Winnebaggo Brake issue

I know this is a boat site, but I'm running out of ideas. I posted this on a Winnebago forum, but I know a lot of you guys own RV's and large trucks and I hope you guys can help point me in the right direction.

Sorry for the long winded post here, but I don't want to leave anything out that may help.

I've had an issue with what I belive is the brakes dragging on my 1984 Winnebago Elandan that I bought in April. It's a "class A" Motorhome built on a Chevy P30 Chassis.

When I test drove it, before I even bought it, the drivers side front brake caliper got stuck. The PO said it was probably from sitting over the winter and took it apart and pryed it back and said that he sprayed some penatrating oil in it and it was fine. it seemed fine when I drove it again but I didn't go far. I bought it, took it home, changed the oil, filled it up with gas, and replaced the front air bags since I noticed they were completely rotted out. After replacing the air bags I took it for a ride down the highway and when exiting the highway hit a small bump and the thing started shaking violently! there wa also a clunking sound coming from the front that stopped when I applied the brakes. The shaking scarred the b'jesus out of me! I pulled over and looked the front end and tires over and everything seemed fine. I drove it back home without incident. I took it back home and pulled the wheels off to look things over and shake it down, everything was tight. The PO said he had replaced the brakes before I bought it but from the looks of the rotors it looked like he just swapped out the pads.

Not having time to work on it, I took it to a local shop that works on commercial trucks, Rv's etc... They determined that it was the caliper hanging up. said that it got so hot on the one side it had almost melted the rubber hoses going to the calipers. They replaced the callipers, rubber hoses, pads and rotors. I picked it up, the brakes seemed to stop much better than before. We took our first trip to Salt Fork about 70 mile south of us. We just did an overnighter and drove back the next day. I heard the clunking again and took it back to the shop. They told me one of the pad clips had come off, and they replaced it.

Next time I took it out was to take it to a guy to have some support welded up to the frame extension for towing the boat. On the way to the welders I heard clunking again then when I went over some RR tracks I felt a wobbling in the front end and herd the clunking sound again, Again it would stop when I applied the brakes. After getting the welding done I didn't feel like messing with it any more because I wanted to use it. I took it down to Salt Fork and parked it in a storage place about 6 miles from the park. We used it all summer, We would take the boat down with the truck, drop the boat at the campground and Paula would drive be back to the storage place to pick up the RV and I would drive it about a total of eight miles to the campground. The first couple times it was fine then I started hearing the clunking again everytime after I drove it for a while. It never made the sound at first, only after driving for a while.

I picked it up and drove it back from Salt Fork last week and took it to the shop that installed the brakes and told them it was still making a clunking sound. they took them apart and said one of the baking plates had come loose from one of the pads. They told me they just removed the backing plate from the pad since they "don't do anything anyway" I picked it up and drove it about 10 miles to a place to fill up the propane tanks. Again, as soon as I slowed down from highway speed on the ramp I heard the clunking again! I filled the propane and drove it back to the shop. I felt the wobble again after hitting a bump right before I turned into the shop, but once again I was going slow so it wasn't a violent shaking, more like someone was turning the wheel back and forth really fast.

They called me the next day and said they can't find the problem, It may be something with the rod comming from the brake pedal, said there was some play in it, but "it's so old that the part isn't available... blah blah blah... When I went to pick it up I had them show me what part they thought was bad and causing the problem and I thought it looked fine, very little play. I got the feeling from them that they never wanted to see me or my Winnebago again! I was really disappointed they couldn't find the problem. I told them I would pay to fix what ever it was, I just wanted it fixed!

So here is what I know:

1. I am almost certain that one of the front brakes are dragging and once heated up are causing the clunking and the wobble/shaking.

2. It's fine when you first drive it, the problem only comes back once its been driven a while. The more you use the brakes, the worse it gets.

3. I only hear the clunking at slow speeds and it will go away when I apply the brakes.

4. My Winnebago has four wheel disk brakes and is built on the Chevy P30 chassis.

5. I was told the back brakes were in good shape. I had them look them over and balance all of the wheels while it was there the first time. They said all the tires were in good shape. Also said all of the front end was tight and that the wheel bearings were fine too.

6. I've been reading about the brake system and I'm not finding anything like what I'm experiencing. I did learn that it has a Hydroboost system that runs off of the power steering pump, could this hydroboost cause this problem?

