caravan brakes

[Bluerocket]

Hello All
my caravan brakes squeal loudly everytime a apply the brakes and the drums are extremely hot to touch after a recent 5 mile trip
I've had it in to a caravan ncc approved workshop and they cleaned all the hubs and brakes and it's still doing the same thing
Should I get it back in again ?
Any constructive feedback would be most welcome
Many Thanks to all contributors

 

[Mel]

You will get a more intelligent answer from others, but just covering the basics; the handbrake isn’t stuck on is it?
Hope you get it sorted
Mel

 

[Damian]

First of all, lets talk about the heat of the drums.
As with all hub and shoe setups the friction lining acting on a rotating hub will produce heat as a by product of braking, and depending on how many times the brakes are applied and terrain the van is travelling on.
The drums will get very hot, but not glowing hot, and certainly too hot to keep a hand on after just stopping after a tow.

As for the squealing, with the removal of asbestos from the lining material, the compound is very aggresive and produces more dust than the older versions, and does have a tendancy to create the noise.

Various things have been tried to reduce the instances of noise but none have been the "cure all" and the noise still happens, and is worse under light braking rather than heavy braking.

 

[Bluerocket]

Thanks Damien your advice has put my mind at ease I'll certainly keep an eye on the situation and " see how it develops"
many thanks

 

[steve2019]

I don't think I would expect the brakes to be that hot after only 5 miles, firstly i would check are they both equally hot (left and right side) if not then you clearly have a problem in the "hot" side, possibly the shoes partially siezed somewhere, maybe on the lever that is connected to the rearward shoe.
if they are both equally hot then check the linkage from the shoes to the handbrake lever.
if you can jack up each side in turn then you can physically check that the wheels are free to rotate without any resistance when the handbrake is off.

 

[RayS]

I agree with Steve, I would not expect the brakes to be very hot after 5 miles unless this happened to be 5 miles involving roundabouts and many applications of the car brakes. When travelling any distance I always try a 'walk round' of the caravan as well as the other reasons for the occasional stop and lightly touch both road wheels. Two reasons - one to see if they are unusually warm/hot, perhaps indicating uneven setting or possibly hand brake problems and also to see if one is significantly hotter than the other. Also a general check that windows have not be left in vent position, locker lids are locked, steadies are up and so on.
All obvious stuff which should have been checked before setting off but we all know about good intentions.

 

[Hutch]

I fitted Tyrepal pressure and temperature sensors earlier this year and was surprised how hot the tyres got. About 10c above the ambient temperature, so when you touch the tyre they are really hot. Also the pressures rise by about 8 to 10 psi.
As Steve said check the wheels rotation by jacking up each side, leave it connected to the car to stop it rolling away though.

 

[Tourer-Ted]

I seem to remember reading somewhere, that Al-Ko had made a batch of shoes with the wrong compound, causing the squeal.

 

[Hutch]

I seem to remember reading somewhere, that Al-Ko had made a batch of shoes with the wrong compound, causing the squeal.

https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/129674-brake-squeaks-squealing-201718-alko-axle/

 

[Tourer-Ted]

Blimey! There's a few complaints with it there.

I didn't read it on that forum though

 

[Hutch]

Blimey! There's a few complaints with it there.

I didn't read it on that forum though

Really, worse than some of us, I was surprised at the problems that folk had had with the brakes.

 

[Mike_S]

Had our one year old Coachman Pastiche 545 serviced about 3 months ago. The technicians reported that the brake drums were scored and should be replaced along with the brake shoes. The brakes did not squeal however. Job done a few weeks later under warrantee - no quibbles. Well spotted Wandahome (Knottingley)

Mike

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello All
my caravan brakes squeal loudly everytime a apply the brakes and the drums are extremely hot to touch after a recent 5 mile trip
I've had it in to a caravan ncc approved workshop and they cleaned all the hubs and brakes and it's still doing the same thing
Should I get it back in again ?
Any constructive feedback would be most welcome
Many Thanks to all contributors

Hello Bluerocket,

You are right to be concerned about the brakes, as they are clearly a very important part of the caravans running gear, so well done for asking. Your experience is not unique but as Damian has explained it may be annoying but it does not automatically mean you have a failure. But if you are not confident about dealing with such matters you will be well advised to have them checked professionally.

The point I pick up on are firstly is your report that the noise only occurs when the brakes are applied.
This suggests the brakes are not dragging when the brakes are not applied. This is of course good news.

However If there is any hint of the noise when the brakes are not applied, then that does signal there is a problem that should be investigated as it means that either one or more of the brake shoes is not retracting properly. This could also explain why the brakes are running hot. but it could also be a problem with the wheel bearing.

Your second concern is temperature of the brakes. When brakes are applied the the static brake shoes are forced into contact with the inside of the spinning drum. The resulting friction converts the kinetic energy of the caravans motion into heat. So brake drums do get warmer when they are used. In particular brake drums as fitted to caravans, are not as good at dissipating the generated heat as are disc brakes, so they tend to stay warm for longer. How hot they actually get depends on how much they have been used recently.

If you have been doing a long steady tow for example on the motorway and you pull into a service area for a break, try just using engine braking to slow down and use the brakes a little as is safely possible, and when parked up check the brake temperature they should be just warm. If they are hot then it does point to some other issue that needs to be checked out.

 

[Bluerocket]

Hi Prof
Thanks for your reply and excellent explanation I knew there was a wealth of knowledge able people on here .
The situation so far : I have jacked up each wheel and released the handbrake and their is no dragging , the drums rotate freely.
I went back to the NCC approved workshop who recently gave my van its 1st service and the mechanic said he had cleaned all the brake components and checked thier adjustment and all seemed ok
I will be taking the van out again next week and will see what develops , any problems and the mechanic said to bring it back

 

[YorkieF]

On my van's second service, it was found to have brakes that had delaminated causing scoring to the drum. Luckily, they were changed under warranty. They were the Alko self adjusting brakes type and did squeal now and then.

 

[Hutch]

On my van's second service, it was found to have brakes that had delaminated causing scoring to the drum. Luckily, they were changed under warranty. They were the Alko self adjusting brakes type and did squeal now and then.

Yorkie, thats interesting, lets see if anyone else, has sqweeking brakes with the new self , adjusting.

I can see these brake units being good if you do lots of mileage, I used to do maybe 8 k a year. But am probably down to 3 k a year now , so no need for the new brake system.