Switching to disk, I think (?)

[Sloop John B]

This is a continuation of my post below of my brake dilemma, with a slight change of subject. In this, I have gone out to Chip, who has been most helpful.

Champion Trailers seems to be the answer to switching the drums out for disk brakes. Their parts numbers are compatible with all the stuff inside the hub. I dunk continually in salt water, and trying to maintain the drums is going to be a push the rock up the hill situation.

Before I call Champion, however, I need to know about the coupler that is welded onto our 2002 trailers. Im afraid they will tell me to blast it off and get theirs. The conversion from drum to disk with the old coupler requires the reservoir in the aft part of the master cylinder to be ruptured with an ice pick. That, or have it removed.

Good grief. How involved is this?

The other part is a nut or coupling that is substituted behind the master cylinder to provide a bigger hole. How simple or involved might this be. And what do I have yet to learn or anticipate in hurdles?

I asked Chip if there was need to replace the hydraulic lines. These seem fine.

I seek to establish a line of communication with those who have accomplished this.

[Captain Steve]

I did this mod in 03 it was an easy afternoon bolt on job. Part of the kit was new SS hydrolic lines as well as flexible lines. ground off the mac coupler with side angle grinder...took a while. You need to drill two holes to bolt on the new one. The new coupler does not need to be punched. and the solenoid hooks up to your back up lights. I sail only in the salt and it shows very little corrosion. and its easy to hose off as it is all exposed.

The kit they sell is made for the mac trailer....the new line is the correct length!

[Jack O'Brien]

I put the Champion disc brakes on. Not hard. I used the Titan master cylinder that was on the Mac trailer. It had become dirty and crudy so I removed, disassembled and cleaned it. I removed the valve they say to puncture. I also installed the back-up solenoid and a five-conductor plug. I did not change the lines.

The brakes worked fine until recently the actuator started to "clunk" too much as it actuated. Checked tonight and found the master cylinder dry. Wonder where the fluid went. Guess they will need bleeding now.

[Robert]

I did the conversion to disc brakes just before I sold my Mac26X. I was loking for reliable stopping power and corrosion resistance using standard parts for easy repair / maintenance.
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I found two disc brake options, one was a 1/4 stainless plate for a rotor (tiedown), the other was a vented disc rotor available in cast iron or stainless (Kodiak). Vented discs resist warping and stay cooler to avoid brake fade as in coming down a mountain. The trailer is loaded to the max for a single axle applicaiton, so maximum stopping power was top priority for me. I ended up with a one piece vented rotor and hub, cast iron with the special corrosion coating similar to galvanized. I chose this option because it is rated to last 600 hours in salt water compared to 1000 hours for the stainless rotors in salt, and the stainless rotors were not available in a single cast piece including the hubs. I wanted single piece rotor and hub for simplicity and strength, the two piece ones rely more on strong lug nuts which are maxed out under a Mac26X. Cast Iron is the metal of choice for brakes for its friction charactoristics, stainless is relatively slick compared to cast iron. All of the non-brake pad surfaces were very well corrosions protected, and applying the brakes on the way home would remove most of the salt, especially if flushed at the dock. I always took the boat out on the trailer at least monthly year round, I planned that if I ever stored the trailer long term, I would pop off the wheels and spray paint the braking surfaces, then grease the lug nuts to prevent rust.
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It was KodiakTrailerBrakes.com. The calipers were stainless with stainless and brass insides. The brake pads were stainless too. I used new seals and new Timken wheel bearings. (after 4 seasons the old bearings were in great shape with plenty of grease applied often).
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All the parts would also fit the front end of many full size GM cars or pickups, you can't get much more common parts than that.
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I also replaced the steel wheels with the strongest aluminum wheels I could get. I wanted balanced wheel to not to vibrate my Mac26X to death. I wanted steel galvanized wheels, but those are not able to be balanced, due to uneven application of the galvanize coating. The aluminum wheels were nicely balanced using the goodyear marathon radials I had on the steel wheels. The spare remained a painted steel wheel with an original ply tire, since actually having a spare means you will probably never need it, at least I never needed the spare.
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These aluminum wheel I hoped would carry away hub heat quickly. I supose they did because they always ran very cool even at 70 mph, no warmer than the wheels on my tow vehicle. I made it a high priority to keep 50 to 52 lbs pressue in the tires, better a couple lbs over than any under at max load.
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The coupler.... I swaped it out to e TieDown unit available locally. The welded on one comes off in a half hour using a $20 cutoff wheel tool available from NHNorthern. I learned the difference between a grinding wheel and a cutoff wheel with this exerience. The cutting wheel is just like a supersized dremel. Cut the weld bead all the way around on both sides. Then remove the old coupler with a couple of hard whacks on a chissel using a regular hammer. If it does not pop free easily, examing the weld bead area for what still needs cutting. Once the old coupler is removed, use the grinding wheel to smooth the trailer tongue where the weld was. Then place your new coupler on the tongue and mark where to drill the holes to bolt it on. Use grade 8 bolts and properly torque the nuts, it would be bad to have the coupler let go of the trailer on the higheway. Before assembly, make sure to paint all the bare metal where the old coupler was cut off. Note: If you spill a drop of brake fluid on the new paint, the new paint goes away. I did not find a way to rust proof the inside of the trailer tongue, niether did they find a way to rust proof the inside at the Mac26X trailer factory, it was rusty in there, but not strength threatenning.

