I hope that the old timers around here will forgive the rudamentary level of this post. But I do believe there are a lot of LMTV owners that are on a steep learning curve and might find the following useful.
When driving my 1995 M1078 on a gravel road, I noticed when I braked hard, I only left marks on the front right and back left. This was consistent with noticing the truck pulling to the right when I pushed the brake. Clearly the front left and back right wheels were not braking as designed.
I started up in the front and found a deformed plunger was the problem. I believe that it had not been seated properly when it was last rebuilt. I replaced the unit, put it all back together and it now works. I also disassembled the air chamber and found it to be a very simple mechanical piece of equipment. A diaphragm and plunger is pretty much it. (In case you were curious)
On to the back right wheel. This was more interesting. When I would air the system up ... then turn it off I could hear air leaking from the aft inside cannister. Specifically right at the bracket bolt on the axle side of the cannister. I immediately thought it was a compromised diaphragm.
After watching a scary video on Youtube (thank you "Ken") about the perils of disassembling these units without caging ... I dove into taking it apart. After caging the brake I started to loosen the clamp bolts. I immediately noticed how loose the (leaking side) bolt was. So I decided to see if the problem could be just that simple. I fired up the truck, pressurized the system .... sure enough no more leak.
I then had an assistant push on the brake pedal while the truck was running and the brakes expanded as designed. So now I could turn my attention to another known problem. I had noticed that there seemed to be too much play between the hub and the pads when the brake was disengaged. Clearly it needed some adjustment. After turning the adjustments a few clicks on both sides .... the hub just barely fit back onto the wheel. From there I turned on the truck and depressed the brakes. It worked ... the brakes pressed out against the hub.
I still need to put the wheel back on and take it for a drive to test if I get four little skid marks in the gravel when I hit the brakes.
I hope this is helpful if you have similar issues with your truck.
PS: If you missed this from an earlier post .... "Floridianson" gave me the best easter present yesterday for mechanical (non-air) related brake issues...
When driving my 1995 M1078 on a gravel road, I noticed when I braked hard, I only left marks on the front right and back left. This was consistent with noticing the truck pulling to the right when I pushed the brake. Clearly the front left and back right wheels were not braking as designed.
I started up in the front and found a deformed plunger was the problem. I believe that it had not been seated properly when it was last rebuilt. I replaced the unit, put it all back together and it now works. I also disassembled the air chamber and found it to be a very simple mechanical piece of equipment. A diaphragm and plunger is pretty much it. (In case you were curious)
On to the back right wheel. This was more interesting. When I would air the system up ... then turn it off I could hear air leaking from the aft inside cannister. Specifically right at the bracket bolt on the axle side of the cannister. I immediately thought it was a compromised diaphragm.
After watching a scary video on Youtube (thank you "Ken") about the perils of disassembling these units without caging ... I dove into taking it apart. After caging the brake I started to loosen the clamp bolts. I immediately noticed how loose the (leaking side) bolt was. So I decided to see if the problem could be just that simple. I fired up the truck, pressurized the system .... sure enough no more leak.
I then had an assistant push on the brake pedal while the truck was running and the brakes expanded as designed. So now I could turn my attention to another known problem. I had noticed that there seemed to be too much play between the hub and the pads when the brake was disengaged. Clearly it needed some adjustment. After turning the adjustments a few clicks on both sides .... the hub just barely fit back onto the wheel. From there I turned on the truck and depressed the brakes. It worked ... the brakes pressed out against the hub.
I still need to put the wheel back on and take it for a drive to test if I get four little skid marks in the gravel when I hit the brakes.
I hope this is helpful if you have similar issues with your truck.
PS: If you missed this from an earlier post .... "Floridianson" gave me the best easter present yesterday for mechanical (non-air) related brake issues...
