Road check 2017

See now, from time to time driver I'll ask another driver whos parked for the night if they'll come over and help me check the brakes- and in return I'll measure the push rod travel on their truck if they'd like.

Got 2 be on flat ground though, chalk wheel with something if necessary : 1) with brakes pulled, mark the push rod with chalk, mark it where it meets the chamber: 2) press your brakes in, then have your truck stop freind press & hold the brakes at your comand... 3) measure with a tape measurer from the brake chamber to the chalk line. If you measure more than 2 in driver then your out of adjustment (considering you have a type 30 chamber)... do this to measure each push rod

Thrn once your done, since your already dirty, you can walk over to your new freinds truck to measure that truck as thanks:

4) drive away in style knowing your brakes are adjusted

or you could be lazy and say hopeovermope thats to much work I'd rather drop fries in grease at micky's

If you have a wife @ home or girlfriend, its much more convenient: just have her or a family mrmber/ freind press the brakes while you measure----- dont forgot to press the brakes in though (on the dash), pressing brakes while brakes are pulled can create a lot of bad pressure

 

Checking brake adjustment is (read: should be) part of your pre-trip.

 

This is what I read as posted by Stemco or one of the popular slack adjusters years ago on one of their tech bulletins. Not sure if things have changed with newer designs.

Some of the guys who live and work in the mountain states, when heavy and ready to begin their day, you'll see them roll forward about 10 feet, then roll back and give a firm brake application while rolling backwards. Not sure if this helps much either, but I've done this with fleet trailers and not had any inspection issues related to brake travel.

An interesting read here ...
http://www.idealease-abetterway.com/safetycompliance/04_22_2011.pdf

 

This is interesting too. But it leads one to believe that the different slack adjusters makes have different requirements

 

You can go to the hardware store and pick up a 1/4 in skinny chisel.If the brake linings are less than the width of the chisel, boom you know they are too thin.

 

Where to measure? Ends or middle?

 

The scary thing about that guy's chart showing the stroke limits is that the 2.5" limit is for long stroke type 30 chambers. I've never actually seen one of them, because (at least around here) the standard stroke type 30 chamber is pretty standard. That only comes with a 2" limit before you are getting a pair of tickets....one for the out-of-adjustment brake, and another one if your truck is new enough to require automatic slacks because the slack isn't automatically adjusting to maintain proper stroke. According to that chart, the Meritor slack adjuster would be 0.075" beyond the limit WITHOUT any "compliance reserve". That right there leads me to question the rest of these numbers, as Meritor wouldn't be in business selling automatic slack adjusters that weren't designed to keep the brakes legal.

The other issue I see with brakes that adjust THAT slow, goes back to how these auto slacks work and the .pdf you posted the link to in your previous post. So if it takes 35 hard brake applications to adjust out 1/4" of stroke, and a good, safe, defensive driver seldom (if ever) applies the brakes that hard outside of his pretrip inspections, how many times does he have to sit there pumping the brakes, letting the truck air back up, and pumping the brakes again before he can be certain all of his brakes are within spec? The point of these "rapid adjustment" slacks is so that they adjust as you're bleeding down the system during your pretrip to check the tractor protection valve, emergency brakes, and low air warning light and buzzer. To have to run through that process more than once is a waste of time. Hell, most drivers don't even bother to run through that process ONCE! When you take that simple reality into consideration, coupled with the way they are designed to work, it just seems like it would lead to MORE tickets and OOS incidents. The exception to that might be if you frequently run in areas where these were designed to excel...mountainous regions with long downgrades which require a lot of braking to control your descent. If you're a flat-lander, they just don't seem like they'd be a good fit.

 

Probably the ends, last thing you need is a DOT officer measuring the thin ends thinking of putting you out of service.

 

Every stop sign or stop light I press the brake pedal down hard before I get rolling again.

 

A vehicle does not pass an inspection if it has one of the following defects or deficiencies:
1. Brake System.
a. Service brakes.
(6) Brake linings or pads.
(c) Non-steering axles: Lining with a thickness less than 1⁄4 inch at the shoe center for air drum brakes,
1⁄16 inch or less at the shoe center for hydraulic and electric drum brakes, and less than 1⁄8 inch for air disc brakes.
(d) Steering axles: Lining with a thickness less than 1⁄4 inch at the shoe center for drum brakes, less than 1⁄8 inch for air disc brakes and 1⁄16 inch or less for hydraulic disc and electric brakes.



Measure at the center of the shoe.