Disc Brake Conversion: Initial Thoughts

[bfs673]

Well I pulled my drums a month or so ago to repack the wheel bearings, inspect brakes, etc. for the season.
Brakes were shot, one pad in each of the drums on the passenger side was to the metal, digging into the drum. Several pieces of brake liner fell out as well. Both on the passenger side.
Drivers side was great, pad life was good, all looked OK.

Rather than replace the drums and disc brake assemblies, I decided to upgrade to disc brakes.

Initially ordered my kit from etrailer, who stated they had it in stock. After 2 weeks of a pushed ship date, I cancelled my order and Ordered my kit from Bill at StopYourTrailer dot com. Very nice fella, lots of knowledge. FYI, I ended up with a better quality brake actuator, 9/16" studs, full set of lug nuts cheaper than the base kit from etrailer.

I know there are industry shortages that have caused issues, but he was able to put together the kit for my Dexter 7k axles and ship about a week after my order.
As mentioned, I went with 9/16 studs/lug nuts and the Brakerite actuator. FYI, with our wheels, I needed a thinner wall socket, my standard impact socket would not fit.

Installation went fairly well, a few issues here and there.
Biggest issue was the poor cast quality of the caliper brackets and required some grinding to correct. A few hours and some words I'm not proud of, but I got it done.

All in all, took roughly 20 hours of wrenching to complete.

Took it around the block after a quick test and set-up in the driveway.

I'm absolutely shocked at the difference. This isn't a subtle difference, with the brakes being a "bit better". This difference is night and day.
I will never own a trailer any where near this weight with drum brakes again. No way, no how !!!

I look forward to seeing how it performs on a longer journey later this month.

If you're trying to decide whether to do this conversion, I can tell you that I would do it all over again; Even if it took twice the time to complete!

If you have questions, fire away!

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

Well I pulled my drums a month or so ago to repack the wheel bearings, inspect brakes, etc. for the season.
Brakes were shot, one pad in each of the drums on the passenger side was to the metal, digging into the drum. Several pieces of brake liner fell out as well. Both on the passenger side.
Drivers side was great, pad life was good, all looked OK.

Rather than replace the drums and disc brake assemblies, I decided to upgrade to disc brakes.

Initially ordered my kit from etrailer, who stated they had it in stock. After 2 weeks of a pushed ship date, I cancelled my order and Ordered my kit from Bill at StopYourTrailer dot com. Very nice fella, lots of knowledge. FYI, I ended up with a better quality brake actuator, 9/16" studs, full set of lug nuts cheaper than the base kit from etrailer.

I know there are industry shortages that have caused issues, but he was able to put together the kit for my Dexter 7k axles and ship about a week after my order.
As mentioned, I went with 9/16 studs/lug nuts and the Brakerite actuator. FYI, with our wheels, I needed a thinner wall socket, my standard impact socket would not fit.

Installation went fairly well, a few issues here and there.
Biggest issue was the poor cast quality of the caliper brackets and required some grinding to correct. A few hours and some words I'm not proud of, but I got it done.

All in all, took roughly 20 hours of wrenching to complete.

Took it around the block after a quick test and set-up in the driveway.

I'm absolutely shocked at the difference. This isn't a subtle difference, with the brakes being a "bit better". This difference is night and day.
I will never own a trailer any where near this weight with drum brakes again. No way, no how !!!

I look forward to seeing how it performs on a longer journey later this month.

If you're trying to decide whether to do this conversion, I can tell you that I would do it all over again; Even if it took twice the time to complete!

If you have questions, fire away!

Welcome to the disc brake believers club! I've tried many different kinds of trailers. I agree, for smaller trailers (utility, box, etc) drum brakes are just fine, but when moving up a few tons in weight, I'll have disc brakes on my trailers. We had our 320MKS converted from drum to disc when we got back from picking it up, best investment inn this coach yet.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

 

[dbphillips]

To be fair, only half your drum brakes were working. Makes me wonder how many upgrade TV because of misadjusted brakes. I jacked up the trailer at the dealer and checked to make sure they were adjusted properly before driving off the lot. Guess I should check again before this next trip.

