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

[email protected] said:

Carl and Judy Workhorse Brake Problems

We did report problems to NHTSA and have received confirmation that it was received.

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Carl and Judy, good that you did that.  Hopefully....and I mean HOPEFULLY, we hear something soon from Workhorse about this safety issue.

I had my brake fluid changed today, and will report this in a separate post here in the Motorhome forum.

Received an update from my Congressman that included a letter from Ronald L. Medford, Acting Deputy Administrator of NHTSA. Here is the jist of the letter; " We appreciate the report you provided on behalf of Mr. Rick (report was to my Congressman) and the previous report he provided via NHTSA's web site on April 27, 2008. Reports from motorists are a very important source of information for us. Mr. Rick expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of a resolution of an ongoing defect investigation that is relevant to his RV. Engineering Analysis (EA)07-016 was opened on Nov. 16, 2007, on model year (MY) 2000 through MY2005 Workhorse Chassis originally equipped with Bosch brake systems. During an EA, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) conducts a detailed and complete analysis of the character and scope of the alleged defect. The EA may involve inspections, tests, surveys and analyses of information obtained from the manufacture and suppliers. ODI attempts to resolve all EA's within one year from the date they are opened, but some complex investigations require more time. With respect to EA07-016, ODI has conducted site visits with seven (7) consumers who complained of brake problems in the affected vehicles. Additionally, ODI has obtained engineering data from Bosch and Workhorse that has been incorporated in our test plans. We expect a resolution of our investigation by the end of March, at which time Mr. Rick will be furnished with a copy of our technical report."

Hopefully we will see some results in the next few weeks and I look forward to receiving the Technical Report. It could prove invaluable if we have to take this forward by " other" means.

Hopefully action will be taken and the situation corrected.

Thanks for the report!

Oh, I checked my rig today.. Workhorse W-22 manufactured Aug 2004.

The bell crank has a zerk fitting, evidence on the fitting suggests the last time it was lubed the technician hit it with a shot of grease

As for the brakes.. I found no evidence of a manufacturer's name on the front calipers or on the visible side of the master cylinder.  IT does have very strong bolts with plastic/rubber bolts on it.

RickandCheryl, thanks for the report!  8)

John In Detroit said:

Oh, I checked my rig today.. Workhorse W-22 manufactured Aug 2004.

The bell crank has a zerk fitting, evidence on the fitting suggests the last time it was lubed the technician hit it with a shot of grease

As for the brakes.. I found no evidence of a manufacturer's name on the front calipers or on the visible side of the master cylinder.  IT does have very strong bolts with plastic/rubber bolts on it.

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  I could be wrong but I think the only brake mfg that workhorse uses is bosch.

I recall talking to Alan, and he mentioend another company.. However it may have been in a "non workhorse" context.

I THINK, they changed, but I'm not sure (Alan is national service manager for WH)

winnie35 said:

  I could be wrong but I think the only brake mfg that workhorse uses is bosch.

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Like we have said many times before, yes, Bosch is the only caliper that Workhorse uses or has used.

  I just found this site and am glad that there is a continuing activity amongst the members to get the brake issue resolved. I have spent the last 6 mths or so investigating and waiting for an answer to this problem. All I got from the other forum site was responses from workhorse employees discussing flushing the brake fluid. My question was "If brake fluid is the problem, because of moisture, why are we not using DOT 5 fluid which is less hydroscopic???"  I had a brake failure after having the campaign done and less than 10,000 miles after that, had to have $1600 worth of work done because the rear brake caught fire. Repair required 2 new rear calipers, rotors and wheel speed sensors along with pads all the way around. I also filed a report with the NHTSA since Work Horse refused to assist with the repairs. Hopefully this will be resolved shortly since it's been under investigation for some time now.

02 windsport said:

  I just found this site and am glad that there is a continuing activity amongst the members to get the brake issue resolved. I have spent the last 6 mths or so investigating and waiting for an answer to this problem. All I got from the other forum site was responses from workhorse employees discussing flushing the brake fluid. My question was "If brake fluid is the problem, because of moisture, why are we not using DOT 5 fluid which is less hydroscopic???"  I had a brake failure after having the campaign done and less than 10,000 miles after that, had to have $1600 worth of work done because the rear brake caught fire. Repair required 2 new rear calipers, rotors and wheel speed sensors along with pads all the way around. I also filed a report with the NHTSA since Work Horse refused to assist with the repairs. Hopefully this will be resolved shortly since it's been under investigation for some time now.

