Just picked up from caravan service centre, was told I have been running with caravan brake on which I have not. But somehow the brakes without the lever has been on . Most strange as last journey of 80 miles I was showing 33mpg on dash. Anyway he replaced both shoes at a cost of £80, service £280. Every other thing apart from slight damp from the heater cowl area is ok . He showed me the brake lining which was down to about 2mm, drums ok. Just glad we had it done before April holiday.
Service in time
- Thread starter Robert_374373903
- Start date
Do you put your handbrake on when in store or at home? This can lead to brake shoes sticking even when the brake handle is released.
So why did the service not show up what the issue was or is? I don't know the age or mileage of your van but shoes should last many years of normal operation.
I often feel the hubs after a journey and they are usually warm, if shoes are held on they would be too hot to touch. Also, I would be very pleased with 33 mpg, I don't get much more than that on average solo.
I agree that shoes can stick on if the handbrake to left applied for extended periods. I always avoid that. But once cleared after a very short distance, the should return to normal operation. The retracting springs are quite strong.
John
Damian
Moderator
What condition were the brake shoes in? were they a dark colour with probably a shiny finish on the shoes?
Or were they burnt black and crazed ?
If you had been towing with the brakes on they would have been the second description.
It is normal for the hubs to become warm when towing but if the hanbrake had been on they would have been far too hot to touch and most likely smell of burning.
With 2mm of shoe pad depth remaining it is sensible to have them replaced during the service rather than as a separate job
Or were they burnt black and crazed ?
If you had been towing with the brakes on they would have been the second description.
It is normal for the hubs to become warm when towing but if the hanbrake had been on they would have been far too hot to touch and most likely smell of burning.
With 2mm of shoe pad depth remaining it is sensible to have them replaced during the service rather than as a separate job
Is this a practice that shouldn't be done then? Ours is stored with handbrake on (+ small chocks) Do it for piece of mind- not a completely level storage site & with potential too for wind to hit. If steadies are down and it's chocked is it better to leave handbrake off? (sorry if hijacking thread but potentially a learning opportunity for myself and others.) Thank you.
-Robert I'm pleased to read your service has prevented a possible future concern.
I have always left mine with handbrake off once the steadies are down, except in the case of a steep sloping pitch. In storage, at home or on site once the steadies were down the handbarake would go off. Like you I used chocks if on a sloping area. The wheel lock also ensured it wouldn’t go anywhere.
Thamk you Clive - really useful feedback, when we took our van away in October (after a quite long spell in storage) - it felt pretty heavy behind the Shoggy for a while before becoming comfortable (pulled over and checked tyre pressures.) You've explained it - lesson learnt! For the record I still point my front car wheels slightly towards the curb and leave my manual car in second gear when parked as a backup to the handbrake.... although things have moved on since the old mk2 capri I loved in the mid - late 90's the memory of it rolling back into a post remains! - thankfully little damage done.
Habdbrake coming off the van when I next check on it. Thanks again, Wayne.
I am also like someone else i leave my handbrake off in the caravan storage as soon as the steadies are down we put chocks behind the wheels and then put the wheel clamp on and same on a hardstanding service pitch and some places we have been the owner of a site gave us blocks of wood for the steadies .so far not had a problem .
I leave the handbrake off when in storage. If it was exposed to wind I would put the handbrake on for the periods of high wind and release it afterwards, assuming the storage is reasonably close.
In answer whether did I leave the handbrake on .I always leave it off at home . I was amazed at the condition of the shoes ., they were black and worn right down. If I did not know the guy I might have said its a rip off in that they were not mine., The last time I looked at them was about 4 years ago , then they were completely unworn, since then we have had two services.. I did not mention that when I went to unlock outfit at home I found the 13 pin socket on the tow bar had broken off. Had heck of a job finding correct one but a firm not far from us had one , they also said would I like to have it fitted right then with no charge . Our Topaz is 22 years old now and still in good condition.
I would have expected that a service engineer would tell you if the brake pads were getting near the end of their life, certainly at car services they tell you this. After 22 years the caravan will have achieved quite a mileage, possibly over 40,000 miles, and replacing brake pads would not have been a surprise for me.
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