Brakes & Squealing

[SaltyMcHaggis]

I picked up my 855d about a month ago and I have noticed a few things.

Firstly, the breaking on the 855d is VERY hard, almost to the point of having to stand on the pedal to get it to stop. What I am trying to describe is the pressure pedal. My father in law has an older 855d and his pedal is much softer, similar to what you would find in an average automobile, but mine you have to press much harder to get the same results. Is this normal on a new gator or should I be concerned? I did not know if there was a "break in" time for the pads to seat or not. My gator only has about 7.5 hours on it currently, I have been using it for the last month and the pedal pressure hasn't gotten any softer.

Secondly, as I am traveling around the property I have been noticing a "squealing" sound. I know it is not the normal sound when you let off the gas and as the engine slows in has the squeal that I am assuming is from the belt. My squeal is while moving with constant pressure on the gas pedal it will begin to squeal. If I give it more gas the squeal will go away for a bit and eventually return.

Any help on these matters is greatly appreciated as I am hoping to avoid a trip to the dealer with the gator. Also I must give a heads up and let you guys know I work offshore in Louisiana, and will not be home until the end of august. Thus making it impossible for me to check any ideas you may have until I return home, I am just trying to get a list of things to check before taking it to the dealer.

Thanks again.

[GATORDONE]

George, Yes the brakes need to be what you call burnished in or broke in by heat,Best way to do this is find a fairly steep long incline and ride the brakes hard going down, Do this about 10-15 times and you will notice the difference. If not then the pads are glazed over and need to be replaced. Warranty will cover this. As for the squealing sound check the alternator belt on the r.h. side of engine under the plastic cover it might of stretched from new causing the problem. Hope this might give you some areas to look at.:Thmup:

[jdcellar]

George- I got my 855D about 2 months ago and that was something I also noticed, it took quit a bit of pressuse on the pedal to stop it. It seems to have gotten a little easier but I have put about 29hrs. on mine. One other thing I noticed is I have to pull the parking brake back several notches to get it to hold but it does hold. I also noticed a sqeak on mine while going forward or in reverse. I jacked the rear end off the ground and turned the rear wheels by hand and the sqeak was coming from the drive shaft just in front of the passenger side rear wheel, I thought it was the cv joint but it was sqeaking where the shaft passes through a rubber boot, the shaft was rubbing against the rubber and that was causing the sqeak. I put a little grease on the shaft where the rubber boot was touching it and that stopped it.