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I may have made a big mistake!. Just bought my first RV, a new 34' Holiday Rambler Neptune with 300 hp Cummins engine and 5 speed trans, but NO air brakes.
Does anyone have similar experience?. What could be the downside on my hydraulic braking system ?
If the braking works good, there is no downside that I see. Dont have to worry about bringing up airpressure to release brakes, dont have to worry about acumualator tank. What kind of emergency brake do they use???
Several questions come to mind when you describe your RV.
First is, what does your fully loaded RV with toad weigh? Are you within the manufacturer's GVWR rating for your vehicle?
Second, does your RV have some sort of auxillary braking system like a transmission retarder or exhaust brake?
Third, how much engine braking occurs on downgrades, i.e.--does the transmission hold you back or does it freewheel?
All of these questions come to mind when you ask about braking.
No manufacturer is allowed to sell a vehicle with brakes that are inadequate to the task. However, there is adequate with little reserve and adequate with lots of reserve.
For example, my 1961 Cadillac Fleetwood has adequate brakes. Just don't expect to stop very quickly if you are going really fast or down a really steep hill. For another example, my 1981 M-B with four wheel disc brakes will stop just about anytime straight and true as fast and as many times as you would like.
The same comparison can be made between RV's. An RV built on a chassis with Class 7-8 truck parts is going to stop with a whole bunch more reserve than an RV built on a chassis with Class 3-4 truck parts.
Some RV's are built with adequate brakes with lots of reserve and some RV's are built with adequate brakes with very little reserve. Only you can determine where your RV fits into the spectrum. If you consistently load your RV to or above the GVWR you will be in the very little reserve category.
Having said all of that, the biggest enemy of brakes is heat. Friction is used to slow you down. Friction is then translated into heat. When brakes get hot, you will have problems stopping.
The biggest problem with hydralic brakes when they get hot is you can boil the brake fluid to the point you have no juice left. No juice, no stop.
With air brakes, when you get them really hot, heat will expand the brake drums to the point where the brake shoes will barely contact the surface of the drum. No contact, no stop.
If you have a large RV, regardless of the brake system you have, learn the limitations of your vehicle. On any down grade, start slowly and keep it slow. If you find yourself consistently getting to the bottom of big hills with little or no reserve left, consider purchasing some sort of auxillary braking system.
On one of my mini buses I have a Telma driveline retarder. On the bus with the retarder, in over 30K miles, I have yet to ever work on the service brakes. On an identical bus, run on the identical run, we replaced front pads every 10K miles, rear linings every 40K miles, and new rotors and calipers every third set of pads.
If you have no problems with your braking system I can see no real downside.
When you do have to have your brakes serviced, the hydralic brake parts and pieces will be considerably less expensive than comparably sized air brake parts most of the time. Also, you will have many more choices of locations to have your brakes serviced. Air brakes usually mean a truck shop with correspondingly high shop rates.
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