Hydraulic brakes....

[Soundguy]

Why yes. i have had a failure on my truck that resulted in virtually nonexistant braking capability.

soundguy

 

[jwstewar]

My dad has had it happen to him twice - with 2 different trucks. One was a brake line failure other was a master cylinder failure. Both times he happened to be towing their camper. He made it to his destination by just using his trailer brakes.

 

[Soundguy]

Good thing he had them trailer brakes... I've found that surge brakes don't do much if you have no tow vehicle brakes to make the tow vehicle slow down and compress that master cyl on the trailer!!!

soundguy

 

[Renze]

My dad has had it happen to him twice - with 2 different trucks. One was a brake line failure other was a master cylinder failure. Both times he happened to be towing their camper. He made it to his destination by just using his trailer brakes.

geez, dont you guys have annual safety inspections ??
I've never heard of it, and in Holland no new vehicle gets allowed on the road unless it has a dual circuit brake system: Which is, two circuits divided into either front axle - rear axle, or LF+RR - RF+LR wheel.
So if a brake line would fail, you'd still have brakes on the other 2 wheels.

When installing air brake valves into Mercedes Sprinters, we allways needed to prove that the air brake valve acted on both hydraulic circuits by showing the layout of the vehicle manufacturer, before we could get an official type approval stamp on an air brake installation scheme.

Oh, one thing just popped my mind, i did hear if this failure once: a friend of some friends used to have a rotten old Fiat which he called a "collectors classic" This thing once failed its brakes so he rear ended someone at slow city speed (which caused it to crumple) The car was of late 60's, before dual circuit brakes became mandatory.


I've also been away with my brother, who had a Volvo 740 at that time. His brake pads were worn, and to make sure the steel backplates of the brake pads wouldnt mess up his brake rotors, he used the parking brake. It did make the surge brakes of the horse trailer engage, though the effect was not spectacular.

 

[JESSE1]

I've used vacuum/hydraulic, electric and surge brakes. Currently only have trailers with electric brakes. I used to hate the electrics but they work seamlessly with the integrated brake controller on my '08 F-450. I have an air/electric controller on my '59 White and it works very well.

My last boat trailer had surge/disc brakes that stopped very well. Just had to make sure the master cylinder was topped off. No brakes backing down the ramp and that's where backing a heavy boat down a steep, slippery ramp gets exciting.

 

[Soundguy]

Annual safety inspection won't meant didly when incedental damage can happen at any time.. you can drive away with that shiney new sticker and have a part fail 10 seconds later.

I had both rear brake cyls fail on my dodge truck late last year.. one press of the pedal and woosh.. pumpe dthem a bit to roll to a stop.. loosing 90% of my brake fluid to boot...

soundguy

geez, dont you guys have annual safety inspections ??
I've never heard of it, and in Holland no new vehicle gets allowed on the road unless it has a dual circuit brake system: Which is, two circuits divided into either front axle - rear axle, or LF+RR - RF+LR wheel.
So if a brake line would fail, you'd still have brakes on the other 2 wheels.

When installing air brake valves into Mercedes Sprinters, we allways needed to prove that the air brake valve acted on both hydraulic circuits by showing the layout of the vehicle manufacturer, before we could get an official type approval stamp on an air brake installation scheme.

Oh, one thing just popped my mind, i did hear if this failure once: a friend of some friends used to have a rotten old Fiat which he called a "collectors classic" This thing once failed its brakes so he rear ended someone at slow city speed (which caused it to crumple) The car was of late 60's, before dual circuit brakes became mandatory.


I've also been away with my brother, who had a Volvo 740 at that time. His brake pads were worn, and to make sure the steel backplates of the brake pads wouldnt mess up his brake rotors, he used the parking brake. It did make the surge brakes of the horse trailer engage, though the effect was not spectacular.

 

[Renze]

Annual safety inspection won't meant didly when incedental damage can happen at any time.. you can drive away with that shiney new sticker and have a part fail 10 seconds later.

I had both rear brake cyls fail on my dodge truck late last year.. one press of the pedal and woosh.. pumpe dthem a bit to roll to a stop.. loosing 90% of my brake fluid to boot...

soundguy

Safety inspections do take away 95% of brake problems, because they are darn strict here... A rusty line or a hose with a bulb on it (internal canvas crack) has to be replaced, a sweating brake cylinder isnt allowed at all, even if there is no real leakage..
Most brake failures announce themself a long time before they appear, which a good inspecting mechanic will recognise. Over here in Holland, they have to call in to the central registration office to notify. Then the office will tell you to release the vehicle or keep it untill an governmental inspector is there: about 1 out of 15 cars gets a second inspection, every mechanic runs the risk of being suspended, or loosing their license at all, so they wont do cheapo patches because the lady customer has such a cute face

Off course you're totally right, a lot can happen in a year.
But due to the strict inspections of the last 20 years, brake failures have become seldom in Holland, and a lot of junk cars are taken off the streets because of the inspections.

 

[Soundguy]

IMHO.. I'll keep the more free society. gub'mint already has too much control as it is.

soundguy

 

[Renze]

IMHO.. I'll keep the more free society. gub'mint already has too much control as it is.

Any government, or political system, is a balance between freedom for the individual, and public safety, or protection of the community against individuals... This century has brought inevitable changes in the safety vs. freedom debate, on both sides of the atlantic...

I guess this board aint the right place to keep this rather complicated debate.

 

[Soundguy]

Naw,... it isn't.

too many different levels of personal freedom and government control for a straight dialog... especially since many will value freedom over safety. I believe it was ben franklin that said that when you trade freedom for security that you will soon have neither.. many americans live by this.. and thus that sometimes puts us at odds with other citizens, or subjects of other nations that have different views and comfort levels with government controls and human rights..e tc.

that discussion is probably best for another board.. or email.. etc.

soundguy