Why are the brakes on my 1989 Superchief Motorhome applying themselves?

by Cheryl
(Fresno, Ca.)

I was traveling and my brakes applied themselves bringing my 89 Superchief motorhome to a halt then after a little while they released themselves. I drove for about 5 miles and they did it again. What is the cause of this problem? Please help.

ANSWER Greetings Cheryl thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

I am not sure what is causing the problems with your brakes but, the one thing I am sure of is that you need to have them inspected and repaired. Based on what you are describing; this problem could lead to a serious accident. In fact I would not even recommend that you drive it to get it repaired.

If you have a mobile RV repair company in your area; I would urge you to contact them and see if they can work on the brakes. If not, I would suggest that you have your motorhome towed to the nearest facility that can repair it.

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, you do not want to start tinkering around with your RV's braking system. The only thing an average RV owner should be doing with their braking system is to always make sure that the brake fluid is topped off.

I am not even going to try and guess what is causing this problem, because even if I guessed right; it will end up being a problem that you would not be able to fix yourself. I urge you to have the braking system checked immediately.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

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starstarstarstarstar 		Brakes applying
by: RogerHayesNC

Had the same problem with a 1980 Dodge truck about 20 years ago. If I remember correctly, there was a problem with the brake poportioning valve sticking. This valve is designed to compensate for vehicle load and prevent rear wheel lockup. When it would stick, as the brakefluid heated up in the wheel cylinders from normal driving and expanded, the stuck valve did not let the fluid feed back to the master cylinder - therefore the internal pressure would increase causing the caliber to apply brakes. Then the hotter it got, the more braking it applied eventually stopping the truck. I could either wait till it cooled or bleed the pressure off the wheel cylinders and continue. Replacing the proportional valve fixed my problem.
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starstarstarstarstar 		I have the same problem!
by: Lori

Did you find out what caused the problem with your brakes? The brakes on our 1983 Lazy Daze intermittently apply themselves and we have to park for a while (sometimes overnight) before they release. We have bled the system twice and replaced the master cylinder.

Thanks for your help!

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