When I was young & stupid, I moved my family in a badly overweight U-Haul truck. Wife and kids safe in the sedan, me and father-in-law in the wallowing truck. About half way down a long and steep and scary grade, which I was proudly crawling down in low gear, he looked over and said, "sure hope the drive shaft don't break."
I had never, ever, thought of that. Now, decades later in a gasser MH, I can't even drive down a mild slope without thinking about the drive shaft. Wisdom of the elders = all of that engine braking depends on a U-joint most of us never even look at.
Aside from operator error, isn't the most common cause of calamity the cheapest part on the machine? Broken bolt, leaky hose, stuck caliper? Makes ya think.
Rollincool wrote: To HONESTLY answer your question... put your head between your legs and kiss... well you know the rest.'
When your brakes fade and are over heated, there is NOTHING you can do. I don't care if your wife, son, and father help you step on the brake pedal. When they fade, it's over. Pray you have a runaway ramp or a soft shoulder to run the right side tires into. A gaurd rail won't do much. It might even pull you closer to a tradedy.
If you're not sure of the hill, go down in the same gear at the same speed you climbed it. People get upset behind you, to hell with them.They are 40' plus behind you.
Safe travels.
Very well said! Only ever had it happen once and had 8700 gallons of gasoline pushing me. Once I got her slowed down and found a spot to get off the two lane road, put her in first gear, turned off the engine and parked her for a hour with the brakes released so they would cool down.
lzasitko wrote: Thats why through the mountains here there are runaway lanes, they will stop you in a hurry.
Last year we drove out to Victoria and used the south route through BC. Great scenery but very hard on the MH. Long steep uphill grades and once you reach the top long steep downhill grades. Ours is a gas so no engine break and engine braking alone will not do it so I had to use the service brakes. On a 7 percent grade I still gain speed regardless of what gear its in. Going out was not too bad until Osoyos hill. Made it down without issues but you could sure smell the brakes. Coming back we used Hope - Princeton highway and it was +38c. I made it down to a couple miles from Princeton when I lost most of the brakes, a lot of pumping and using the emergency brake I got it slowed down and pulled off into a pub parking lot. When I got out the rear discs were very hot and smoking. Found out later that I had a leaking caliper seal on one rear side. Sat there for almost an hour but with outside air temps that high it didn't do much. Took it real easy the last couple mile into Princeton and after that we were on basically flat roads. Once the brakes cooled they were still a bit soft but worked fine. Got back to Calgary and the rear disc started grinding. Once I got home I went and bought new pads for front and rear and new discs for the rear as well as a new caliper and axle seals (if I had it apart that far....) Next problem was my b.i.l. works on semis so he was going to help but he also farms so had very little time. In the end the MH sat till spring and he was still too busy. I tried lifting one corner with a 3 1/2 ton floor jack but no go. Bought a 12 ton hydraulic / pneumatic that works really well. A;so bought 5 ton axle stands and used one in front and one behind the wheel. Took a hour to get it apart then run down to a friends shop to use the press to separate the wheel bolts from the old discs and press them into the new discs then back home and put it all back together. Changed the brake fluid so now they are really good....
That road (Highway 3) is never fun. Even for a guy like me who's driven it too many times to count. What I can say, is what others have mentioned. Start off too slow and speed up if you feel like it.
And to the OP, if you're brakes are gone slam it into the lowest gear possible, honk and flash headlights and hope you don't kill anybody at the bottom of the hill, or some sharp turn in between.
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
I guess the best advise given is not to be in a rush and don't let anyone put you into one. Just a thought, if you are on a one lane road and see traffic building up behind you, why not just pull over when you have the chance.
Captain: Pops
Ist Mate: Harlee "Vicious Attack Dog" only if you try to move her when she's sleeping...
Oh yes,, what if the stearing linkage breaks? Happen to me a long time ago on a 7% downhill grade with curves to spare. The steering wheel just started to spin and I was coming up to a drop off of about 100 ft.
The last bolt in the linkage finally jambed and caught an edge which turned the front wheels just enough to stop before going through the gaurd rail.
The copilot up stairs was looking down for sure....
Russ and Jean
2005 Country Coach Intrigue LE
O5 Acura MDX toad
Tess and Gabe, our two goldens (DosGoldens)
MotoSat, Wifi, Verizon Broadband..staying connected no matter what.
Your question was about actions to be taken after one feels the brakes failing, not what to do before. I think a contributing factor to many unhappy endings is the ever present thoughts of optimism while descending.
It's a pretty creepy feeling when your vehicle's brakes fail or starts to hydroplane or skids on black ice.
Praying will not help, period. I am pretty sure that many of the individuals who have lost their life and caused others to lose their lives were praying. It is only the survivors we hear from who glorify prayer.
If the brakes fail, before the vehicle gets farther out of control, take what ever means necessary to stop it. Go off the side of the road if needed because unless you know the road, you do not know if there is a run-off. You do not know if there is a family sitting in their broken down car at the side of the road just around the next corner.
Get into the lowest gear possible. If shifting down doesn't work, stabbed the accelerator once to try and help the downshift. You might want to try this the next time you're safely decending a hill to see just how your particular vehicle responds.
Look for a soft place to land, a runaway truck ramp perhaps.
Engage the parking brake gently. This will most assuradly kill what little rear brakes are left, and runs a high risk of brake fire, but for a moment it will slow you down a bit.
As soon as the speed becomes manageable. Release the parking brake. Use the transmission to continue slowing and look for a way to get off of the road immediately.
Once you get it stopped, get everybody out and look for fire. The chance of a wheel fire is very real and quite high at this point.
Have it towed to a service center and break out the checkbook.
I don't want to sound like a know it all but the best way to get down hills without loosing your rig or brakes is to spend some time learning to read the road and then learn your rig. When I am in the mountains I presume that every time I come over the top that the down side is steeper than the climb. If I used second gear to get up the hill I leave the shifter in second gear until I have a clear picture of the down hill side. If the down hill side is the same grade as the climb my speed cresting the top will be the same or lower than the climbing speed. When using brakes going down hill, the heat build up is a function of speed and pedal pressure. The harder that you have to apply the brakes the more heat. Waiting until speed is up and then a hard apply on brake pressure will spike the temperature at the pads and rotors. Light application to scrub off speed earlier and then a rest release period while moving to cool the brakes will control speed. You will develop less heat even with longer brake applications at lower speeds. Once temperature is up, fluid starts to boil and the brake pads heat up and glaze over loosing friction. Keeping speed under control from the git go is the key. Once they fade then look for a soft landing spot. If the brakes get to the smokin point, an hour off the road is really not enough for the temperature of all that hot metal to cool down. Longer is better and once the brakes have gotten to the smokin point, even when they cool they are less effective because of glazing than they were before being over heated.
Brad & Lucy aka the Geezer & The Hedgehog
1990 Foretravel 38' DP
Kitty Kat: Earl
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Do NOT allow the emergency to dictate where you crash. Do it yourself, just pick the best place, and the best execution, of the crash. Save a life, or two.
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
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