Journey 36DL brakes lock

[CharlesMoore]

We have had our pusher 2002 Journey 36DL for 4 years. My issue appears to happen if we leave her sit for longer periods (say 1 month for reference). I will present the scenerio below.


We arrive at our destination rv park and set up camp with air brakes set. After a month, we break camp and are ready to go. We put our trusty Allison transmission in forward (#6) and accelerate - no go forward. So back to neutral and back to forward -no go again even at full acceleration. The first time this happened, in desperation, I put her in reverse and accelerated and SNAP, we jumped back pretty good. Back to forward, we moved out just as we should. (it appears as if the brakes take a set when brakes are set and air goes down).



So, the solution is to reverse first to release the "set" of the brakes. The problem is that we park her in the spring in a building that is 39' long and there is little space at the rear of the building with the door closed. Reversing is hazardous to our Journey as there is only about 8" clearance.


So, the question is "how do we keep the air brakes from going into lock condition"?

[MinntoMich]

I'm outta my league on this one but I have had similar experiences with froze 53' trailer brakes where I work. Usually its when snow, sleet or rain/freezing rain locks up the drums after the trailer has been parked. It also happens in the warmer months when they've sat for awhile like you've mentioned.

What I usually do is make sure I'm fully aired up with the brakes released then work the brake switch on and off several times at full pressure. You might want to try pumping the brake peddle also. If that's a no-go I'll crawl under the trailer with a small 5 lb. sledge and give the drums several powerful hits. This almost always works and what I then normally hear is a metallic "ting" when the brakes free up.

I know a MH is not a OTR trailer but if its a problem with them locking up due to moisture/rust maybe this advice will help.