Brakes

[lrhumphreys]

To the ones that have older A class rv’s. In the range of 1997 to 2002. How are your brake system on the power to stop. Like are they like takes everything you have or stops on the dime. I have a 2002 R vision class A and you been to be a man to stop it there no way my wife could drive this Motorhome. Just wondering about older RV’s

 

[Rich W.]

Some stop better than others, but with all of them you have to plan ahead a lot more and drive it like a truck, not a car. My 2010 Bay Star had decent brakes but if something caught me off guard a bit and I had to really stop quickly, it took a lot of effort (only happened once). Same with my Ventana but somewhat less so. Still I give myself a lot of stopping room, and maintain a long following distance regardless of what other traffic is doing.

 

[RKins]

You have to drive defensively and look a 1/4-1/2 mile ahead. If I have to stop quickly it'll be a sad day for whatever caused me to stop quickly.

 

["EZ"]

lrhumphreys, does your older Class A have air brakes? Any idea how long it's been since the shoes were changed and the drums turned? Sounds like the drums may be glazed or the shoes glazed from too many hot stops. Heat will glaze them up and then really reduce their stopping power.

 

[GypsyR]

I Googled Vision a bit but have no idea what chassis that is. So my old coach might be comparing apples to oranges. But anyway it's a 1993 18,000 pound F53 chassis class A. I find braking effort very comparable to that of my daily driver half ton pickup. my 120 pound wife should have no issue with either. I once crested a hill to find the local fire department had blocked the road, at the BOTTOM of the hill, due top an accident. Braking performance was severely tested and I was actually rather pleased. Taking in consideration the mass and the speed I was going.

You can ask for more (and better) opinions from folks who have the same chassis but I'm with EZ in suspecting glazed braking surfaces. When you go down a long hill you are supposed to hit the brakes and let off. Some people think it's better to lightly ride the pedal all the way down. That is a recipe for glazed brakes and it happens.