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Hi, we went away this weekend for our second time away with our first 'van, a 1989 ACE Diplomat.  We went to the Great Yorkshire Showground near Harrogate, which was nice but like most of the Uk this weekend, very wet!! Anyway this morning, after hitching up, we proceeded to drive around the site to the exit.  There was a fairly narrow gap at one point between two cars so I gently slowed down using the brakes, however one of the caravan wheels locked and made a right screech and left a black stripe on the tarmac. At first I thought the breakaway cable had activated!!  I tried the brakes again and the same thing happened a couple more times.  I hoped that the drums had only corroded slightly over the damp weekend and this caused the brakes to be sticky? 

On the road towards Sainsburys, I tried braking from higher speeds (approx 30mph) and at this point the brakes seemed ok.  Anyone had this before? Am I likely to be skidding to a halt after every damp weekend?!  I had the handbrake on all weekend - should I chock the wheels and leave the handbrake off?? Generally the brakes seem fine in the short time we've had the van.  I had Barrons service it last December after we got, although we have only just started using it.  ( I posted here on November last year about damp - some of it I've now sorted).  The brakes were fine for the rest of the 85 mile trip home.

Thanks

to me it soundsl like the braked need adjusting, they are way too sensative, ither that or your braking damper has gone altogether, try the damper first, try to puch it in by hand, with the handbrake off, it should have a good bit of resistance behind it, and should spring out slowly again afterward,  if it moves too easy or doesnt return it will need replacing,an easy job to DIY and not too expensive,

otherwise i would get it checked at a dealer, if this happens at higher speeds it could be dangerous, the wheels on a van shouldnt lock, or if they do only under very extreme braking.

Had the weather been very wet? I once had a similar situation in Holland. If you have excess water in the brakes the it has the affect of narrowing the gap between the brake shoes and the brake housing and this may be what is causing the snatching of the brakes. Clearly you want to investigate all possibilities. If the problem disappears once the brakes have heated up I would want to check how hot the wheel rims are after a long journey. If they are very hot, or if they are hot on one side this would suggest that you need to have the brakes adjusted.

David

I get this from time to time for the first few times I brake and then perfect, this I am sure in my case is rust on the drum. Any roughness such as rust on the the drum can grab the leading shoe and yank it on hard until it is smoothed away after a mile or so.