[Chip Hindes]

When I added the axle and switched to four wheel discs, just as Jack did, I kept the original Titan Master cylinder. I rebuilt it for about $5 worth of new seals and while at it removed the anti backflow seal; the idea of puncturing it with an ice pick didn't appeal to me. It's not a difficult job, I don't believe it could be tougher or more time consuming than grinding off the old coupler. The larger orifice for the discs is a five minute wrench job.

You guys have all convinced me it's time to write this and the second axle conversion up for the mod board. Give me a few days.

[Robert]

My coupler was bent to te side enough to make it obvious to a passer by. It still seemed to work, but making it straight again would have been more difficult that replacing even by grinding off the old one.
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If I had a non-damaged coupler, I would also have modified it rather than replace, the coupler was one of the more expensive parts to replace.
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There is a shock absorber portion of the coupler as well as the master cylinder part, I don't know how to verify that the shock absorber part is working, but shock absorbers can wear out, so if I was going to re-use the coupler I would make some effort to determine if the shock absorber part is in good shape or if it can be rebuilt easily, go ahead and rebuild it also.
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I carefully looked over the brake lines, and they all seemed in very good shape. I flushed an extra can of brake fluid through and watched for crud, none found, so the original brake lines are still on it.

[Roy B. Highland]

While sitting in a Doctor's office I found this in a boating mag.
COOL NEW BRAKES The new Eliminator Vented Rotor Disc Breakes. Aluminum caliper housing and stainless steel piston with an aluminum sleeve. They claim that their breakes stay 750 degrees cooler and ordinary rotor breaks.
I'm checking into to adding them to my 26X trailer. They are priced at $232 per axle.
They're on line at tiedown.com
The company name is Tie Down Engiineering.
Might just be the best doctor appointment I've had.
Roy "Salty Dog"

[Tom Spohn]

Here is another option:

http://www.bwyachts.com/web%20catalog%2 ... brakes.htm

[Chip Hindes]

The discs with stainless steel non vented rotors from Champion are Tie Down brand as well. The stainless rotor is a separate part bolted to the hub and can be replaced separately for $80 per axle. Note that the hubs themselves are not stainless, only the rotors.

The Tie Down vented rotors are all cast iron, not stainless steel, and integral to the hub. They cannot be replaced separately. Who knows, they could well last the life of the trailer anyway, making that a moot point. At $232 they're $34 per axle more than the non vented versions, not a lot in the overall scheme of things. I note they make no claims for their special coatings concerning corrosion protection on the braking surfaces. This is where the stainless rotors could be expected to perform substantially better, though (marketing blubs aside) you wouldn't really know if there's a significant difference unless you've tried both.

As far as I can tell, the caliper construction is identical.

Early this summer, my two axle, four brake Mac trailer made it down the mountain on I81 in Western Virginia, both directions with no hint of overheating. On the other hand, later this summer both they and the truck brakes (four wheel vented discs) overheated going down the hill on the eastern side of Lake Cayuga into Ithaca. Much shorter hill, but much steeper. Vented discs on the trailer might have helped, but they might have overheated as well. I could have downshifted the truck to assist with engine braking, but that wouldn't have helped the trailer, and after having replaced the truck tranny to the tune of $3500 only one month before, I was reluctant to do so.

Anyway, if I hadn't seen my non vented discs overheat, I'd definitely recommend them for their superior corrosion protection. Now, I'm not so sure; if I had it to do again I might opt for the vented cast iron instead.

From the description, I believe it's likely the brake kit offered through BWY is the Tie Down brand as well, for a few additional bucks as compared to Champion Trailers.

It bothers me that when they tell you how easy it is to make the drum to disc conversion, none of the sales blurbs mentions the fact you are supposed to replace the original solid steel brake lines with flexible hoses. It's easy to do and only about $30 extra, so that shouldn't stop you, but the triumph of marketing over reality always gripes me.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I believe the set BWY is selling is also the Tie Down non-vented stainless rotor kit.