3 Disc brakes better than 4 electric brakes

[dalford]

A while back I posted that I was changing out my electric brakes for hydraulic brakes. What a difference that made to the braking performance of our 5th wheel.

I set out on a 5000+ mile journey and was super impressed by the braking ability of my new hydraulic brakes. I was even more impressed when I had to disable one brake due to a small issue. The RV would brake better on 3 hydraulic brakes than it ever did on 4 electric brakes.

So why did I have to disable one of the wheels brakes? Look at pic below…

Yep, I lost a complete wheel! Happened about 1500 miles into trip. Guess what, my fault as I never re-torqued the lug nuts after having new brakes and tires installed. The other 3 wheels needed torquing.

A trucker pulled up alongside and blew his horn. I never knew the wheel left, RV was handling normally.

Luckily I pulled over into a Mall parking lot. I was completely shocked when I saw what had happened!

Lucky for me we were traveling with our best friends and he knew what we needed to do. The studs were all broken down to a nub. We had to find new studs.

Long story short we found some studs that would work but they were not long enough to install the disc brake and the wheel. So I zip tied a socket between the pads of the of the hydraulic brake actuator to keep the pads from from falling out and just used the hydraulic brakes on the other 3 wheels with none on the 4th.

I bumped the brake gain up for 4.5 to 5.5 and could not tell I was running on 3/4 brake power.

Anyway, finished 4000 mile trip this way. Longer trip was cut short as I got shingles and did not continue into Canada.

Big lesson, if you change a tire check the torque at the next rest stop and then at the next one after that. Also check the torque before leaving on a trip.

I was lucky

The other painful part is I had just installed 4 new GYE tires. I had to buy a wheel and 2 new GYE tires as the tire on that side had certainly been over stressed by holding all the weight meant for two tires. It looked fine but I could not trust it. 2 new tires plus a wheel was just about $500 plus $75 for studs. Expensive lesson on torquing.

[Bob K4TAX]

Yep, just as the placard on our TT, each side, says to re-torque the lugnuts after 50 miles.

"Big lesson, if you change a tire check the torque at the next rest stop and then at the next one after that. Also, check the torque before leaving on a trip."

Of course, we "all" have a torque wrench in our toolbox.

Bob

[Comanchecreek]

I carry a Harbor Freight torque wrench in my tool collection to check lug nut torque regularly during a trip. Just peace of mind.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-...=torque+wrench

This is just regular price. I see them on sale very often.

[BehindBars]

Sadly, the OP glossed over that fact that they could have caused property damage, or injured or killed someone through their negligence that allowed a wheel to come off their vehicle. I’ve sustained vehicle damage (to my motorhome) from flying debris and dodged cargo (a ladder, shovel, tire treads, etc) that comes or came off other vehicles on the road. It just pisses me off.

Please maintain your vehicles and secure your cargo.

[Aussieguy]

where did the studs go?


I am assuming that the studs are suppose to be still in there


If the studs came out by themselves, you need to check each wheel
make sure each stud is tightened to spec and use some lock-tite or something



to insert stud use TWO NUTS tightened together so they lock on the thread

[dalford]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Sadly, the OP glossed over that fact that they could have caused property damage, or injured or killed someone through their negligence that allowed a wheel to come off their vehicle. I’ve sustained vehicle damage (to my motorhome) from flying debris and dodged cargo (a ladder, shovel, tire treads, etc) that comes or came off other vehicles on the road. It just pisses me off.

Please maintain your vehicles and secure your cargo.

?? Where did I gloss over it? I did not even mention it… you are right about damage it might have caused and I am Sorry I did not check the torque thus my post about “Checking your torque “

Once it happened there was nothing I could do but warn others not to make the mistake I made, thus the post.

We all can’t be perfect like you but I posted to help others not cause the same issue that I did..

As far as dodging stuff in the road I’m sorry it pisses you off. We all have to deal with that at times. Driving can be hazardous for sure. That’s why you give yourself plenty of room between vehicles and use Waze.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

where did the studs go?


I am assuming that the studs are suppose to be still in there


If the studs came out by themselves, you need to check each wheel
make sure each stud is tightened to spec and use some lock-tite or something



to insert stud use TWO NUTS tightened together so they lock on the thread

Maybe you didn’t read my entire post. The stubs were sheared off. Probably due to wheel wobble when lug nuts came loose. The said was still pressed in the hub but sheared off on wheel side.

I replaced the studs and re-check my torque often.