 

[geotex1]

To be fair, only half your drum brakes were working. Makes me wonder how many upgrade TV because of misadjusted brakes. I jacked up the trailer at the dealer and checked to make sure they were adjusted properly before driving off the lot. Guess I should check again before this next trip.

Personally, not here. I'm religious about maintenance, and it is no comparison IMO between adjusted drums and discs. Can drums do the job? Certainly. Do they do it well? No. There are so many arguments pro and con, which really all boil down to the cost being a tough pill. I bet there would be no debate if the industry just made them standard. When you sit back and read the anecdotal justifications because the points attempting to be made are from folks who argue how drums are used on "x" with no understanding how their application on that "x" is nothing like their camper other than both use shoes and a drum... When you appreciate the difference is when you've towed the same rig, both ways. The panic stop Nikki and I had to make last year on I95 after the Bethpage Rally was worth every dollar and hour of my time spent on the conversion. However, where they shine, for me, is different:

1) simple visual inspection of brake condition every move;
2) upsized for the much more robust outer bearing;
3) can literally buy the pads at any auto parts store; and,
4) dissipation of heat is faster/more efficient.

All in all, they're an option. A personal choice. Maybe zero need for the 2-hour one-way tow, weekend camper, but those towing thousands and 10s of thousands of miles each year have different demands and concerns.

 

[D2Reid]

Brake fade is what initially sold me on disk brakes. I drive a lot in the mountains and wanted the brake system that was least susceptible to overheating causing the brakes to fade. Then like [MENTION=14697]bfs673[/MENTION] I was impressed by the stopping power of the disks brakes.

With drum brakes I was having to replace my truck brakes every so often. That ended when I went to disk brakes.

Needless to say I am in the pro-disk brake club and will never go back to drum brakes on a trailer.

 

[papermakermd]

Would the upgrade done by GD at the factory be worth the money ? Are the factory upgrades not good quality ?

 

[geotex1]

Would the upgrade done by GD at the factory be worth the money ? Are the factory upgrades not good quality ?

Nothing wrong with what they are using at the factory, and they've got warranty coverage. The two big shortcomings of the factory discs are that they use pads you can only get from the axle manufacturer and the rotors are not coated or treated for corrosion resistance.

 

[papermakermd]

Thanks geotex1 good info to know !

 

[b727capt]

I converted my Momentum 398m immediately after purchase, took about 6 hours. Replaced the entire axle to 8k with the disc's already installed. I would never go back. I tow with a 350 dually and have been thru the mountains 8-10 times. About 45k on the trailer and I replaced my truck brakes for the first time at 125k. I would never tow a multi ton trailer with electric brakes after experiencing hydraulics for the last 6 years.

 

[bfs673]

To be fair, only half your drum brakes were working. Makes me wonder how many upgrade TV because of misadjusted brakes. I jacked up the trailer at the dealer and checked to make sure they were adjusted properly before driving off the lot. Guess I should check again before this next trip.

I agree a miss-adjustment likely caused the uneven wear. I've inspected each season (only 3), and this is the first year a difference was noted; to the point two units completely destroyed and the other side with no issues.
So much for "Nev-R-Adjust". Appears to have worked just as well as their ez lube axles (Had my issues with that as well).

I've had other trailers where I've adjusted the drum brakes, and even properly adjusted, good working hardware, they are still inadequate in my personal opinion. They work, but not nearly to the level of the discs.
Others opinion may vary.

 

[Scocciante]

By far the single best improvement you can make on your RV. After several trips to the dealer complaining about not stopping and being told everything is perfect brought my new 344GK home and parked it. I took it upon myself to order the kit from Stop your Trailer. Figuring for a long day was surprised at how easy it was. The one thing I learned is never trust the dealer. What I found was one side was completely soaked in grease due to bad seals from the factory With less than 200 miles on it

.

