if your trailer has disc brakes, how much life are you getting out of the pads? <BR> <BR>i changed from drums to discs (Tie Down Engr brand) in summer '03. i never tow farther than about an hour, usually less, about 50% thru West Austin hills (these are not mountains). <BR> <BR>when i got home last time, one of my wheels had boiled some grease out, so i figured the bearings went south. i got it all apart, and turns out the brakes were the culprits. the pads on that side are GONE down to the backing plate. i checked the other side, and it's not much better. <BR> <BR>i've put about 150 hrs on my boat since the swap, and i can't have towed more than about 1000 miles in that time... is this normal??

I have approx 15000 miles (yep 15K) on my 03 trailer, yet to go through pads. Had some caliper issues, but not pads. Sounds like your brakes are dragging...Have you checked the temp after driving a couple miles? <BR> <BR>(Message edited by prostar205v on April 27, 2005)

Often drum brakes use a higher residual pressure valve then disk brakes. Upgrade the master cylinder, and make sure the check valve is removed, if it is external of the master.

that must be it. i did notice they were warmer after a tow than the drums, but i fiugred the discs just ran a little hotter, and they'd never boiled the grease out until the other day. <BR> <BR>when i installed them, the instructions said to punch a hole in the check valve in the MC if you're converting from drums. i did that, but maybe not well enough or it got plugged up. <BR> <BR>it's probably about time for a new MC anyway... thanks for the replies.

Is your trailer single axle or dual? I did the same conversion using the TieDown products (drum to disk) on a dual axle trailer. Since the drum brakes were only on one axle, I put the disk on one axle. The pads wore out in less than 1000 miles. I put a set of disks on the second axle and have had no problems with pad wear for 2 years. I bought the full kit including the master cylinder so I know the pad wear was not due to the check valve holding line pressure. <BR> <BR>The disks will always run hotter than the drums and I switched to high-temp grease. The pads will and should just make contact with the rotors. Not enough to slow the wheel down, but you will be able to hear it dragging a little and it will heat up the wheel on a long tow. <BR> <BR>Stopping ability is much improved with the two axle system compared to the disks on the one axle. Stopping with and without the boat is about the same.

interesting. mine's also dual axle. did you need any type of proportioning or pressure regulating valve, or just tee into the existing lines? do they run cooler now as well? thanks.

The brakes stay a lot cooler when stopping now. When I had the brakes on the one axle and went to a boat ramp with a long downhill leading up to it where you had to go slow down the whole thing, it smelled like the brakes were on fire when I got to the bottom. A trip back there last year with the two axle set up was no problem. The amount of brake dust on the wheels is also about 10x less. <BR> <BR>No proportioning valve is needed since the weight on each of the axles is about equal. The second axle kit comes with the needed tees to hook up the other lines. <BR> <BR>This article is basically the instructions that I used for the install. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.championtrailers.com/DISC_BRAKE_INSTALLATION_ARTICLE.HTM" target="_blank">http://www.championtrailers.com/DISC_BRAKE_INSTALLATION_ARTICLE.HTM</a>

Make sure that your trailer is level. <BR>If it is nose down, you will ride the disk brakes. <BR> <BR>

the trailer is level, but why would that cause the brakes to ride anyway? thanks for the replies everyone.