Travel trailer disc brake conversion

[mikeR1100R]

I have a 2018 30 ft tandem axle travel trailer with electric drum brakes on both axles.  I am currently doing quite a bit of research on converting to electric-over-hydraulic disc brakes.  There are conversion kits to be had starting at about $1400.  It is do-it-yourselfable (just made that up😁).  I talked with a fellow from MI who actually did it in half a day in his campsite after a wheel bearing grease seal blew on his trailer which took out his brakes on one side and scared him half to death.  He loves the disc brakes.

Has anyone on the board done this within the last year or 2?

I am learning a lot.  Some of the kits come with flexible brakelines for example,which I don’t care for as I think that would leave a lot of room for expansion and subsequent loss of response time and pressure.  

I am by no means pulling the biggest rig out there but when you are driving a 2017 F250 extended cab, 8 ft bed with motorcycle loaded in it plus trailer it feels like a juggernaut!  Stopping is important!

Any advice or experience would be much appreciated.

[realshelby]

I have quite a bit of experience with the electric/drum brake trailer setups. Two boat trailers, one utility trailer that were disc. Put the discs on the utility trailer. Single axle. These were surge type with master cylinder built into the ball mounting on tongue. 

 

Also had a 30' travel trailer! And two fifth wheel trailers. All with electric/drum setups. 

 

The last fifth wheel I had seemed to have weak brakes. Discovered right before trading it that it had a smaller diameter drum setup than the one before had. Had I known that I would have put the larger/largest drum kit on it I could find. 

 

Swapping these out is straightforward. Plumbing or wiring is the most complicated part of it. I don't know what disc kit you are talking about, probably a LOT better kit than I used or had on the boat trailers. But what I do know is that the electric drum brakes, when properly sized, adjusted, and most importantly properly operated by the controller,  are one heck of a lot less trouble over time than the hydraulic systems! Especially for something that sits around. I flushed and bled them annually. Still had issues with calipers freezing up. The drum brakes will slide the wheels when setup correctly, not much to gain there. 

 

Post a link to the kit you are thinking about. I would like to see it. 

[mikeR1100R]

Here are a couple of links:https://www.southwestwheel.com/p-93-ultimate210.aspx 

https://liveworkdream.com/2016/03/02/titan-hydraulic-trailer-disc-brakes/

 

I have not heard anyone so far regret the conversion.  Granted I am a newbie at the travel trailer game but I do not like the electric brakes.  Also my trailer will be seeing a lot of use over the next 2 or 3 years.  It also will never see temperatures near freezing either.  

I am still learning😊

[realshelby]

After reading the link, I have a couple concerns. One is the possibility that the writer of the second link was perhaps sponsored by the brake manufacturer/dealer? Second is the chart showing the difference in stopping distances. I smell a bit of BS there! Read again what I wrote about the size of the drum brakes and proper adjustment. And having a really good controller! 

 

I guess I just don't see where the improvement would be? If I can lock the wheels quickly on the trailer when using the manual lever to maximum, how is the disc setup going to stop better? I would bet a large sum that the hydraulics will be many times the work to keep working properly over time. 

[mikeR1100R]

Disc brakes actually seem much less complicated to me than electric drum with the magnets and electrical connections and adjustments.  Also the people I have spoken to and the forums I have read all seem very happy with the results.  

I do plan on doing the conversion even though it is a bit pricey, as I plan on doing a lot of traveling with this trailer.  It will never see freezing temps or salted roads and I don’t mind at all doing the PM on the disc brake system.

It won’t be done until May and I will definitely post pics and a review of the project and whether or not it was worth the time and effort.

I do appreciate your time and expression of concerns. 

Thanks!

[Rougarou]

I dunno, I use to pull this, which total weight was about 12k and I never once considered going to disc brakes.  Once adjusted, the electric drums worked just fine,....adjusted so the trailer brakes were a wee bit more than the truck brakes.