 

[vonzoog]

Installation went fairly well, a few issues here and there.
Biggest issue was the poor cast quality of the caliper brackets and required some grinding to correct. A few hours and some words I'm not proud of, but I got it done.

Could you please elaborate a little more about the calipers? I have done self installed disc brake installation on my last two toy haulers. Both with Kodiak brand disc brakes without any issues on a total of 5 axles (10 calipers). What exactly was the issue with the caliper? What brand?

Thanks in advance,

FYI: When I ordered my current RV, I had purchased the new disc brakes kits and they were sitting and waiting for the arrival of the new toy hauler. Installed when I got it home. Drum brakes only made it from the dealer to the house and then replaced. I will let that state my opinion of disc brakes.

 

[bfs673]

Could you please elaborate a little more about the calipers? I have done self installed disc brake installation on my last two toy haulers. Both with Kodiak brand disc brakes without any issues on a total of 5 axles (10 calipers). What exactly was the issue with the caliper? What brand?

Since you're familiar with the installation, it'll be a bit easier to describe.

These were supposedly Kodiac, the caliper had the Kodiac label so I'm sure about that; but the brackets appeared slightly different from the Kodiac images online.

The first issue encountered was the caliper not physically fitting between the two bracket tabs. This is a relatively tight fit anyhow, but really no issue unless you attempt to rock it into place... needs to slide in without rocking; I'm sure you know this. Once brackets opening (space between the tabs) was not wide enough to accommodate the caliper. Tried 3 other calipers, all with the exact same issue. Had to pull the disc assembly and remove the bracket. Checked for sit again on the bench, same result. I filed and grinded the tabs a bit (~ 1/16th") to widen the gap.

This was an issue on only one caliper; though a second one was a bit tighter than the rest; needed a gentle tap to get it into place, but functions properly.
*** This can and should be checked before installing! Makes corrections MUCH easier ***

The second issue was the tapped caliper bolt holes in the same bracket mentioned above. These holes have a flange that protrudes slightly towards the inside of the trailer. These flanges, on two brackets, prevented the caliper from going into the same bracket slot mentioned above. The issue was this flange extended too far. This caused the outer brake pad to push extremely hard into the disc; could not physically get it into place. It also caused the pad to be slightly canted, the bottom of the pad was in contact with the disc, while the top had a tiny gap. I verified the bushing and piston positions; those were not the issue.

Grinding the bottom flange on this bolt hole allowed the caliper to fit properly and the disc to spin freely.

This added a few hours to the install, mainly from the first issue, trying to understand the root of the problem and proper way to resolve.

Hopefully this helps!

 

[vonzoog]

^^^. Wow. I did have one caliper out of the 10 that was very tight and frustrating to get on the rotor. Had me scratching my head and a few precise words were involved. However, I was able to install without any modifications. I guess I was very lucky and unfortunately you were the unlucky one. Sounds like you came across a flawed mounting bracket. In all of the discussions I have had with others, no one mentioned the problem you had. I would be curious what Kodiak has to say about this.

Sorry for all of you problems. But I do know this, you are going to love the disc brakes,

Good luck,

 

[bfs673]

By far the single best improvement you can make on your RV. After several trips to the dealer complaining about not stopping and being told everything is perfect brought my new 344GK home and parked it. I took it upon myself to order the kit from Stop your Trailer. Figuring for a long day was surprised at how easy it was. The one thing I learned is never trust the dealer. What I found was one side was completely soaked in grease due to bad seals from the factory With less than 200 miles on it

.View attachment 34115View attachment 34116

I wonder if the factory (either Dexter or GD) adds grease using the EZ lube zerk. This is EXACTLY what happened to me a while back. I've heard the horror stories, watched many videos, understood the concept and thought I would give it a shot. Was very slow and methodical about adding the grease, while rotating, etc.

