Kodiak Disc Brakes...
 

Anyone have them?

I just talked the company into selling them to me direct. Dealing with the manufacturer direct was actually quite nice, which is unusual. After the negative feedback on the WestMarine site about the Tie-Downs, and the fact that they come with the Hub and Rotor as one piece, I decided to go with Kodiak. I am finally getting new axles for my trailer, which cost a pretty penny themselves, and I want to go with 4 wheel disc brakes. I went with the Nickel Cadmium plated rotors; with Stainless Steel calipers, which are separate rotors like you see on cars, that slip over the hub, and are held on by your wheel. Per Kodiak, the place most folks have trouble their disc brakes are the caliper, which is where I would want the SS. The Tie-Downs only come with an integrated hub, and I do not need that, as my new axles are coming with brand new hubs and spindles. While they are SS rotors, the Tie-Downs have calipers that are still aluminum, and I just did not like the robustness of them next to the Kodiaks. Kodiak wants twice as much for the kit with the SS rotor as they do for the kit with the NC rotor. Kodiac has a dual plane rotor, as Tie-Down only has a single plane disc for the rotor; I think the Kodiak will be less suceptible to warping after a long road trip, and direct dip into water. They gave me the salt/spray test results, which are 400-600 hours after salt exposure, the NC rotors will start to rust. Divide that in half, and maybe bet on a a real figure, and I still have plenty of time to get to a hose and flush my brakes, OR dip in fresh water. As long as I flush them; I will be fine; direct from the manufacturer, who even commented the SS ones are damn expensive. If I sell the boat and trailer to an all salt water boater, I will tell him/her to spring for the SS rotors.

I think I have now got a nice and safe setup coming, without the added luxury of quick wearing tires due to bent spindles. The trailer that came with my boat is a cheapy, and now that I have just about completely rebuilt it, I have close to the quality of a nice aluminum trailer. (Replaced bunks, replaced carpet, added front cradle supports, replaced axles, upgraded and replaced brakes, and soon to be replaced tires).

Bottom line, DO NOT SKIMP ON THE F_C_I_G TRAILER!!! It will cost you in the end. (I didn't skimp, I was just uneducated when I bought the whole thing).

I don't know everything about axles and brakes, but I just got a crash course; and figured I would share. I will probaby ping the board again when it comes time to assemble and install next week. I know I need a solenoid for free backing, and a replacement actuator since I am going from drum to discs.

Tie Downs link to feedback on WestMarine.com:

Tie-Down 10" Reviews



Tie Down System:

Tie Down 2:

Kodiak system I ended up with:

I can change just the rotors on my tiedowns
they seperate from the hub.
tiedown has a 2 sizes now

Thanks Top. I did not know that. I talked directly with Tie-Down Engineering CS, and they did not know what I was talking about with a 'fit over' rotor, that goes over as existing hub. If that is the case, and their SS rotor is reasonably priced, I will look into a re-fit, with thicker pads some day.

Just surge brakes.

I have a tandem axle and I discovered soon after I bougt it that
the single drums were in need of new cylinders
so I opted to do a single axle swap out to the tie downs
real easy if you have any disc brake experiance.
I used the original master cyl, just punched out the valve.
BIG improvment over the single drum. I might do the other axle
but , I would have to change the master too, because 4 disc
needs a little more volume on the master cylinder
because my original was a Drum style coupler

I have them sitting in a box in the garage,,, cant wait to get them on.

I just picked up my new Eagle trailer yesterday. It has the Kodak disc brakes. Seemed to work fine on its 3 hr maiden voyage. Will find out this weekend when we finally go get the boat after a 4 week wait.

New Quality Axles arrived today via tractor-trailer. Axles look good; except for a missing bearing buddy, and 4 missing lug nuts. I can understand the BB getting knocked off, but who is going to take the time to spin off 4 lug nuts? SOB! Quality is replacing missing parts plus extra for free. Hope to see brakes in next couple days. Next step; blocking the boat.

