As some of you know, I arrived in Benson, AZ yesterday around 2 pm. Just as I pulled into the campground, my trailer brakes locked up. Five guys tried to help and a mobile RV repairman came after I finally got through to CoachNet emergency road service (3 tries) and did some troubleshooting. I called a brake guy in Bakersfield who helped me the last time I had a brake problem, and he told the local guy how to release the hydraulic pressure by bleeding the brakes. I was finally able to roll through the entrance gate that I'd been blocking for almost 4 hours, carefully moved into a site in the campground and got set up around 6 pm.
This is similar to the incident I experienced in Bakersfield about a year and a half ago. In that case, the breakaway switch had malfunctioned and engaged as I crossed some RR tracks. That didn't cause the problem this time, however. We re-set the breakaway switch (several times), disengaged all power, disconnected the battery, checked all wiring, etc.
This morning we discovered the manufacturer, Tow Brake International, went out of business 2 weeks ago!
A lot of good the 5-year warranty does me now! The service manager at Mor/Ryde, where the brake system was purchased and installed, and who might be able to supply a replacement or substitute, couldn't be reached today (sick? vacation?) and his boss was out, too. Since it's Friday, nothing more will happen until at least Monday.
So I'll probably be here for another week getting a new brake controller and actuator. I've cancelled next week's doctor's appointment and campground reservation in California. I'm still hoping to make it to Death Valley for the '49er Encampment, but who knows?
Does anyone else have the HD3000 hydraulic disc brake system from Tow Brake International? The Mor/Ryde people selected that system as the best on the market and sold/installed them for at least two years. Now even they don't know what brakes they'll use, according to a tech named Chris, who's trying to help me get in touch with the service manager.
Oh, well, we have to roll with life's challenges...
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