Jump to content

Help Bedford Brakes


PDG

Recommended Posts

Can anyone help, I own a Bedford Rl gun tractor with winch,Iam old it was one of a special order by he Royal Aritilery in 1970, production of he rl having ceased in 1969. The brake system is that of the MJ ttype. When I purchased the vehicle I was ignorant some basic facts regarding the operation this type of vehicle, but let my heart rule my head, as my father had driven commercial Bedfords for many years. Thus I picked the vehicle up and drove it 240 miles home with no air assist as the vehicle was not building any air up, I assumed I had a faulty guage until I came to stop on a slip road at Scotch Corner, however once I was aware of what I was dealing with it was not a problem to drive. I managed to get in touch with a previous owner, not the person I purchased it from, who advised me that some peice of equipment had been removed by the army, I found three exposed pipe ends, and blanked tthem off using 5/8 UNF sets, and hey presto I was building up air, I adjustted the unloader and that cuts in at about 75psi 105psi. The air showed up a problem with a rear brake cylinder so I changed the seals and thought all would be well however my brakes were no hard on when I had air in the system, and brake fluid was showing dripping from a nut on the bottom of the maser cylinder, so I changed it, bu the replacement is doing he same, I changed the maser cylinder as there was white corrosion on the aluminium casting of the servo, so I stripped that down and cleaned it made sure the inlet and exhaust valves were free and reassembled, hoever my brakes are stiil haard on wih the engine running and air on and brake fluid is seeping fromthe new master cylinder, although he brakes are ok hydraulic only, I am thinking I need to check the supplyies of air o the servo there are two one to a circular resovoir ank and the othe tto the inlet valve, any advice help or miricles would be grealy appreciated. Paul:nut:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds to me like you have a valve gone somewhere and when the air charges the tanks it goes straight through to the air pack which is applying the brakes. You say when you disconnect the air you then have brakes on hydraulic only?

 

I have an MJ but don't know whether it's the same braking system or not.

 

The trouble is there are so many valves in the system the fault could be anywhere. Have you thought about calling a mobile HGV mechanic? It might be pretty expensive but they are very good at finding this sort of fault.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it was not a problem to drive. I managed to get in touch with a previous owner, not the person I purchased it from, who advised me that some peice of equipment had been removed by the army, I found three exposed pipe ends, and blanked tthem off using 5/8 UNF sets, and hey presto I was building up air, I adjustted the unloader and that cuts in at about 75psi 105psi.

 

 

Paul,

 

The worrying thing is, what was the part that was missing? It might be insignificant, in being something to do with the winch ( as you mentioned it was a gun tractor), but the fact you have had to readjust the unloader seems to indicate you are compensating for its loss in some way. You need to get an expert to check this all out before driving again.

 

A little bit of a mystery, because I have never come across a late production gun tractor version, do you have any army registration numbers and details from its data plate?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Paul,

 

The worrying thing is, what was the part that was missing? It might be insignificant, in being something to do with the winch ( as you mentioned it was a gun tractor), but the fact you have had to readjust the unloader seems to indicate you are compensating for its loss in some way. You need to get an expert to check this all out before driving again.

 

A little bit of a mystery, because I have never come across a late production gun tractor version, do you have any army registration numbers and details from its data plate?

Thank you for your interest, I had to adjust the unloader as I had thought the problem with the air was there, as the compressor seemed to work fine. the previous owner I talked to had had the system overhauled about seven years ago by a former Bedford agent, and said the vehicle had worked fine but its ability to maintain air haddiminished over time, unill it reached zero, so whatever the missing piece was it had no affect. I assume when it was removed a similar fix to the one I have used was implimented, (filling he pipe unions witha bolt) which would explain the loss of air over ime, the bolts working lose and hen falling away.

The vehicles army reg was 08 FJ 66 code number 2050 1172, designation Truck Cargo W/Winch 3 Ton 4X4 Dropside RLW D I S (Datte in service?) Jan 1971 chassis contract number WV9127 Regards Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your interest, I had to adjust the unloader as I had thought the problem with the air was there, as the compressor seemed to work fine. the previous owner I talked to had had the system overhauled about seven years ago by a former Bedford agent, and said the vehicle had worked fine but its ability to maintain air haddiminished over time, unill it reached zero, so whatever the missing piece was it had no affect. I assume when it was removed a similar fix to the one I have used was implimented, (filling he pipe unions witha bolt) which would explain the loss of air over ime, the bolts working lose and hen falling away.

The vehicles army reg was 08 FJ 66 code number 2050 1172, designation Truck Cargo W/Winch 3 Ton 4X4 Dropside RLW D I S (Datte in service?) Jan 1971 chassis contract number WV9127 Regards Paul

 

Hi Paul,

 

Sounds like the valve was part of the winch system then. You should find a proper pipe fitting that could be blanked off, to seal these pipes as the pipe has a flare and a bolt will not be sufficient, unless it has a taper machined on the end.

 

There were about 30 of those RLW in that contract, they being one of the last RL contracts to the army, other ones at around the same time were Left and Right Hand Drive platform body versions, for carrying container bodies. These were produced before the MK.

 

regards, Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...