Same issue as above, inner grease seal blow-by. It's not designed for the pressure exerted by adding grease via the zerk.

Here's my post from a while back on the matter:
https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/showthread.php/30376-What-a-mess-!!!!

 

[Loretta2.0]

I'm glad to read the positive statements about disc over drum brakes. I purchased the disc brake conversion kit from Performance Trailer Braking last month at the Central FL GD Owners Rally. Will be installing g it along with the MORryde SRE 4000 suspension equalizer and x-crossmembers on my next long weekend. I've not inspected my brakes yet this year but I'm interested to see how the drums held up with just 6000 miles on them.

 

[deerislandbrew]

Well I pulled my drums a month or so ago to repack the wheel bearings, inspect brakes, etc. for the season.
Brakes were shot, one pad in each of the drums on the passenger side was to the metal, digging into the drum. Several pieces of brake liner fell out as well. Both on the passenger side.
Drivers side was great, pad life was good, all looked OK.

Rather than replace the drums and disc brake assemblies, I decided to upgrade to disc brakes.

Initially ordered my kit from etrailer, who stated they had it in stock. After 2 weeks of a pushed ship date, I cancelled my order and Ordered my kit from Bill at StopYourTrailer dot com. Very nice fella, lots of knowledge. FYI, I ended up with a better quality brake actuator, 9/16" studs, full set of lug nuts cheaper than the base kit from etrailer.

I know there are industry shortages that have caused issues, but he was able to put together the kit for my Dexter 7k axles and ship about a week after my order.
As mentioned, I went with 9/16 studs/lug nuts and the Brakerite actuator. FYI, with our wheels, I needed a thinner wall socket, my standard impact socket would not fit.

Installation went fairly well, a few issues here and there.
Biggest issue was the poor cast quality of the caliper brackets and required some grinding to correct. A few hours and some words I'm not proud of, but I got it done.

All in all, took roughly 20 hours of wrenching to complete.

Took it around the block after a quick test and set-up in the driveway.

I'm absolutely shocked at the difference. This isn't a subtle difference, with the brakes being a "bit better". This difference is night and day.
I will never own a trailer any where near this weight with drum brakes again. No way, no how !!!

I look forward to seeing how it performs on a longer journey later this month.

If you're trying to decide whether to do this conversion, I can tell you that I would do it all over again; Even if it took twice the time to complete!

If you have questions, fire away!

I am going to upgrade my axles and go to disk brakes also. You did installation yourself looks like. I have a couple questions. Are your 7 k axles are mated to 16" tires- Wheels? or 17"? Are your wheels a 6 bolt or 8 bolt pattern ? Do you have the V bracket modification on your spring hangers? i have heard they reinforce against extra stress force when switching to disk brakes. Is your actuator mounted inside the couch or outside somewhere? What brand of sizing of actuator did you install?

Thanks!

 

[mbergthold]

Has anyone installed the disc brake conversion kit and the Timken axle-less spinkles? Our 2500RL has the "generic" Dexter 3500# axles, which IMO are barely adequate. The Timkens are rated at 5200#.

 

[toolman.dustin]

I believe disc brakes can only be used with hydraulic over electric. No electric disc brakes?
Is that correct?

 

[Tigger1]

A couple in our camping group have a Jayco Pinnacle 5er, 40+ft. When they bought it a few years back the first modification was to disc brakes. The driver said he would never go back to drum. They have towed from east to west and back more than once.

I don’t know the specifics but shortly after their install he sent me this link which I found informative:

https://roadslesstraveled.us/traile...disc-brake-conversion-fifth-wheel-rv-upgrade/

Also as a side note; last year at the Mid Atlantic GD Owner’s Rally I saw several owners of 5ers having the conversion performed. Took the better part of the day to finish.

Taking all of this in with our camping friends and seeing other GD owners convert, I would definitely have it done or ordered if we ever go 5er.