyLinda

RVLadyL,
  How are you appealing their response???? I am still awaiting the repair facilities response from Workhorse, which they assured me would be denied. Not only is workhorse denying the extra cost to the repairs, but today I received an email from Workhorse identifying that they made a donation in my name to Toys for Tots.  I have no problem with donating to a needy organization, as I do so myself,  but when they send money to an organization for their tax benefit purposes and not support the customers who purchase their products really upsets me  !!!!!!!!!!! 

Windsport, WH wasted no time denying our claim.  Our repair facility received the return WH email prior our rig leaving the facility.  As to pursuing our repair claim with WH, we have resubmitted paperwork / photos via certified mail.  However, I'm sure that will also be denied.  So...I am collecting information for future use.  Hence, this forum; Good Sam info, etc.  I refuse to believe we (meaning all of us involved) should have to pay out of pocket for additional repairs related to the recalled calipers.  After all, the Bosh caliper / cracked rotor stories date back to 2008, if not earlier, and a recall was forced on WH.  There are instances where WH  paid for all  the repairs so not sure why since the recall, WH is denying these related repair costs.  This work is not elective, it's required for owners to safely drive their rigs.  I am still having nightmares about driving from Oregon (over Grants Pass) to California this fall with my grandson on board....with cracked rotors.

RVLadyLinda