Towing for the first time...some concerns.

[rgnprof]

I have a '93 Class C on Ford E350 chassis with the 460 motor.  I have my Subaru Forester set up to toad with Blue OX Alpha tow bar, Blue Ox baseplate, and the Autostop system from Blue Ox.  Took it for a test drive yesterday - no problems with the toad, but my motorhome brakes got really hot.  The front left pad caught on fire!  Made it safely to our church, after extinguishing the small flame and proceeded to tear things apart.

I'm pretty sure the caliper froze up on that side - I couldn't budge it.  Rotor was blueish, so I changed everything on both sides - new hoses, rotors, pads and calipers.  The guy I bought this motorhome just called and suggested better rotors, although the rotors that I replaced look just like the new ones - they were not slotted or anything, but he said he was told that these rotors get so hot, that special rotors were recommended to him.  Again, the rotors I had on it were on there when I bought the MH from him 4-5 years ago, and I have put 15k miles on the motorhome.  I did just have the rotors turned, did the front wheel bearings and new pads about 2k miles ago...in December.

I'm hoping that this was just caused by a bad caliper, but I'm a little anxious about hitting the road this weekend.  Any advice?  (I bought these rotors at O'Reilly's...).

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Kevin Means]

It sounds like you bought a motorhome with very questionable brakes. I'm not familiar with the Blue Ox Autostop system. Is that an auxiliary brake? If not, you should definitely have an auxiliary braking system for your towed vehicle. In any case, there's no way an RV's brakes should catch fire - towing or not. I suspect that your brakes were already on the ragged edge or there was something wrong with them to begin with, and towing, poor braking habits, or a combination thereof, pushed them over the edge.

I would strongly encourage you to have a professional brake shop take a look at all your brakes. If one was bad, there may be others.

Kev

 

[Sam!]

after all that you did, have you opened up the rear brakes and inspect and adjust properly? Most times the rears are not properly adjusted or a leaking wheel cylinder will keep them from assisting the fronts in stopping all the weight.
also adjust more braking on the toad and dont ride the brakes

 

[Arch Hoagland]

Buy an IR gun and check each wheel every stop you make both on the coach and toad.

I do that to keep an eye on things.

I also carry five fire extinguishers...had two tires blow out at the same time on a trailer one time  and the sorry fire extinguisher that comes with an RV is next to useless

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I doubt if towing is related to the brake issue, though a non-working or poorly adjusted toad brake would indeed put an extra load on the coach brake system. But It sounds more like a plain old brake failure. Leaking fluid on a hot brake is a recipe for fire, and an overheated brake can melt or burst hoses or otherwise worsen an already bad problem.

If the rear brakes aren't up to snuff, the front brakes have to work harder, so a rear brake check is in order ASAP.

 

[rgnprof]

Thanks for the replies!  Really appreciate it...I just checked the rear brakes back in Nov/Dec when I ended up re-doing the fronts and they seemed fine - no leaky wheel cylinders and appeared to be adjusted fine.  I bled everything back then several times with a power bleeder...
I bled the front brakes this time - several times with the power bleeder, but I did not bleed the rears - should I?

The Blue OX Autostop is a supplemental brake system and on my short drive to the church, seemed to be working fine.  It just seemed really odd that the very first time I take this new set-up out for a drive, my front brake catches on fire!  I do have an IR gun and I will be driving around some today and checking things out before we leave tomorrow.  I have not re-checked the rear brakes again this time - as I mentioned, I just did that several months ago - still think I should do it again?  Anyone share a procedure with me - just to make sure I did it right last time?

Thank you,
Ryan

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Bleeding the brakes just gets the air out of the lines and insures they are full of fluid because air does not compress (where the "spongy" comes from in a brake pedal).

However, one thing bleeding the rears may tell you is that the fluid is rusty or degraded which can indicate a frozen wheel cylinder piston. It does not hurt to flush old fluid out with new to be sure. Brake fluid does deteriorate over time.

 

[Ned]

because air does not compress

I think you mean "because air does compress".

 

[rgnprof]

Yes, I understand the need for bleeding and the issues with old brake fluid - but, given my recent issues with the front brakes AND given that I just recently (6-7 months ago) replaced all the old brake fluid and bled all four wheels - do I need to do that again?  I have bled and re-bled the front brakes this time, but didn't think I needed to do the rears...

Thanks.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

In that case, unless you had some reason to think the rear cylinder pistons, were stuck, no.

 

[WILDEBILL308]

It does sound like you have ben thouro going through the brakes. I might revisit the rear adjustment. I would jack up the rear (using appropriate safety precautions) see if you can turn the wheels by hand. If you can tighten the adjusters till you can barley move them. What pads did you use on the front?  You might look at some like these.
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/ebc-dp41257r/overview/year/1993/make/ford/model/e-350-econoline-club-wagon
There are upgrades for the back to.
Bill