I have a 91 21ft Regal that I bought unsight /unseen in February, drove from CA to MA via FL (Snow up north) and have put 6,000 miles on her. New TV, new A/C, micro/convection, changed out one of the two couches, had a booth built. And like some others have fallen in love again. My question to my learned members. I am not a mechanic (I know I shouldn’t own one of these ) we lived in a 88 40 Ft. Bluebird for 12 years, so I’m catching on. The brakes on this are awful, and scary, you have to pump and stomp to stop, I have been told that there is plenty of brake left and that this is a power assisted brake system and it has a spongy feel to them(very true),that’s the nature of the beast they don’t act like a car brake. I went to a guy in NC on the way back from CA, he said the a/c compressor froze up and that the belt broke and was hung up in the other belts and that was why the brakes were so bad. New belts and compressor, not much better and the a/c doesn’t work. Reading on the site I realize now replacing the a/c was a mistake, should have eliminated it. Before I go to somebody to see what can be done to improve them. I would like some input as to what I am talking about. We are in SC and will be heading to AZ in a week or so, I notice one of our members has an RV repair shop off of 10 in LA, maybe he can help me. Thanks

You likely have the wretched Hydroboost system. The brakes get the power assist from a cylinder mounted to the brake master cylinder. The Hydroboost gets it power from the power steering pump. The "spongy" feel is not a feature of the Hydroboost system, but sounds more like the brakes needing to be bled. Having to pump the brakes also indicates bleeding is in order.

There's a very slight possibility you have vacuum-assisted brakes, however, in which case there may be insufficient vacuum due to a leak or a bad booster can.

If bleeding doesn't restore a "normal feel", suspect the master cylinder and the brake hoses. The Hydroboost would be the last possible culprit.

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The brakes on this are awful, and scary, you have to pump and stomp to stop,

I'm hoping you don't drive farther than a qualified shop within ten miles.

I have a PSI gauge on the dash why and what does this air do?

No idea. It could be engine oil pressure. It could be manifold pressure (which would read vacuum, but usually in in/Hg, not psi).

What does the guage read with the engine running? 35-40 psi would be typical for oil pressure.

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Originally posted by Rusty:
You likely have the wretched Hydroboost system. The brakes get the power assist from a cylinder mounted to the brake master cylinder. The Hydroboost gets it power from the power steering pump.

I have had mine for 24 years, and it has been OK. However, that system gets really wretched if the engine quits or the power steering goes bad. Be sure your belts are good and carry spares.

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The "spongy" feel is not a feature of the Hydroboost system, but sounds more like the brakes needing to be bled. Having to pump the brakes also indicates bleeding is in order.

+1 .....To add, I would be sure the bleeding was complete enough to replace all the fluid with brand new high boiling point fluid.
Search the site for recommendations.

quote:

There's a very slight possibility you have vacuum-assisted brakes, however, in which case there may be insufficient vacuum due to a leak or a bad booster can.

The shorter coaches are more likely to have vacuum power brakes, but I can't say for for sure for your year.

quote:

If bleeding doesn't restore a "normal feel", suspect the master cylinder and the brake hoses. The Hydroboost would be the last possible culprit.

If you have hydroboost, search the site. I think one of us posted testing instructions some time ago.

Thanks for all your input.