7. I'm thinking about replacing all of the brake fluid in the system and maybe the power steering fluid in the power steering pump and hydroboost system. Maybe this will help?

I really want to get this straightened out. It's almost ready to snow, and I would really like to take it on a road trip before I put it away.

Please help me! I don't know where to even start looking.

I re-read and see rotors were replaced.


Check to see if a caliper is hanging up still.     Drive for a block or so and feel the wheels. See if it getting hotter than the other.


I bet this is only a brake problem if, the rotors are warped, or you have an early ABS system.


Not for sure if your issue happens always, only when appling the brakes, or going over bumps and braking.

it sounds like brakes still but in my one ton the death wobble occurs every time my steering stabilizer wears out bumps seem to contribute to it

Bang. Peter is on point. I feel as if you have two different problems. The problem causing the less violent shaking and the noise then the problem causing the high speed wobble. The violent shake would be the steering dampner (if it has one looks like a shock attached to the axle and steering linkage or frame). They don't have to have a lot of miles on them to go bad. Mostly age is the problem here due to seals leaking. A tire can also cause death wobble and you will see no other symptoms of a bad tire.

As far as the brakes sticking you may need to drive it get it hot and very quickly jack up the front end and spin the wheels. Have someone else in the vehicle apply the brakes while you try to spin each wheel then release the pedal and see how slow or fast the brakes release. This will either prove or disprove the theroy of the brakes sticking.

On to the noise. Most people can work on cars just fine but they cannot diagnose problems. Part hangers... which sounds like the shop you are working with. I have somewhat of an idea that this has some miles on it. Brake pads will wear calipers and caliper stands over time. If there is a slight warp in the rotor this might not be felt but it can cause said caliper or pads to move forward and backward as the rotor rotates sometimes causing noise. The only remedy for this is usually finding a replacement spindle that has less wear on it or just a caliper stand if it comes off of the spindle.

Get crackin and fix that big box!

ononewheel wrote: I re-read and see rotors were replaced. Check to see if a caliper is hanging up still.     Drive for a block or so and feel the wheels. See if it getting hotter than the other. I bet this is only a brake problem if, the rotors are warped, or you have an early ABS system. Not for sure if your issue happens always, only when appling the brakes, or going over bumps and braking.

Good idea, I will do that to see if they are getting hot. I've crawled under it and felt the rotors and clipers to see if they were hot after the clunking starts, they are warm, nothing seems too hot, but one doesn't seem any warmer than the other.

If the rotor are new (only about 300 miles on them) can they be warped? how can I tell if they are warped? do I need to take them off and take them to a machine shop?

No ABS system.

The clunking sound only happens after it has been driven a while. Never at first. Once the clunking starts, the clunking will go away if I apply the brakes. Going over bumps seems to activate the wobble/shake, but I haven't had a violent shaking like the first time since they replaced the brakes. I'm convinced now after reading the responses here that I should replace this steering damper, it does appear to be original as do the shocks. It has air bags in the coil springs, they were completely rotted out and I replaced those when I first got it and noticed they were shot. It was after I replaced these air bags and took it for a test drive that I had the violent shaking episode.

peter1234 wrote: it sounds like brakes still but in my one ton the death wobble occurs every time my steering stabilizer wears out bumps seem to contribute to it

I think I'm going to replace that steering damper next, could this make a clunking sound if it was bad? It's tight, you can't move it around.

phatsat67 wrote: Bang. Peter is on point. I feel as if you have two different problems. The problem causing the less violent shaking and the noise then the problem causing the high speed wobble. The violent shake would be the steering dampner (if it has one looks like a shock attached to the axle and steering linkage or frame). They don't have to have a lot of miles on them to go bad. Mostly age is the problem here due to seals leaking. A tire can also cause death wobble and you will see no other symptoms of a bad tire.

I think your both right. seems like I have an issue with the steering damper. It does look original, The shocks should probably be swapped out too.

phatsat67 wrote: As far as the brakes sticking you may need to drive it get it hot and very quickly jack up the front end and spin the wheels. Have someone else in the vehicle apply the brakes while you try to spin each wheel then release the pedal and see how slow or fast the brakes release. This will either prove or disprove the theroy of the brakes sticking.

