During our recent 3400 mile trip we encountered problems with the brakes on our 2000 Monaco Knight DP. This motorhome is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes with ABS.
On the 2nd day of our trip I smelled burning brake lining as we drove near Dothan, AL and discovered that the rear wheels were very hot and had a strong smell of hot brake lining. The bottom line is that the rear calipers had to be replaced because of corrosion which caused them to not fully release resulting in them dragging on the rotors. You could see burned lining baked on the rotors. They also cleaned the rotors and the brake pads which still had lots of lining remaining. The front brakes were also inspected and deemed to be ok as the rotors were nice and clean with no sign of dragging.
Everything went fine from there until the last day of our trip near Orlando, FL when the same thing happened to the front brakes! This time they just cleaned the calipers, rotors and pads and lubed the calipers, no new parts required. Now I wonder if the guy in Dothan sold me new (rebuilt) calipers that I really didn't need! We made it home ok, but the front wheels still feel too hot, but no smell of burning brake pads, when I check them after a long drive at highway speeds.
I was told by both locations that worked on the brakes that I should drive the motorhome weekly to prevent this problem and to also apply a high temperature silicone lube to the calipers every 3 months or so.
Has anyone else had a similar problem and can you offer any advice?
Bill Malefyt
mikeway said
08:22 PM Aug 30, 2006
Call Monaco ASAP. When in doubt always call Monaco. Their service has been, for us, top notch. If you attend the Monaco rallies, they supply a service team and tech advisers on site.
Had the same issue, there may be a brake recall or service bulletin. Monaco replaced the brakes on all four wheels, their expense, on my 1999 Safari. It had been manufactured before Monaco bought the company.
I even have Monaco's service number on speed dial for parts (dash ac, etc ) that no body ever heard of and so on.
Monaco
wmalefyt said
08:49 PM Aug 31, 2006
Thanks for the info.
I knew about the brake recall when I bought the coach last year. I had the seller take it to Monaco in Wildwood, FL and they inspected and advised the recall work had been done with the original owner, we're the 3rd owner.
I have Monaco's customer service number and have talked with their techs on several occasions, but have not found them very helpful. I also attended the FMCA rally in Charlotte this month and had a Monaco tech fix a couple of things which is a nice service they offer. However, they can't tackle big items like brakes and leaky radiators which is another problem we have.
During our recent 3400 mile trip we encountered problems with the brakes on our 2000 Monaco Knight DP. This motorhome is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes with ABS.
On the 2nd day of our trip I smelled burning brake lining as we drove near Dothan, AL and discovered that the rear wheels were very hot and had a strong smell of hot brake lining. The bottom line is that the rear calipers had to be replaced because of corrosion which caused them to not fully release resulting in them dragging on the rotors. You could see burned lining baked on the rotors. They also cleaned the rotors and the brake pads which still had lots of lining remaining. The front brakes were also inspected and deemed to be ok as the rotors were nice and clean with no sign of dragging.
Everything went fine from there until the last day of our trip near Orlando, FL when the same thing happened to the front brakes! This time they just cleaned the calipers, rotors and pads and lubed the calipers, no new parts required. Now I wonder if the guy in Dothan sold me new (rebuilt) calipers that I really didn't need! We made it home ok, but the front wheels still feel too hot, but no smell of burning brake pads, when I check them after a long drive at highway speeds.
I was told by both locations that worked on the brakes that I should drive the motorhome weekly to prevent this problem and to also apply a high temperature silicone lube to the calipers every 3 months or so.
Has anyone else had a similar problem and can you offer any advice?
Bill Malefyt
Had the same issue, there may be a brake recall or service bulletin. Monaco replaced the brakes on all four wheels, their expense, on my 1999 Safari. It had been manufactured before Monaco bought the company.
I even have Monaco's service number on speed dial for parts (dash ac, etc ) that no body ever heard of and so on.
Monaco
Thanks for the info.
I knew about the brake recall when I bought the coach last year. I had the seller take it to Monaco in Wildwood, FL and they inspected and advised the recall work had been done with the original owner, we're the 3rd owner.
I have Monaco's customer service number and have talked with their techs on several occasions, but have not found them very helpful. I also attended the FMCA rally in Charlotte this month and had a Monaco tech fix a couple of things which is a nice service they offer. However, they can't tackle big items like brakes and leaky radiators which is another problem we have.
Bill M.