Sticking parking brake

[dbsoundman]

Hi all, I have one parking brake that appears to "stick" on. It lets go after hitting the service brakes a few times but I wanted to know if there was something else I could do to fix it before my upcoming trip. I can tell it's on because the bus doesn't move forward with my foot off the brake in drive and when it's dragging I feel some vibration from the rear end on acceleration.

Here's specifically what happens:
1. Put bus in drive
2. Release parking brake - notice bus doesn't start moving forward with my foot off the service brake
3. Idle forward and/or drive slowly and slam on the service brakes a few times - parking brake eventually lets go.

[dbsoundman]

The current Facebook crowd consensus is either a bad brake chamber (yikes I hope not) or an S-cam that needs grease. Don't have a grease gun (keep forgetting to get one!) so I have one waiting for me at Autozone right now.

Oh and this is air brakes...forgot to mention.

[triplets school bus]

Could be brake pads rusted stuck to drums, happens every once in a while from moisture. Bad brake chamber will have very obvious air leak, keep slack adjusters and s cam tube greased

[dbsoundman]

I had a bad wheel seal on the same wheel, another person recommended cleaning the drum as it could be glazed with gear oil…

[triplets school bus]

Definitely clean the oil but that wouldn’t cause the parking brake to not release

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by triplets school bus

Definitely clean the oil but that wouldn’t cause the parking brake to not release

I thought the oil glazing theory sounded a little crazy.

[dbsoundman]

Took a look at things... I just got an oil change last week, and all the grease fittings show fresh grease, so they seem to be good to go. Drums are very clean, no oil or grooves that I can see or feel. Brake pads are freshly greased as well. I can smell gear oil faintly but it's been that way ever since I had the seal go so that's not really a tell. Air chamber is rusty but looks OK, I have another one arriving on Wednesday just in case. I'll have to keep it under monitor, maybe tomorrow I can get my wife to apply/release the parking brake while I'm watching to see if it's really sticking or not.

The Facebook mechanics believe that my brakes are going to fail and catch fire but based on what I saw, I don't think that's likely...

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

a pic of your brake pads freshly greased might help?

[dbsoundman]

The drum was very clean on the inside, not slick at all. The picture of the brake shoe isn't as good as I had hoped, but the brake on the other side had just enough excess grease on it for me to see it was brake shoe grease. I didn't think to give this pad a sniff test but there were no visible gear oil leaks (thank goodness) so I doubt this pad was totally soaked with gear oil.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

not trying to be a butthead but a picture of your hub off and your slack adjusters and things like that.
what are the others hollering about?
axle seal? oil in the drum?
brakes dragging and oil in the drum?
what pictures did you show them that we have not seen yet?
you have one sticking but they look well greased?
just because you pump grease into a zirc fitting does not meen that it accepts itthe other side of that fitting and what it serves is what needs to be seen.
replaced to many over my life because the gun spit out grease but nothing ever went in through that little ball that was covered in grease.
grease gun oh its already squishing out it must be full?
no it probably is not?
several things i can think of and some could be hardened grease in the system after the grease gun fitting.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

sorry and drum was clean on the extenal?
what does it look like inside?
yes requires you to pull the rims and tires.

[dbsoundman]

I don’t have the tools or time to do a drum off inspection. I have a trip this Friday and at this point I don’t know what to do. From the advice I’ve gotten so far the answer is “tear everything apart and replace it” or some variation.

Sorry I’m just stressed over what I thought would be a minor problem and wondering if I should just buy plane tickets instead.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

does the problem go away after moving it?
likely rust in the drums that will work itself out.
these things dont like to sit regardless of what you are doing to its body.
how long is your trip?
do you have a contingency fund for brake failure or any other breakdown for roadside mechanic? tire change or have to Towed?
with you days away from a trip and no time to answer for the mechanics for it with pictures from wherever i cant say take it or not? if you are already feeling gun shy and second guessing your self then you need to go plan B in my opinion for you

[dbsoundman]

I think I’m just freaking out. The problem does go away after driving a short distance and applying the brakes hard a few times. Could be from sitting or it could just be the rusty condition of my components.

