Lubricating brakes for 2001 Marquis

[Richard Cooper]

In talking with Gerald Farris the other day (a wealth of information member) I soon realized that there are many other areas I need to have inspected on my coach than what I've already done.  One is that my brakes may need attention -- such as lubrication, new pads, etc.  From what he's told me the 2001 Marquis brakes cannot be lubricated in the usual fashion.  He can better explain it --- all I recall is his saying the lubrication is some mixture of something and clay and most rv repair centers don't know about this.  He says that the brakes need attention at or about 40 to 50,000 miles and I've got 38,000 miles on my coach.

He has a PDF file with complete instructions for the mechanic.  He said he would send it to me, but I suggest uploading it to the forum for others as well.  It's about 60 pages long but it tells a mechanically inclined person these important things:

1) How to lubricate the brakes
2) How to check the pads for thickness
3) How to change the pads

My question is now -- where can I go to find someone who knows about my brakes for my coach?  I'm in Atlanta, but my coach is not here --- it's a couple hours east of here.  I'm going on a trip to the northeastern USA and will cover states of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, New York and even into Canada near Toronto.  Would there be a qualified service person in those areas that could service my brakes properly?

[Edward Buker]

Most good truck shops can do that service, it just has to be followed as written. If possible it is always good to have someone close by where you keep the coach be able to handle ths service, because it is something that you will repeat in the future. What I do is take in the two or three page portion of the procedure, stapled together, with the Meritor Clay based grease (be good to have two tubes but one might do) which I buy or order if needed.

I then take the coach for a quick check of pad wear and leave the procedure and the grease off. When the appointment is made they have what they need and can get pads before hand if it is time for replacement. The procedure is not difficult it just needs to be followed, excess grease vented, and then the slack adjuster set to spec when all is finished. If a shop does a lot of truck brake work they should be fine.

I think you leave room for error without bringing in the proper grease and the section of the Meritor brake manual that needs to be followed.

Later Ed

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Ed,

You assume the tech can and will read.

Larry

[Edward Buker]

Reading is a prerequesite...... I get a recommended shop first, visit with the instructions and see where that goes. I have built a repore with a shop about 20 miles from where I live and I stop in with a 6 pack at the end of the day a few times a year and have one or two with the mechanics and that goes a long way. You do need a to find a decent shop you can trust within commuting distance for the things that are not so specialized. Sometimes that is not possible but there are some good shops around in most places.  Wildwood or Beaver Coach Sales for the rest I guess.

Letr Ed

[Richard Cooper]

What I do is take in the two or three page portion of the procedure, stapled together, with the Meritor Clay based grease (be good to have two tubes but one might do) which I buy or order if needed.

Can you attach a PDF of those 2-3 page portion of the procedure?

Can you provide your source of the Meritor Clay based grease and the part #, etc. -- whatever info is needed to make sure we order the correct tubes?

I should make a trip to Alabama and bring some beer with me, huh?  

[Gerald Farris]

Richard,
The entire Meritor ADB service manual has been sent to you by email.

Gerald  

[Edward Buker]

Send an Email to ednjillb@hotmail.com and I will attach the Meritor brake manual file PDF. The BAC forum software is not PDF friendly if I remember right. The caliper brake lube section for the clay based grease procedure is on page 52 and 53. The Meritor Clay Based grease spec and PN is on page 56. Covington Heavy Duty Parts Pensacola FL carries the Meritor grease but I am not sure if they ship, but they probably do.  Phone number is 850-478-7500. Many truck parts supply houses deal in Meritor and can order it.

 I have chosen to grease the slack adjusters with high quality chassis grease given heat is not an issue there, although the manual indicates either grease can be used. Better to not keep mixing grease types so NLG-2  chassis grease is more common and if you have the chassis greased on the road that is what would be used on the slack adjusters. You need to mention that the caliper grease fittings are not to be greased when you have a lube done or if they see them they will get greased with the wrong lithium based NLG-2 grease that will not hold up heat wise, and it is not compatible with the clay based greases.

Later Ed

[Phillip T Lago]

I had the brake failure problem on a 2001 Marquis because a previous owner used the wrong grease in the brake actuators. The result was massive. Thankfully the failure occurred before I took delivery and the dealer (LazyDays in Tampa FL) replaced the entire brake system with all brand new parts to the tune of $8000.  
Gerald could you please send me  the Meritor ADB service manual.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Gerald,
 

Could you send me the meritor ADB service manual?

Thanks

[George H. Wall]

I assume this procedure is for disc brakes, NOT drum brakes.  

Henry

[Gerald Farris]

Henry,
The brake system that this thread is referring to was only used on the Magnum Chassis for the Marquis through the 2002 model year. The brakes were Meritor ADB series brakes (air disc brake). They were never used on the Patriot or any other Beavers.

Gerald

[George H. Wall]

Thanks, once again, for your knowledge Gerald!!   Henry

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

I respectfully disagree with you Gerald. My 2002 Patriot Thunder has the  Meritor ADB system on it. I know this because I just put brakes on it. I have the Meritor ADB service manual #MM4M that explains everything about and how to service the system. The only part of that system to be greased or lubricated is the mechanism housing and camshaft. That is to be lubricated with clay based grease at the inner and outer zerk fittings only. The caliper slide pins (according to this manual) are not to be lubricated at all. Not even with anti-seize compound. This was of great concern to me because my rear brakes failed big time on mine at 36,000 miles. The front show just normal wear. It seems the way the air cans were mounted (to clear the 8 bag suspension on the rear) puts an undue strain on the caliper slide pins. The rear calipers have a hard time riding true and the pads wear out prematurely.  It seems that some way to provide lubrication for the caliper slide pins would have been a good idea. I thought about drilling the holes for installing a zerk fitting but there is not a whole lot of metal there and it might weaken the housing. I'll just inspect them more often. Marty

[Gerald Farris]

Marty,
I have never seen a Thunder with the Meritor ADB brake system. The main reason that the rear brakes wear faster than the front brakes on Beavers equipped with the Meritor ADB brakes is mostly related to the air chambers that were installed on the coaches. The earlier production coaches used T-30 chambers on the rear and T-20s on the front. This set-up caused numerous problems and was changed to T-24s on the front to give more braking on the front wheels. Some owners have changed the T-24 chambers out for T-30s on the front for even more braking on the front wheels, and more even wear between the front and rear wheels.

Gerald

[Steve Jewell]

Marty
         You may want to make sure you have you have caliper helper springs (many coaches do not have them for some reason). They help caliper return and stay square to rotor. They are shown on page 7 in the maintenance Manual 4M.

Steve