Posted by J-Gilly on Thursday, November 25, 2004 at 0:33AM :
On my maiden voyage with the truck, last night ( the truck was delivered three years ago on a flatbed), all went well except for the emergency brake. After gradually bringing up my speed, to check things out, I ended up with about an hour-long full-speed blast on state highways. About 10 minutes from my destination, I began to smell smoke, which quickly filled the cabin. I stopped, jumped out of the truck, and looked underneath. The E-brake drum was glowing red, and the dirt and grease on it was smoldering and ready to ignite. The brake was not engaged, but it obviously was causing friction. Anyone else have this problem? Should I loosen the strap adjustment, or will that make it difficult to engage the brake reliably? The rest of the TC was warm, but not over heating- I am wondering if the glowing E-brake drum could have overheated the shaft it was attached to and damaged the TC, or broken down the gear lube in the TC reducing its ablility to protect the gears in the TC. Should I drain and replace the lube in the TC? For a 5 minute job, it seems like a good idea. Besides a good cleaning of grease and dirt, does anyone have any good ideas? Thanks for your help.
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