I’m starting this thread to see if anyone else is having the same trouble we are and to get some suggestions what to do about it. Our coach is in the Workhorse brake recall. We got the first notice back in May 2009 which in essence stated that there would be a recall so we did not do anything at that time. In Sept. 2009 we began to have trouble with our brakes grinding and making noise so we took the coach to a Workhorse authorized service center. They found damage to the left front rotor which they replaced along with the calipers, seals, pads, etc. All of this was covered by Workhorse. In Sept 2010 we got the notice that there was now a final remedy to the problem so we returned our coach to the same repair shop. They replaced all of the calipers under the recall and again found rotor damage. However, this time Workhorse will not cover the rotor replacement under the recall because they are claiming the calipers did not cause the damage. They claim that rotors can be damaged in other ways and in our case this is what happened. They say that if the calipers caused the damage there would be specific evidence which our brakes did not have. Our feeling is Workhorse admits the calipers were defective and as a result they were causing damage to the rotors. We have the defective calipers; our rotors were damaged; so it seems reasonable that the defective calipers did this damage. I even talked to a Workhorse representative and explained all of this, but they will not budge. So has anyone else run into this problem? What did you do? Thanks for any input.
Whew...not here. Currently running a Ford Triton V-10, (gasser). Workhorse is the Chevy line, correct? B)
No Chevy here. Workhorse builds frames only them shipped them out to companies that build the motorhomes. Lot of Workhorse frames rolling around the USA. :lol:
I have been going around and around with Workhorse which is a dirty name in our house. The short version is that they seized up and I had to be towed over July 4th weekend. They discovered it was a Workhorse brake problem and WH told them to have to towed to their dealer about 25 miles away. I paid for everything by credit card. The dealer took digital photos and sent them to WH. The dealer said all 4 calipers needed to be replaced. WH said only the back. I got the back done and 2 weeks and 800 miles later, the front went out again on the Blue Ridge Parkway and we came very close to being killed. We were towed to a 70 miles to a WH dealer in NC. We were there 3 nights and had tp stay in a motel one night as the coach was in bays with wheels off. WH say just keep track of out of pocket expenses and they would pay (ha ha). Both times the calipers were replaced with the old design which had the resin pin. I drove home avoiding the mountains and any heavy braking. We parked the coach., Several months later, we got them replaced with the new design calipers and I sent in my expenses to WH. They basically said go pound sand. The tow truck went on a toll road and put down $3.00 toll on the bill. They approved the tow, but disallowed the $3 toll bill. Real great customer service after nearly killing us in the mountains. (My hands were trembling a hour later.) They ripped us off for $225 and basically said get in line to sue us if you don’t like it. I filed a complaint with the National Transportation and the FTC to no available. I have Good Sam Magazine action line on the case, but this recall is killing WH and they don’t seem to care about their customers. My brother was taking to a dealer about a new coach and he said he won’t take in a WH in trade. The value of an old WH chassis are way down. My Webpage
I would think that a thousand people would have this problem as well. I have been tracked WH brake problem for years now and see this same story over and over. Do we have any more WH units out in RV land? It is not only the brakes that are a problem it is the hold WH system. Been in RV parks that WH units come in off the road with a sick motorhome. Soon the tow truck come by to tow unit to a repair shop. I would like to see if more people have problems.
IRV2 Forum has a Workhorse forum and there are over 60,000 views on it. It is a huge problem. To date, nobody has been killed and I am thankful we were not the first. It is due to defective calipers from Boush who is one of the biggest brake makers around, The problem comes from rust after not using them for months and then when used the heat builds up and the fluid melts the seals and ABS light comes on. 48,000 RV's were recalled. Many of course will never come in. There are many, many cases of the rotors being cracked like the original poster mentioned. WH has paid for some and not for others. They paid for mine to be turned down. I had all pads replaced at my cost while they were apart.
Thanks for the replies, John and Lindsey. Wow Lindsey, it sounds and looks like you had more trouble than we did, but it also sounds like you got Workhorse to pay for more. The repair shop has said they thought WH should pay for our rotor damage, and they say they tried to tell WH that. Then WH asked them to send pictures of the damage and after seeing the pictures, WH said the calipers did not cause the damage. I suppose I could file complaints also but if you (Lindsey) got nowhere, I'm not sure I want to waste my time doing that. Please let me know if anything happens with the Good Sam Action Line, and good luck. Also, after the repairs did you have any more problems?
WH paid for having my rotors turned, but if they are cracked, they really need to be replaced. The damage was in all likelihood caused by the over heating from the defective calipers. I would suspect that you could get yours replaced with some complaining to WH. The brake fluid gets so hot it boils and blows the seals and ABS sensors. They just screwed me out of associated cost like motel and dealer work. The actual hardware and labor should be paid by federal law. Call them back. I think they have just given up on trying to maintain any remnants of their reputation and are just trying to minimize costs to try to keep alive.
Again thanks for the info. We went to our repair shop yesterday to get pictures of the damaged rotors and by chance they still had our rotors so we got them, too. Don't know what good that will do, but at least we have proof of the damage. They showed us why WH is denying the repair/replacement of the rotors, and while I understand what they are saying, I'm not convinced the calipers were not responsible for this damage as WH claims. They also showed us a rotor off another WH chassis that looked much worse than ours. It had numerous cracks in it. WH is denying this repair also for basically the same reason as ours. The damage is only on one side of the rotor. WH says if the calipers were at fault, the damage would be on both sides of the rotor. Not being a mechanic I don't know if this is true or not. I wish we knew more about our break repair in Oct. ’09 which WH did pay for. It would be interesting to see what the damage was then and how it compares to this time. But who knew back then that we would need this information because WH would start denying later claims. I’m not sure what we will do at this point, but if you have any more trouble or any more information about the recall, please let us know.
The best spot on the internet for Work Horse brake info is at the link below. The moderator is a dyed in the wool Work Horse guy and always blames the RV'er rather than Work Horse. Cracked rotors are very unusual and it not just a considence that all of these Work Horse rotors have cracked. The extreeme heat caused by the sticking calipaer on them is what is doing it and they are shafting RV'ers by saying otherwise. Stick to your guns and at least geet a complaint as two diffferent federal departments are on their casee right now and getting your problems established could mean a lot later. Good Luck WH Webpage
I'm one of the few, or at least one of the quiet group, who has never had a problem with my WH. I went through the recall simply because it was the prudent thing to do, although I never had the least problem with my brakes, and I drive through the Rockies every year. I have no clue what percentage of WH owners are in my situation and how many had problems. However, those that had problems were the one's that brought the problem to the public's knowledge and probably forced WH's hand eventually. I've followed the complaints of Lindsay and others over the past three years and have wondered if this would ever come to a final solution. I'm not sure that it has, even now. WH has probably irreperably damaged its' reputation in the handling of this situation and possibly made it impossible for those of us who have never had a problem to get a reasonable trade-in value when we wish to get another MH. Now that WH has been absorbed in the Navistar line, it will be interesting to see if it is renamed or simply goes away because its' name is pretty toxic.
