and i'm not going anywhere quickly. 120km outside Albany the brake controller starts flashing again, only this time its a short circuit rather than disconnected. ok, here we go again. pull over, check the wires to the van...hmmm, look ok. check the connections to the wheels...hold on, why is this wheel smoking? grab the fire extinguisher just in case and start taking it apart. its wobbly...that's not good :-(
Turns out the inner wheel bearing has collapsed, the wheel is therefore running out of true, and has heated up so that the electrical brake actuator inside the drum has burned out, hence the short circuit. ok, panic by the side of the road. Make a couple of phone calls, detach the truck and drive into Albany via a detour because of an accident, where luckily a bearing place has what i need. Drive back, fit them in the dark and limp into Albany that evening.
had to run up to Perth next day for Jennie's birthday, so managed to find a new brake and drum at a spares place saturday morning, got back down to Albany and decided to dry and fit them tuesday morning before towing on
bolts on the new brake don't line up with the axle mountings as they are not the same as the old one. Bugger, OK, canabalise the new one for the actuator, shoes and springs, then try and remember how this burned out rusty mess goes back together. ok, got that. Offer up the new hub. Bugger, front bearing size is different and won't go on. clean the old one up of burned electrical insulation, grease and other assorted crap, stick it on and hope. Try the brakes - yay, it works. Made it the 360km to Busselton with no dramas, so guess i'll be replacing the other bearings next week in Perth, and explaining to the brakes people the subtle differences between what i needed and what they sold me
Turns out the accident that detoured me into Albany was another caravan. Looks like they had a problem with the tow vehicle and rolled it, and then the caravan landed on top of them, killing the driver. Not a good start to the easter weekend - could have been us :-(
Turns out the inner wheel bearing has collapsed, the wheel is therefore running out of true, and has heated up so that the electrical brake actuator inside the drum has burned out, hence the short circuit. ok, panic by the side of the road. Make a couple of phone calls, detach the truck and drive into Albany via a detour because of an accident, where luckily a bearing place has what i need. Drive back, fit them in the dark and limp into Albany that evening.
had to run up to Perth next day for Jennie's birthday, so managed to find a new brake and drum at a spares place saturday morning, got back down to Albany and decided to dry and fit them tuesday morning before towing on
what it should look like, and what it did look like. "worse than one of Lister's drunken fry-ups"
bolts on the new brake don't line up with the axle mountings as they are not the same as the old one. Bugger, OK, canabalise the new one for the actuator, shoes and springs, then try and remember how this burned out rusty mess goes back together. ok, got that. Offer up the new hub. Bugger, front bearing size is different and won't go on. clean the old one up of burned electrical insulation, grease and other assorted crap, stick it on and hope. Try the brakes - yay, it works. Made it the 360km to Busselton with no dramas, so guess i'll be replacing the other bearings next week in Perth, and explaining to the brakes people the subtle differences between what i needed and what they sold me
Turns out the accident that detoured me into Albany was another caravan. Looks like they had a problem with the tow vehicle and rolled it, and then the caravan landed on top of them, killing the driver. Not a good start to the easter weekend - could have been us :-(
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