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Glad you joined us....We all got tired of the cheerleading over there also.  We want answers from our manufacturers, and not that "it's our own fault", or we "don't do enough preventive maintenance" or other rhetoric from the Ambassadors.

Several members here have been in contact with the NHTSA and their Congressmen, and we "hear" that the report from the NHTSA will come out by the "end of March".  We'll see!

Voyage1 said:

Glad you joined us....We all got tired of the cheerleading over there also. 

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Yes - welcome!  Please think of this forum as a valuable resource for other stuff as well!  Lots of us have migrated over here and like it very much  8)

I've just made the move from "you now where" to here.  I'm glad I found this forum.
Everything they do and say over there, pertaining to WH brakes, wreaks of caution and guilt.
I recognize a lot of names here also.
On the brake issue.... I made a statement "over there" once that an old GM mechanic told me..... that he worked on a fleet of trucks and had run into a lot of large GM trucks whose brake lines had gotten old, had become very flexable, and stretched inside and out and had been pinched by the clamps that GM had put at the calipers  to keep the lines out of the way. Their brakes were locking up like some of ours are doing.
The clamps were not allowing the fluid to drain back out of the calipers when the brakes were released. That caused heat to build up and as he said the hoses would swell even more, compounding the problem. When they stopped and let the brakes cooled , the brakes returned to normal.
The mechanic started loosening all of the brake line clamps and he said the problem went away.
I was thinking that maybe it's the brake lines themselves.  The layers may be separating after they get a little age on them.
Also I've not heard anyone say if workhorse changed to a different brake line after 04 or 05. What about anybody else? It seems that the problems are mainly before 05.
Has anyone else heard this scenario before. Has anyone tried loosening the clamps?
We haven't used the motorhome enough yet to tell if this is a possible solution.
jebturin

jebturin said:

I've just made the move from "you now where" to here.  I'm glad I found this forum.

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Welcome fellow refugee    We have a good bunch on rvforum and we're very glad you joined our merry band. Look around the forums and let any of the staff if you have questions.

Welcome Jebturin!  Lots of refugees from over there!  This is way more "family style" without the innuendos or blame!   ;D

(was FrontrangeRVer over there)  :

I fully intend on posting the Workhorse resolution (or lack of thereof) as SOON as it's announced. 

PS.  How much you wanna bet the brake failures are not because "its the owner's fault because the way he drives" or "lack of changing the brake fluid yearly"  :

I appreciate the welcome.  It's soooo nice to be here.

I've never thought the brake problem was from non-use or the way we drive.  The blame has to be laid on the brakes themselves.
I have a 2001 pickup that has less mileage on it than the motorhome with no brake troubles at all.

I would still like to hear from anyone on the brakehose idea.

jimmy

Well, the one time a break hose failure took out the calliper in exactly the same way it's supposed to be happening on Workhorse chassis in my case......

It was not on the workhorse but on the car I tow (Admit it's a GM)

I do not recall any such brackets on the hoses, though there some plastic clips that hold the wheel sensor wires on the hoses. (I looked about 2 days ago)

Page 2: The Bosch caliper pins siezing issue

I had a good day today.  I read about someone who had his brakes freeze up in EXACTLY the manner that the Bosch calipers size up on Workhorse rigs

HE WAS DRIVING A FORD!

John In Detroit said:

I had a good day today.  I read about someone who had his brakes freeze up in EXACTLY the manner that the Bosch calipers size up on Workhorse rigs

HE WAS DRIVING A FORD!

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;D  ;D  ;D 

John, this brings up a question that has been brought up in other forums about the Workhorse issue, and that is, that since Ford uses the same Bosch calipers, why isn't there more brake failures with the Ford Chassis?  I haven't read a response to this question that assured me to no end that there is a good answer.  ???

Well, it looks like Navistar has officially come out with the news we have been waiting for.  47,055 MY 2001-2006 Workhorse W-22 Chassis have been recalled that have the Bosh ZOPS or ZOHT Pin Slides.  No owner notification schedule has been sent out by Workhorse yet. 

HERE is the NHTSA link about the recall.

  I see the recall spells out w22 chassis.  What about the w20 chassis that uses the same system ???  Is that included also???  I truly hope so for all us W20 owners, especially since we had gone through this also.