I just bought this 2000 Freightliner FLD with a 3406/C15, 13 Eaton/fuller transmission and Meritor diff. and I’m finding a lot of repairs that I believe are DIY if I have the manual. Does anybody knows were can I get a used cheap one.
Right now I have to replace the foot valve and the part costs $47.00 but labor will be 2 hours or $140.00. I’m a decent car mechanic but no experience with trucks. I also need to replace the drums and brakes on all the axels and that is about an hour each and I herd they are not very different form any other vehicle so I believe I should be able to do it. What do you guys think?

PS. I already I already tried ebay....no luck so far....

 

First off talk to Freightliner about their "accessfreightliner" web site. Takes a couple weeks to activate. You can get a parts list for your truck that way. But it is not absolutely necessary. Should be free though. Service manuals are available too but not really necessary and more hassle to get on the Internet.

The brake valve can simply be replaced. Get the part number off of it and call your friendly local brake parts house and order a replacement. Then simply take the old one out and put the new one in. Nothing to it. Probably easier than any car you have worked on. Just put the hoses back in the ports they came from.

The brakes themselves are more difficult. First off you are going to need either a big (4-6') bar and socket, or else an air wrench and sockets ($500-700) plus the air to run it. Plus you need the big jack and jack stands. But once you have all that, it is not hard from there on out. The manual for the brakes can be found at www.arvinmeritor.com most likely they are Q plus brakes. Again you will need to get it apart to see part numbers or make measurements and get the correct parts from your brake parts house.

Let me know if you need any and all help, I do this stuff on the side somewhat, and have done it professionally. What you ask is pretty darn simple really.

Birken

 

I would recommend you get help to do either of these jobs. The treadle valve can cause a lot of heartache once the lines are mixed --- you need some pretty decent knowledge of dual air systems to sort that out (mark the lines before you remove them). The brake re-line is fairly basic... once you have been shown the steps, they are quite different from a car hydraulic brake system. Spring brake actuatorsa have killed many experienced techs in the field

2 basic service issues are the cause of most wheel-end separations; improper wheel end adjustment, improper wheel fastener torque... you will require a 3/4" drive 0-600 ftlbs torque wrench to accomplish either with any faith.

Keep in mind; you are talking about servicing the vehicle's brake system --- I strongly recommend you know what you're doing --- my wife and kids share the same roadways...

 

I do share your concern bob and trust me, I don’t and would not take any chances, specially on the brake or steering systems, if I don’t feel good about something I will not drive until I have some professional check it for me. At the same time taking it to a shop don’t always exempt you from mistakes and I have to start somewhere because I just hate paying too much money for something I could do and maybe even better or more carefully.

Thanks for your encouragement Birken! I went to the Meritor website and found very good information. I do have a log-on to the accesfreightliner.com but I have not been able to get any use for it, I guess I should look more into it . I do have the tools you mention and every time I save money on a DIY I use it on tools Hrg…hrg….hrg….. Nothing like having the right tool to do the job right right?!!?

Finally, I still want to try and get the repair manual, that way I have a reference any time I need it and/or finding more web sites with the information.

 

What do you mean when you say "the repair manual"? The manuals for the individual components are the manuals. There is no one manual for the whole truck. Only Freightliner specific items have a Freightliner manual and those are the items you generally don't need a manual to work on. The exceptions might be the suspension.

As far as accessfreightliner goes, what you need there is to get their parts manual working, that way you can order parts before you start a job. For instance you can have the brakes and drums already ready to go before you start. You don't have to order from FL either. ($$$)

For example look up on accessfreightliner the part number for your brake valve. It should be listed under "line" as "HVG". That is Bendix Heavy Vehicle Group. Then cross that number at the Bendix web site. I also have books on that. Or simply order it from your brake parts house as they have the books too obviously. The brakes are the same. You just have to find the part number in their numbers there. Nothing is FL specific for the most part.

Birken

 

You know…that’s exactly what I was thinking….a repair manual for the whole truck!.....now I know how stupid it sounds, thanks for the enlighten.
Now as Bob mention it those spring brakes can be killers, I think there is a bolt or tool that you can use on the brake chamber to lock them open right?
I guess what I’m asking for is any pointers you can give me I’ll appreciate them.

 

You don't need to mess with the spring brakes whatsoever. 99.9% of the time you can release them by air only. Modern spring brakes have had crimped bands for years now anyway so you couldn't get into them if you tried. As far as I am concerned there is no reason to take the REAR band off a spring brake, ever, nor is there ever much reason to use the caging bolt. But it sounds like you want to do a reline and you don't need to go near the spring brakes for that.

Look at the arvinmeritor site for the manual for the brakes. Maintenance Manual 4 is the one you want for the brakes I am 90% sure unless you have discs or something off brand. The brake valve is a little more because I don't know what exactly it is. But if you go to this page you will find the brake valve manuals along with subsequent pages. "Service data sheet" is what you are looking for. However you don't need the manual to R&I all you need is to tag the lines to go back in the same places.

Feel free if you need any help.

Birken[/url]

 

Thanks a lot and I'll get to it as soon as I can. I;ll let you know how it went.....

 

A couple more things for you. When you do a brake reline two items are often overlooked or ignored. However you need to replace the anchor pins and bushings (takes a big driver) and also the cam shaft bushings and seals. It can make a big difference in preventing brake chatter (howling) and who knows what else.

Birken

 

I'm buying the brake kit, will those parts you are referring to will be included or do I have to buy them separated? Am I going to need any special tools to do this job? Tx again