How many miles do the F53 Chassis brakes should last?

[Marchos77]

I bought the 2010 Tiffin Allegro Open Road last year with 49k miles and wondering how long the brakes should last.  Assuming normal driving.  I actually use the engine transmission for most of my braking until I absolutely need to slow down more than the drag of the motor.  I have only done that the last 5k miles so no telling how the brakes are.  I am looking at getting the tools to remove the lugs from the wheel although the tools are about $350 with the 1" impact and 3/4" torque wrench. Heading out this weekend for the Carolinas and DC and would like to check them out before we leave.

 

[Journey]

  I had 54000 on my F53 and the brake pads still looked new. Drove like you with compressing braking down shifting trans so I figure I would get 1000000 miles out of the pads. Easy to look at the pads before you hitting the rode. 

 

[dabrooks]

We have 90,000 miles on our 2013 Tiffin and there is still plenty of brake pad on the front. Every time I grease the chassis I check the pad thickness. You can see the pads without taking the wheels off.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The range is a broad one. Probably most gas chassis owners see 75,000+, but there are more than a few reports of brake replacement at 50k-60k. I saw one on IRV2 the other day where the brakes were substantially worn at 49k.

It is well known that the driver is a large factor in brake wear.  Drivers may have bad habits and aren't even aware of it. Three big ones are "riding" the brake pedal and nervous or aggressive braking.  "Riding" is the practice of keeping your foot on the pedal in anticipation of need. With power brakes, it's easy to apply slight braking without realizing it and that causes brake wear as well as lower mpg.  Nervous braking occurs when drivers see something that worries them and they instinctively push the brake pedal momentarily. They quickly realize there is no problem and resume driving, but they have already braked for a moment. Aggressive braking is simply keeping speed up and waiting until the last moment to brake. It's fairly common when driving in traffic.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I replaced the rear pads on our 2001 F53 with 53,000 miles on it due to a sticking caliper that wore down one pad and scored the rotor. The other three rear pads were ok, but since I was replacing both rotors and calipers, new pads were also called for of course. The front pads still have plenty of meat on them...

 

[Rene T]

I would get 1000000 miles out of the pads.

1 million miles, WOW!  That is good.  ) ) ) ;D

 

[Lou Schneider]

Brake pads don't wear out if you never use the brakes.  ;D

 

[wackymac]

118,000 on ours and still plenty.  A lot of freeway driving.  17 times across the U.S. from Florida to California and Oregon and back.

 

[SLOweather]

Brake pads don't wear out if you never use the brakes.  ;D

Yeah, but then your horn wears out...

 

[AStravelers]

I bought the 2010 Tiffin Allegro Open Road last year with 49k miles and wondering how long the brakes should last.  Assuming normal driving.  I actually use the engine transmission for most of my braking until I absolutely need to slow down more than the drag of the motor.  I have only done that the last 5k miles so no telling how the brakes are.  I am looking at getting the tools to remove the lugs from the wheel although the tools are about $350 with the 1" impact and 3/4" torque wrench. Heading out this weekend for the Carolinas and DC and would like to check them out before we leave.

You don't say what size wheel you have.
The 22.5 inch wheel with tire weighs about 175 pounds
The 19.5 inch wheel with tire weighs about 125 pounds.

The 19.5" is manageable, but the 22.5" is pretty hard for the average person to manhandle back on the lug nuts.  Not that it can't be done.  I depends on the person and the tools you have. 

You don't need the impact wrench, but you need a cheater bar pipe to extend the handle of the 3/4" drive wrench breaker bar and torque wrench.  If 22.5" wheels a 4-5 foot cheater bar.  Just a couple of feet for the 19.5"

 

[NY_Dutch]

You don't say what size wheel you have.
The 22.5 inch wheel with tire weighs about 175 pounds
The 19.5 inch wheel with tire weighs about 125 pounds.

The 19.5" is manageable, but the 22.5" is pretty hard for the average person to manhandle back on the lug nuts.  Not that it can't be done.  I depends on the person and the tools you have. 

You don't need the impact wrench, but you need a cheater bar pipe to extend the handle of the 3/4" drive wrench breaker bar and torque wrench.  If 22.5" wheels a 4-5 foot cheater bar.  Just a couple of feet for the 19.5"

I use a 3 ft cheater bar as a pry bar to lift either size wheel onto the hub and lugs, and then use it to tighten the lug nuts.

 

[Marchos77]

Thanks for the information. I will probably check the brakes out when I get back to FL from DC.  So far they work fine and I am hardly on them. I guess I can try a 4 foot cheater bar and see if they come loose.