Trip is from Northwest Ohio to Miami Florida over 3 days. The kicker is we’re getting on a cruise on day 4 so we don’t really have a lot of tolerance for breakdown delays. I wish we could leave earlier but we have an appointment Friday morning we can’t miss before we depart.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

the axle seal leaks will show at the bottoms of the drums and not the tops are in any of that circumference after sitting if minimal show you should seen maybe little inner tire drip area leaks if the axle seal is going bad.
you are not showing any leak syptoms from the top of your axle pics but a pic of the bottom of each axle will show if there is any leakes.
if the signs are at the ground side of the inside of the tire then you have an issue.
air brakes are different for the ones that dont know them.
for the OP i think you dont know what you have and i think your plane ride is cheaper and safer than your land rig until you learn it?but it is your decision i can only give an opinion.
your not comfortable with your bus yet and you have not studied air brakes
you are not ready to go cross country with it .

[dbsoundman]

I have studied air brakes but some of the specifics of this bus aren’t obvious, like the exact location of the S cams. But I understand the operation.

By the way I forgot to mention the photo of the brake pad and drum got flipped, that is underneath the axle, hence the bolt threads visible holding onto the axle.

My issue here is I’m just stressed trying to get ready for a trip and I was not prepared for the onslaught of guesses I got for the cause and solution to my problem. We drive the bus at least 30 miles round trip on Friday, after the first mile I had the brake working normally and didn’t experience any issues. I don’t have a thermometer to check drum temperature, I will try to grab one before we go. I’m going to have my wife test the parking brake while I’m looking underneath (wheels chocked!!) to make sure things look good underneath tomorrow. That will also give me a good visual on how things work.

[triplets school bus]

Wheel end air brake parts

[dbsoundman]

Took a look at the brake chamber with the system aired up and parking brake off tonight, sure enough the shoe was still on the drum and I could see that the push rod on the brake chamber was further out on the bad side than it was on the good side.

Gave it a couple hits with a rubber mallet and it immediately started moving in. Once I got it all the way in, we drive about 12 miles round trip with one stop, no more problems.

The whole brake mechanism is coated in grease and dirt caked on, would a cleaning help or should I just plan to replace that chamber soon? It seems like it just gets gummed up when all the grease gets cold.

[ewo1]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

Took a look at the brake chamber with the system aired up and parking brake off tonight, sure enough the shoe was still on the drum and I could see that the push rod on the brake chamber was further out on the bad side than it was on the good side.

Gave it a couple hits with a rubber mallet and it immediately started moving in. Once I got it all the way in, we drive about 12 miles round trip with one stop, no more problems.

The whole brake mechanism is coated in grease and dirt caked on, would a cleaning help or should I just plan to replace that chamber soon? It seems like it just gets gummed up when all the grease gets cold.

Believe it or not but brake pads sticking to the brake drums is a common occurrence in heavy trucks. Your brake pads are semi metallic. Your brake drums on the inside is raw steel.

Moisture in the air will “ bond” the brake pads to the drums. Heck I had a triple axle boat trailer that sat for three months, brakes froze solid !

Quick solution is almost always rocking the unit back and forth till the free up or whacking them with a hammer like you did.

You pics do not show oil seal leaking and I’m gueesing you don’t hear air air loss or fail when you do your air brakes testing.

Me, personally, I would have no fear in driving the bus, but that’s me…

Heck, I drove a bus from Kentucky to Miami with a broken front leaf spring!

I would try to drive the bus a little bit more before you leave, short trips that require frequent brake use. Give it a feel and if they no longer “ hold” back, you should be good too go.

Oh yeah, make really good, for sure, that your S cams are greased.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by ewo1

Believe it or not but brake pads sticking to the brake drums is a common occurrence in heavy trucks. Your brake pads are semi metallic. Your brake drums on the inside is raw steel.

Moisture in the air will “ bond” the brake pads to the drums. Heck I had a triple axle boat trailer that sat for three months, brakes froze solid !

Quick solution is almost always rocking the unit back and forth till the free up or whacking them with a hammer like you did.

You pics do not show oil seal leaking and I’m gueesing you don’t hear air air loss or fail when you do your air brakes testing.

Me, personally, I would have no fear in driving the bus, but that’s me…

Heck, I drove a bus from Kentucky to Miami with a broken front leaf spring!

I would try to drive the bus a little bit more before you leave, short trips that require frequent brake use. Give it a feel and if they no longer “ hold” back, you should be good too go.

Oh yeah, make really good, for sure, that your S cams are greased.

In my case I was whacking the “elbow” that connects the slack adjuster to the push rod on the brake chamber. The pads weren’t stuck, the chamber seemed to be stuck, or maybe that elbow was just stiff due to lack of grease?