Noisy Brakes
Q: I have a 1998 36-foot Fleetwood Pace Arrow. I am having a problem with my front brakes. They make noise when I am stopping, and, after I stop and take my foot off the brake pedal, they don’t release from the pad. When I get to about 25 mph I don’t hear the noise anymore. If I am in a stop-and-go situation, the noise is there. Can you help?
Larry Davis
Fontana, California
A: Even though more information about your coach, such as total mileage, typical maintenance schedule, type of brakes, etc., would be helpful, I’ll venture a guess as to your problem.
Actually, I believe you have two problems, both of which should be corrected with a new set of brakes installed by a competent technician. The noise, I believe, is being caused by metal-on-metal scraping, which means your brake pads (I’m assuming you have disc brakes on the front axle) are worn out and you’re carving grooves into your brake discs. The reason they are not releasing immediately is because the calipers have not been properly lubricated and they’re hung up. A competent technician will take care of both problems by replacing the brake pads. And you’ll probably also need new discs if they can’t be saved by turning on a lathe.
Remember, since I didn’t have much information to go on, these are educated guesses. The bottom line is that you definitely need to take your motorhome to a service facility and let a skilled technician examine the brakes and determine what the problems are before you have an accident due to insufficient braking ability.
Escalade Escapee
Q: I am looking for information on flat-towing an all-wheel-drive Cadillac Escalade. I’m told it can be done with the addition of aftermarket equipment. I’m looking for input from someone who has done it.
R.E. Simpson, F380360
Leesburg, Florida
A: Although its cousin, the Chevy Avalanche, is flat-towable, according to my Cadillac contact the Escalade has a “more sophisticated driveline” and cannot be flat towed without modification. I’m sure Remco www.remcotowing.com; 800-228-2481) can help, because I’ve seen some Escalades being towed to FMCA conventions.
Lugging Along A Liberty
Q: Your listing in the annual towing guides for the Jeep Liberty CRD diesel shows that the automatics for the years 2005 and 2006 are towable and that a manual transmission is not available. There are six-speed manual versions of this Liberty. Are they towable?
John J. Elnitski Jr., F343846
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
A: According to the specification sheets we have on the Liberty diesel, a manual transmission is not available on these models. Spec sheets for the 2005 and 2006 Jeep Liberty indicate that the 2.8-liter diesel was available only with a five-speed automatic transmission. Our contact at DaimlerChrysler confirmed that all Liberty CRD diesel models available in the United States were made only with the automatic transmission.
However, our contact did say that a manual-transmission version of the vehicle was offered to markets outside North America. If, by chance, one of these vehicles made it back to the United States, consult the owners manual for towing instructions.