Brakes acting up going to the floor

[Dom Ferris]

My brakes started acting up and I have to push the pedal all the way to the floor before they start braking and when our coach finally starts to brake, it hits all at once, kinda slams'em on or something. Are my breaks going out? is it dangerous to keep driving in this condition? My initial thoughts would be to check slack adjusters if newells are equiped with them, are they? I could always drop by a truck stop and let them take a look.

Thanks,

Dom

[lbrachfe]

Mine has slack adjusters, but don't know if that's your problem. Get them checked before you grind out your rotors if you haven't already

[NewellCrazy]

First adjust the brakes:

Tighten down all the way then back off 1/4-1/2 turn-and make sure the coller is back up around the nut or else it will back off again. Second look inside to see how much lining you have-should be at least 1/2". One might want to check to see if any oil is leaking into the brakes. I would not drive the newell until you fix the brake issue. If you can't figure it out yourself, have it towed to a repair shop.

Sean

[The Newell]

I agree with both prior posts the first thing I would do is check/adjust the brakes if you have slack adjusters which I believe you do. If so slack adjusters must be checked regularly. Have you ever adjusted your brakes? Its not hard to do, but you MUST do it safely. Is your air pressure holding when your braking? and Yes, it is Dangerous to drive it with those brakes.

[77newell]

A couple questions; did this situation arise suddenly, if yes then it probably is more likely in the brake control system. You could verify this by listening for the airflow as you press the pedal. If air is not flowing until you get to the floor than it is highly likely the foot valve.

If the situation arose slowly and there was a progressively longer delay, think more air volume needed to fill the brake chambers, until you got to where you are now then slack adjusters would be quite likely.

The sudden braking is the odd thing here in that I can't envision how loose slack adjusters could produce that, but that may just be my ignorance.

Jon 77 coach Civic toad

[Richard and Rhonda]

Extremely dangerous. Please fix before driving. Check all the things that others have said. Please don't get under the coach without some support such as jack stands or wooden cribbing.

You don't have to drive it to diagnose the problems. One person pressing the pedal and one observing the brake can actuation will tell you a lot. Make sure you look at front and back since there are separate. Also read up on air brake systems, it sounds like your primary circuit is not working, and when the secondary circuit kicks in with pedal acuation, it slams the brakes on. Google Bendix air brakes primer.