| Another good trip report [message #261858] |
Sun, 14 September 2014 13:24  |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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Well we followed up our week long vacation on the Gulf Coast by heading north of Chattanooga to see my alma mater lose a football game. A good time despite the result. Only thing that has gone twitchy on me for this trip is one of the fantastic fans won't start. Probably the ground or the fuse, but by the time I wanted to play with it we decided to just deal with it once we got home.
A few things we learned. Marion County Park on I-24 30 miles north of Chattanooga is nice. Close to the interstate, so more a stopping than staying park, but for $20 we had 30 amp service and water and stayed on a peninsula by the Nick-a-Jack Dam. The grade on I24 up to Monteagle was something I'd been dreading. 4+ miles of at least 6% grade. Not towing we went up in 3rd gear at 50-55mph with no significant transmission or engine warming. Sometimes your fears don't pan out. Filled the master cylinder to the top before coming back down and had no problems keeping it in 3rd gear at 50-55mph.
Stopped at Cloud Canyon State Park for the night in Georgia, 6 miles off I59. This wasn't my brightest idea. It was getting late and we needed to feed and put the kids to bed, so it looked like a nice close campground to jump off the interstate and stop for the night. It was a beautiful campground, close to the interstate. Unfortunately 3.5 of those 6 miles climbs almost 1500 feet to the park entrance. Went up in second gear at 32-35 mph except at the three steep switchbacks where I was down to 10-15 mph. Fluid coming out of the transmission was into the first orange bar on the digipanel but it was still green in the pan before we crested the top, but just barely. That road is posted at 55 mph for cars, so there were some awfully sore people behind me. At $35 for the night, the park campground was a bit pricey for 30 amp service and water, but it was very well maintained and the park itself is beautiful.
Filled the back master cylinder to the brim again and spent some time smelling the transmission fluid before starting down this a.m. 2nd gear 30-35 (though it probably moved up close to 40 at times) got me back down the mountain with the brakes just starting to get a touch spongey. Wouldn't have wanted to go up or down from Cloud Canyon towing, but it's some place I'd go back to and stay for a while to do some hiking.
Overall a really good trip again and the coach is unloaded, if not scrubbed out. Probably won't get too much more real use out of it before we head out for the long trip to South Florida in November, but I'm hoping to use it tailgating locally a few times.
Use them folks, they run better the more they are on the road!
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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| Re: Another good trip report [message #261860 is a reply to message #261858] |
Sun, 14 September 2014 13:30  |
Bob de Kruyff
Messages: 4260
Registered: January 2004
Location: Chandler, AZ
Karma: 1
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""Overall a really good trip again and the coach is unloaded, if not scrubbed out. Probably won't get too much more real use out of it before we head out for the long trip to South Florida in November, but I'm hoping to use it tailgating locally a few times.
Use them folks, they run better the more they are on the road!
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL""
Sounds like a great trip ! It does sound like you are losing some fluid on the rear brake circuit that may need some attention.
Bob de Kruyff
78 Eleganza
Chandler, AZ
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| Re: Another good trip report [message #261861 is a reply to message #261860] |
Sun, 14 September 2014 13:44 |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
Karma: 5
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Senior Member |
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Bob de Kruyff wrote on Sun, 14 September 2014 14:30""Overall a really good trip again and the coach is unloaded, if not
Sounds like a great trip ! It does sound like you are losing some fluid on the rear brake circuit that may need some attention.
It's the back of the MC which is the front brakes. It's not a big deal. I'm losing about an eighth of an inch in fluid on both those grades. I just get a bit paranoid about it since I've sprung a leak twice on the front. Once just as I approached Alex Sirrum's when I lived in FL and the coach was still a pile of projects and once at the top of Lookout Mountain coming down from Rock City. That was a bad one as we only had rear brakes until we pulled into Ruby Falls and fixed the problem.
I think a lot my problems now are pad wear and an ageing MC that allows fluid to leak out a bit when it expands quickly. One of these days I'll overhaul the whole braking system and see what I find...
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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| Re: [GMCnet] Another good trip report [message #261877 is a reply to message #261861] |
Sun, 14 September 2014 15:35 |
James Hupy
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
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Senior Member |
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Jeremy, brake fluid loss over a short time is troubling to me. If little
Tommy tinker has not been messing with your brake system, the rear
reservoir should be the front brakes. When you get home, check the pads,
brake hoses and distribution valve for leakage as well as the cover gasket
for the MC.
Jim Hupy
On Sep 14, 2014 11:44 AM, "Jeremy" wrote:
> Bob de Kruyff wrote on Sun, 14 September 2014 14:30
>> ""Overall a really good trip again and the coach is unloaded, if not
>>
>> Sounds like a great trip ! It does sound like you are losing some fluid
> on the rear brake circuit that may need some attention.
>
>
> It's the back of the MC which is the front brakes. It's not a big deal.
> I'm losing about an eighth of an inch in fluid on both those grades. I just
> get a bit paranoid about it since I've sprung a leak twice on the front.
> Once just as I approached Alex Sirrum's when I lived in FL and the coach was
> still a pile of projects and once at the top of Lookout Mountain coming
> down from Rock City. That was a bad one as we only had rear brakes until we
> pulled into Ruby Falls and fixed the problem.
>
> I think a lot my problems now are pad wear and an ageing MC that allows
> fluid to leak out a bit when it expands quickly. One of these days I'll
> overhaul the whole braking system and see what I find...
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Jeremy Knezek
> 1976 Glenbrook
> Birmingham, AL
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> GMCnet mailing list
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| Re: [GMCnet] Another good trip report [message #261881 is a reply to message #261877] |
Sun, 14 September 2014 17:03 |
A Hamilto
Messages: 4508
Registered: April 2011
Karma: 39
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Senior Member |
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James Hupy wrote on Sun, 14 September 2014 15:35Jeremy, brake fluid loss over a short time is troubling to me. If little Tommy tinker has not been messing with your brake system, the rear reservoir should be the front brakes. When you get home, check the pads, brake hoses and distribution valve for leakage as well as the cover gasket for the MC.
Jim Hupy Filling the caliper cylinder is how disk brakes adjust. Brakes getting spongy tells me they got real hot. One caliper might be seized causing the other to do wear twice as fast, and the wear might be why the master cylinder is getting low. Or the fronts are doing all the braking and the rears are just coasting. Either way, bad juju.
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