This is what I will do. It kind scares me to have someone in the vehicle with the engine running while it's up on jack stand with the wheels off. I bought a 15ton bottle jack and a set of 6 ton jack stands. Getting the front end of a 15,000 pound vehicle off the ground is a lot different that the front end of my Tundra! I don't really have a good place to do it either. Another reason I took it to the shop!

phatsat67 wrote: On to the noise. Most people can work on cars just fine but they cannot diagnose problems. Part hangers... which sounds like the shop you are working with.

Bingo! That's what I was thinking! I asked the guy at the shop I took it to if I was able to troubleshoot the problem if he would fix it? I kind of feel they don't want to see me or my classic coach again!

phatsat67 wrote: I have somewhat of an idea that this has some miles on it.

It's an 84, but it only has 51,000 mile on it. The PO said he used it a lot but never went on really long trips.

The steering damper when new will help mask a little looseness all through the system, if your drag link , tie rod ends steering box all have a slight bit of play then it shows itself quick when the stabilizer is bad, , also either too much toe in or out will do this, the rattle still sounds like caliper / pads

Do you by chance have chrome wheel covers?

Those f@#*!% can do some funny noises, especially if it's ever tagged a curb, even slightly. Creates some sort of harmonics, until the brakes are applied, changing harmonics.

Take those covers off and take it for a ride, I've delt with many covers that I'd say it is worth a try if you even have them. My last truck had some silicon behind it.






Got to jack it up on i beam to check the king pins. Use pry bar to move wheel, have partner watch king pin area.    Doesn't sound like your last shop was capable, or wanted to, to check them.

They ride in brass bushings, require grease too. 1984 huh? Your going to have play.

You are going to hate the bill for doing that job.

I'd find a cheaper fix to improve the wobble issue, like the stabaalizer. It is likely you have many parts with wear and combined, it's unlikely you are going to find ONE part to cure the issue.

Growing up we had a Coachman and I remember when hitting a bump like a railroad track the front end would shake the same way your describing the steering wheel would go back and forth violently until you basically came to a stop. But I was around 12 and I don't know what caused it but I will ask my dad.

Randy if you get the chance to do the double stabilizer that they use on lifted mud trucks i wouldnt hesitate

Randy I didn't read the whole post but I will later tonight. First problem with your brakes sticking is the rubber hose that connects to the calipers is held to the A frame by a small bracket. These old rubber hoses swell and the clamp restricts the flow of fluid. Under braking you apply enough force to get fluid to the caliper but there is no way it can return. I burned up a new set of brakes on my p30, when I asked a truck mechanic about it he new instantly what was wrong and he was correct. Replaced hoses never had another problem.   I do have a little brake rattle when they are not applied but I turn the radio up and it goes away.

As for the steering you should consider a new Bilstein steering stabilizer and possily a Steer Safe system and some new front shocks. I also put a much larger IDP Front roll bar. The P30 are called wiggle wagons and you need to spend a little money under the front to get them to handle reasonably.

peter1234 wrote: Randy if you get the chance to do the double stabilizer that they use on lifted mud trucks i wouldnt hesitate

Those things are the berrys!!!!

There is a yahoo group called motorhomep-30. Everything you need to know about the p30 is there. Every one has the same issues and all the fixes are there, just read through the forum and ask questions there.

If I remember correctly the bell cranks are an issue with the p30 also. I easily spent $1500 on my front end getting it tightened up and it still drivers like a bakery delivery truck with a house bolted to it.

Randy_in_Ohio wrote: The clunking sound that I hear after driving it for awhile has to be in the brake system. Once I get the steering stabilizer installed, I'm going to take it for a ride and then bring it back and jack it up and see if those brakes are dragging.

Sounds like the guys have you on a good path with the steering stabilizer regarding the wobble.

On the clunk though, I would check to see if the caliper has any play in it. In other words, when you apply brake force, that caliper wants to "roll" forward. It could be smacking into the steering knuckle or something. I had an old Buick with bad calliper mount bushings. It wasn't unsafe, but it would make a helluva rattle over bumps and things.

Also, keep in mind all of the steering components... which will see much different forces while under braking that not. This clunk when you hit the brakes could be tie rod ends, ball joints, stabilizer bar, drag links etc.

Play in these could be a little difficult to find by hand, because you're unlikely to generate the kind of force with your hands that they'll see rolling down the road... and stopping the vehicle.