brake chamber

Actually it is a safety issue - remember yours and my interpretation of the regs don't count. If you are loosing air pressure because of a can leaking, even if it is not a service break, they can ding you and put you out of service. I have had it done to myself and a couple drivers.

 

Correct. Have to know what is around. Like if you gonna cross a scale etc. Bur to me if i can get somewhere safer than along the highway..then i am gone.

 

Pair o vice grips fixes the leak.

 

True. But sorta rough on the line. But does work.

 

I use a large flat blade screwdriver to try and line up the hole to get the bolt in to cage the broken spring. it's a b!tch to get it, but persistence usually pays off. I switched to Lifeseal pots years ago, and have not had a broken spring since. they are worth the extra bucks, the caging bolt is built in so water can't intrude and rust the maxi spring.

 

Once the divider inside the chamber between emergency spring and service air breaks and begins to leak when you apply the service brakes with the foot your tractor will experience a very rapid drain in both pri and sec air tanks. Until the rest of the truck says ok enough and throws the low below 60 PSI alarm and locks you up with the rest of the spring brakes.

You will find that if you are trying to stop at a light or slow to below ramp sign speed your pri and sec air drains too fast. It will be a race. The results of that race would determine what happens after once the springs lock it across the rig.

One reason for that I ran into is that there was no air dryer on my rig and you needed to drain the wet tank overnight to get the sludge out of it and keep it out. Otherwise it reaches one of the chambers, eats through the sea and that's that.

If you had a fire back there and it's locked then they use what we call a maxi bolt. Those go into a hole made to cage the brake chamber itself taking the pressure off the drum. It takes a little time for each bolt. But once done you will be able to get to the shop and get it fixed. It's not a fun operation.

If you are trained on how to use them then carry a set of maxi bolts with you and the tools to use them with. If you are not trained on that, let someone else who is do it. Either that or they will drag your locked tractor out from under the load, repower it and tow your tractor away worse case scenario.

The one other scenario for a brake locking is when it's cold enough to instantly freeze your pads to the drum. For me the only solution was to chock her, get under with a hammer brakes off and beat on the drum until it came unstuck. If there is any slope like it was on mine that day at -40 below, shes gonna move don't stay under there. (Don't do what I just wrote. 9 times of ten it's going to try and kill you once it gets moving on it's own in that ice and snow down slope)

Ive had all of that happen at least once. Over the years. But it's not very common as long you have a very good air dryer that takes the moisture out of the air going to the dry tank that is intended for use in braking.

 

For what? Service brakes still work with a caged brake. As long as you still have parking brakes "capable of holding the vehicle" (§393.41), where is the violation? Especially if it's on a truck like mine (spring brakes on both drive axles), I could cage 2 chambers and STILL have the same number of functional spring brakes as most other trucks on the road.

 

That's an OOS for an "audible air leak", NOT because the brake was caged. A pair of vice grips crimping the supply line solves that issue. Without an air leak, where is the violation?

 

This is the the explanation I received when I raised virtually the same point.

“FMVSS 121 s5.6 is the regulation that requires parking brakes. The interpretation on 393.41 (the DOT reg that quotes 121 requiring parking brakes) explains that parking brakes may be "caged" for "purposes of towing disabled vehicles in emergency situations". But, when it is not an emergency situation, and the brake system is operable, the parking brakes must be "maintained" (not caged) "so they cannot be released unless adequate energy is available to make immediate reapplication of the brakes." If the emergency brake on one side of an axle is not functioning, and it is not being towed in an "emergency situation", then it is a violation of the required braking systems per 121.”

 

Yes that is a scary thing to happen.
I had one explode driving thru a field. A rock hit the chamber and broke the clamp. Wow, what amount of energy is released.
When caging, if possible I use the trucks air system to compress the spring and cage it that way. It's easier.

Some literature about brake Chambers.

How To Replace Air Chambers

Good luck.