Trailer Brakes - What do you think?

[chpthril]

Hmmmmm. The 4 wheel drums on my 65 mustang or 69 Camaro of the past did not hold a candle to the disc brakes on my 06 F250. The truck stops waaaay better than the drum brake equipped cars. Plus there are less moving parts to corrode and seize up. Correct me if I am wrong here and I will feel better about not spending the money to install discs.

I bet the F250 has a slightly higher tow capacity then the stang or camaro

Seriously, the F250 has 40 years newer technology and way larger braking surface area.

Stopping power is friction, and friction = surface area x force. The surface area is the size of the pads/shoes and the discs/drums and the force is the hydraulic pressure created by the master cylinder and caliper/wheel cylinder.

So, from a mathematical standpoint, the disc brake setup is not better at stopping just by the shear fact that its a disc brake setup.

My point is, if one has a properly working drum setup and thinks that upgrading to disc will improve the stopping power, then a word of caution.....you may be left a disappointed.

On the other hand, if someone has an older trailer that has seen a lot of road use and is do for a big rework, then by all means, do the disc upgrade.

Disc brakes do have less moving parts and are easier to maintain. One key area of disc systems that does get overlooked is the caliper slide pins. If not lubed regularly, they will not allow the caliper to move freely, resulting in the inboard and outboard pads wearing unevenly and reduced clamping force.

[laserfish]

Thanks for the info Chp. Like everything else, maintenance is the key.

[MoneyPity]

I may be wrong but don't drum brakes fade faster than disk brakes. From experience I found that my 71 Cuda with 4 wheel drum stopping from high speeds the brakes faded when compared to same year Z28 with front disks.

Stopping distance on 4 disc Jeep vs front disk only Jeep stopping distance was also noticeable.