I think all trailers should have disc brakes. Cars and trucks are almost there. All heavy duty pickup trucks 3/4 and one ton come standard with disc brakes all the way around. I remember how happy I was when trucks started coming with them in 1998. Faster stopping, less brake dust, less brake fade, less heat and cheaper replacing brake pads than shoes. At least one horse trailer manufacture is going to all disc brakes this year. There will be more, but you can have them now. We just added the Kodiak vented disk brake hydraulic conversion to our Hart trailer on the “Hart Horse Trailer Safety and Tech Tour” that we take to horse expo’s around the country. Kodiak Hydraulic Disc Brakes stop better.
Dramatic difference in stopping the trailer. I live in Colorado and the fast side of the mountains will test your brakes. We have larger trailers now and trucks with more diesel power, but what about stopping power? Back in my farming days when I had 32′ hay trailers, the gravel roads ate the magnets on my electric brakes. It was a constant maintenance problem of adjusting brake shoes, fixing the magnets and even reattaching the brake wires to each wheel.
With hydraulic brakes, you have heavy duty hoses and steel lines. Not a flimsy 14 gauge wire bouncing with the wheel. EZ lube axles are nice, but it’s too easy. Overgrease and you have no brakes with drums. Not true with disc brakes. I like the oil bath option. You can just look at the site glass in the hub and know your axles are ready for work.
Why I like Hydraulic Brakes.
Bill Barnett of Master Brake Systems explained “hot electric brake drag” to me. Since the mission of my website is to educate folks about trucks and what you use with them, I thought I’d share. Bill explained there are 3 major sources of heat from electric brakes, #1 the voltage heat to the electro magnet, #2 heat from the magnet dragging, #3 and conductive heat from the brake shoes and magnet to the drum. All this causes degrading brakes and then what do you do, coast to a stop?
Way back when, 20 years ago I was replacing magnets left and right on my electric trailer brakes, I envied the bigger hydraulic dump gooseneck trailers. A lot of them had electric over hydraulic brakes. And I had my magnets. So I gave up on trailer brakes and went to dually trucks for stopping power. Electric over hydraulic brakes seem to disappear for a while and I hadn’t heard about them for years. Then I saw Transwest’s axle display at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. They’re back! Now this isn’t the vacuum system that has a pump on your truck and the long hose to your trailer. This ElecDraulic system from Master Brake System’s is self contained with it’s own electric gear driven brake booster. Now this is advanced, it has it’s own battery and uses your trucks battery if it needs it, and charges your emergency breakaway disconnect battery. With it’s micro processor it will self diagnose, give you proportional braking, and can, as an option give you ABS on your trailer. And I haven’t even got to the part about how much better hydraulic trailer brakes are, with less fade, reduced maintenance costs and faster brakes. There is a reason your truck has hydraulic brakes.
How long does it take to get to your trailer magnets and check wear? Ever see a truck with magnet activated brakes?
Way back when, 20 years ago I was replacing magnets left and right on my electric trailer brakes, I envied the bigger hydraulic dump gooseneck trailers. A lot of them had electric over hydraulic brakes. And I had my magnets. So I gave up on trailer brakes and went to dually trucks for stopping power. Electric over hydraulic brakes seem to disappear for a while and I hadn’t heard about them for years. Then I saw Transwest’s axle display at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. They’re back! Now this isn’t the vacuum system that has a pump on your truck and the long hose to your trailer.
This ElecDraulic system from Master Brake System’s is self contained with it’s own electric gear driven brake booster. Now this is advanced, it has it’s own battery and uses your trucks battery if it needs it, and charges your emergency breakaway disconnect battery. With it’s micro processor it will self diagnose, give you proportional braking, and can, as an option give you ABS on your trailer. And I haven’t even got to the part about how much better hydraulic trailer brakes are, with less fade, reduced maintenance costs and faster brakes. There is a reason your truck has hydraulic brakes.
The Master Brake Systems, ElecDraulic unit fits snugly under your gooseneck. This is what I like, 13″ disc rotors, greaseable hubs and air ride. Big difference on what the right brake system can do for your safety and peace of mind. With the more powerful diesel pickup trucks coming out each year, I know you can pull more weight, pull it faster, and now the with all these trailer accessories, you can stop this bigger trailer, smoothly and safely!
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