Boy Murphy has sure made it a past time to hang at my place!

[MTboatguy]

Went out and fired my camping truck up last night, we were thinking about finally taking the 5th wheel out this weekend, let it warm up a bit put it in gear to go get the trailer hit the brakes to go pick up my trailer, low and behold! No Freaking Brakes! To say it was a wild ride would be would be mild. Get back to the house crawl around every where underneath to check for leaks, couldn't find any, pulled the cap off the master cylinder, front portion that feeds the back brakes, is empty, with no signs of leaks, leads me to believe one of the rear wheel cylinder has blown, so now to jack it up, pull the rear wheel(100lbs each) and rebuild the rear brake system. Thank god, I just organized all of my tools, so at least I can find everything! But once again, foiled, will probably not get to go camping this weekend! Takes at least a week to get a set of drums turned around here!

At least it didn't happen while I was towing the 5th wheel, that could have been a disaster!

 

[bruceb58]

I change my brake fluid every 2-3 years on my car, truck and trailers. Not sure if that would have helped with your issue but certainly can't hurt.

 

[MTboatguy]

I change my brake fluid every 2-3 years on my car, truck and trailers. Not sure if that would have helped with your issue but certainly can't hurt.

Bruce,

I change mine yearly, cheap insurance when you are towing trailers, I don't quite know what caused it to blow this time, used to be a normal thing to rebuild cylinders years ago.

 

[bruceb58]

I change mine yearly, cheap insurance when you are towing trailers

Agreed.

You are probably the first person who doesn't think I am crazy for changing brake fluid on a normal basis.

 

[MTboatguy]

Yuppers, rear wheel brake cylinder, geeze I hate doing drum brakes!

 

[rbh]

Can you save the shoes or are they soaked in brake fluid?
(and while your there is the rear axle seals leaking??)


If you have not done it in a while, splurge for a new spring kit.

 

[gm280]

That really seems odd. Because on most dual master cylinders, there is a switch that would go off if the brakes were not working properly balanced and one was working more then the other. So maybe you have another thing to fix as well. It should have shown up for going out...

 

[MTboatguy]

That really seems odd. Because on most dual master cylinders, there is a switch that would go off if the brakes were not working properly balanced and one was working more then the other. So maybe you have another thing to fix as well. It should have shown up for going out...

It only gets drove a few times a year, what is really weird is I backed it up the driveway so I could load the garbage to take to the dump and when I jumped in to go get the trailer, no brakes, what is even weirder, is it didn't blow out and push the caps off the cylinder, I am starting to think the cups got old and one of them cracked inside the cylinder. Fortunately, these old trucks, the brake cylinders are not expensive to just buy a complete new one, so new shoes, new cylinders and don't even have to turn the drums they look great!

 

[Tim Frank]

I used to drive British sports cars so never had to change brake fluid....it did it automatically....
Because it is so hygroscopic, changing it every year or two....more often if the vehicle is not used often is prudent since the moisture wreaks havoc...especially in a cold climate.

Did the fluid leak into the drum and contaminate the shoes or do you know yet? If you don't find fluid there, you may have a leak in a line.

Because brake fluid in the drums was a rite of passage with Girling brakes, I tried a tip which worked great. Wash the brake shoe lining with gasoline, let dry, and do it again. After sitting for ~ 1/2 hour, run a flame from a propane torch over the surface a couple of times quite quickly. Scuff with 180 grit sandpaper and you are back in business.
Not a good idea for front brakes since they do so much of the braking, and if the rear shoes are more than 30% worn, a false economy.

Good luck.

 

[GA_Boater]

I used to drive British sports cars so never had to change brake fluid....it did it automatically....

I to used to own a few cars from England. The best bumper sticker I ever saw stated "The parts falling off this car are of the highest British quality". Unfortunately, this is a factual statement and very true!

Hope you can the truck going in time to go camping and fishing, MT.

 

[MTboatguy]

I used to own Triumph Spitfires, I can relate! I have also owned a few Italian cars and they went through brakes like crazy, I used to own a Ferrari 308 like was used in the Magnum TV series, man I was always doing brakes on that thing!

Unfortunately, the brake shoes are toast, completely saturated in brake fluid, so I will put new ones on, they are really not that expensive in the whole scope of things.

 

[dwco5051]

I used to own Triumph Spitfires, I can relate! I have also owned a few Italian cars and they went through brakes like crazy, I used to own a Ferrari 308 like was used in the Magnum TV series, man I was always doing brakes on that thing!

Unfortunately, the brake shoes are toast, completely saturated in brake fluid, so I will put new ones on, they are really not that expensive in the whole scope of things.

I too was once the proud owner of a Spitfire which reminded me of the question;

Why do the English drink warm beer?

Because Lucas makes refrigerators too.


My wife pulled into a gas station once with it and the attendant told her she was dripping gas from the engine. She said "Can I borrow a screwdriver." He asked if she wanted a philips or straight and she replyed it doesn't make any difference I am going to use it as a hammer. A few taps of the float bowls and the leak stopped. Not the first time she had that problem.

 

[Tim Frank]

They did not refer to Joseph Lucas as "The Prince of Darkness" undeservedly.

 

[Tim Frank]

[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+1]A collection of [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+2] Prince of Darkness[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=+1] jokes. (with apologies to MT for the hijack....)[/SIZE][/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness"[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF. The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.
Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb.
Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, sans-serif]Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.[/FONT]

 

[Tim Frank]

Unfortunately, the brake shoes are toast, completely saturated in brake fluid, so I will put new ones on, they are really not that expensive in the whole scope of things.

The gas thing would bring them back... but new and cheap works better. I was a broke student, import parts were $$$$, and I had time to screw around with them,

 

[Boomyal]

..................................Because Lucas makes refrigerators too................

If I am not mistaken, Lucas Electrics was finally put out of its misery.

....also on the brake fluid. 35 years ago I drained and flushed the brake system on my '65 mustang and filled it with DOT 5 (silicone) brake fluid. I knew that the car would be sitting a lot and because Silicone does not absorb water, it would be less prone to rusting cylinders, master cylinders and calipers.

 

[Tim Frank]

If I am not mistaken, Lucas Electrics was finally put out of its misery.

.

"Its" misery??Most of the misery was "ours".

 

[bruceb58]

Hijack city here!

 

[bassman284]

Agreed.

You are probably the first person who doesn't think I am crazy for changing brake fluid on a normal basis.

So let me get this straight. You guys change your brake fluid BEFORE you change the pads/shoes?

 

[MTboatguy]

So let me get this straight. You guys change your brake fluid BEFORE you change the pads/shoes?

When I change the brake fluid, I do a pad change