2008 Supernova Brake and Broken Axle Issue

[Whburnett]

Last week we had an issue with our brakes while on the road. After a week in the shop we spent 6000 on new rear brakes. No big deal. We drove 177 miles and our back left axle broke and now we need new brakes again. Does that sound correct? Could something been done improperly with the brake repair to cause the axle to break. Also we didn’t have any issues that would have given us concern with the axle. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Stevejo]

did you say you spent 6,000 dollars on rear brakes?

[Whburnett]

Does that sound like too much? We are new to this and not sure what repairs should cost.

[LTC_R]

If they replaced that Meritor Controller that would definitely cost more, I think mine was abt $2500-3000 when I had it replaced about 2-3 years ago. There’s a post on here about it somewhere. The axle brake sounds fishy, I am thinking, something was over torqued when the brakes were done. Did they do the rotors? Have the shop give you the Oates that wee replaced you will want them when you go back to the place that did the original job.

[SlimTim]

$6k for rear brakes sounds like way to much. I would like to see what they charged you for. My guess is a good shop could do both rear brakes in under two hours easy. Assuming a shop rate of $100/hour that leaves you with $5,8k in parts.

What was the brake issue you experienced? The international 4200 chassis was known for the brake calipers getting stuck on. It typically happens after the rig has sat for some time then gets driven. It’s happened to me no less than four times. When it happens it typically melts the ABS sensor so you get an ABS warning light on the dash.

It amazes me you broke a rear axle. If I recall correctly, the axles in the early SN are rated for up to 60k lbs, 350HP and 700lbft of torque. So basically they are not running anywhere near there service limit when in our SN’s.

When you say you broke an axle. Did you brake the axle shaft or the axle housing, or the axle hub?

[SlimTim]

Most SN use a Dana Spicer 17060S rear axle. The disk brakes are held in place with the wheel studs and tire rim. So to do a brake job you simply remove the tires and wheels, then pull the caliper off and then slide the rotor off of the wheel studs. So assuming the shop did not do something stupid like pull the free floating axle out. And then forget to tighten the retaining bolts when they put it back in. There is really nothing they could have done to cause the axle to brake. This is assuming it’s the axle shaft that broke and not the axle hub.

[SlimTim]

I was curious so I looked online and you can purchase refurbished callipers with brake pads for around $118.00 per side. Disk brake rotors are around $120.00 per side.

I think the ABS sensors are around $85.00 ea.

[Fredeman]

This past summer, the rear brakes on my 2006 Endura froze up in the middle of Seattle rush hour traffic. The pads and rotors were trashed and as Slim Tim stated, the ABS sensors were melted. It cost me $2100 for new pads, rotors, and ABS sensors for the whole job. It took all day to complete the job. A couple days later, I started seeing differential oil in the wheels. The mechanic didn’t replace the gaskets and they had to do another brake job. Luckily the second brake job was free.

[Dennis4809]

I’m getting lost between brakes and breaks.