Axles went on with no significant problem. Not sure on alignment, as I aligned them the best I could with hand tools and a laser sighted level. I installed the Kodiak Brakes as well, but was thrown a curve ball when the holes in the axles plates were to small, and all 16 had to be drilled out. Gave my little cordless drill a good workout. I have not run brake lines yet, or modified the actuator, as the lines are in transit. I ordered a SS line kit from Champion, including a solenoid. I took the trailer only for a test drive last night without the brakes hooked up, and watched for wabling, dog-trot, and sway, and everything looked perfect. I look forward to finishing the job. I hope to snag some pics too when finished. I also added some rubber mudflaps to the insides of the fenders to keep the boat a little cleaner.

Installed my Kodiak kit yesterday,, went on easy,, made a huge difference in braking. I paid $160 per axle,,, money well spent !!!!!!

Sydways,,, if you become a dealer let me know,, ,,, I didnt buy the back up lock out yet and want to add it.

I've been running kodiaks for 3 seasons, came with my trailer... not an issue with them....

I did a lot of research when I bought my new trailer a few weeks ago. It seems that the most reputable trailer guys use Kodiak and that the recommended package is the Stainless calipers with the nickel discs. Stainless discs are probably very difficult to turn and twice the price.

Tie Down is a non vented disc and seems to be a less expensive alternative with a cost saving of about $110 per axle. The Kodiak brand looks beefy and my trailer stops effortlessly.

NOT HAPPY!!!

...with Champion Trailer.
I ordered my SS brake line kit last Thursday afternoon. I wanted it on Saturday, and even though they had it in stock, they could not get it out to me until earliest Monday. I said fine, get it out on Friday, and ship it UPS Ground, (usually takes 3-5 days). Then I could at least install it this coming weekend.

I just got a notification email they just shipped it out TODAY, and top that off, they shipped it to an address I have not lived at for OVER A DAMN YEAR!!! It is not expected to be delivered until NEXT MONDAY!!!! Last time this mistake was made, I never saw the part that was shipped to that address. I am pissed, and they will be hearing from me first thing in the morning. This just pushed the first splash of the season back at least a week.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

That sucks! Sometimes I think shipping departments do this just to mess with us.
Brian, did you order the deluxe b/u solenoid? It is only a few bucks more and does require a bit more work, but worth more than 1000x in concept.

BTW, I tried to back up my trailer empty on level ground with the Kodiak disc brakes, w/o the b/u solenoid plugged in. Made it 6", then the brakes grabbed and trailer would not budge!! No way, no how. Those brakes are great! Now, if only I can make them work while backing down the boat ramp w/o going the electric over hyd route.
Wonder how quick one would have to back down the ramp in order to get them to engage? Have video camera .......ACTION!

FRICKING UPS!!!!! I finally got my lines tonight from Champion. I had to pick them up at the UPS Depo at almost 9PM!

I have a dilemna/clearance problem now. This is due to my Quality Trailer Axles, (quite a fricking oxymoron).

As you can see in this pic, as my brake lines come off the caliper, the brake line passes under the L-Shaped Angle (Steel) making the axle mounting plate to the trailer.

1) Should I try to find new fittings that will screw in to point that does not cause an immediate collision between the axle mounting plate and brake line when the torsion axle compresses? (Not excited about this idea).


( OR SEE BELOW)

OR,

(2) Should I cut this imposing area off of the axle mounting bracket? (Surrounded in Red) I am more inclined to do this, but am slightly worried about impeding the integrity of the axle plate. This is not a weight carrying area, however, any time you mod something like this, you have to take this into account.

More pics of the problem:

Another view:

Thank you in advance for ALL of your help and input.

Ok, but just my opinion. So consider that my signed release form. ;)

That bracket appears to be the part that is mounted to the frame. The area in question is past the mounting bolt. Just with the slot itself makes me believe that the area in red outline is not a high stress area. If it were mine and the brake line is where it is, I wouldn't hesitate one bit to trim the angle iron back to provide the needed clearance. I don't see how the mount will even see the modification as far as strength. It's out past the working area. Just touch up the cut edge with paint.

Thanks fellow Hoosier. Any more input?

I AGREE,, I WOULD TRIM THE PLATE IF IT WAS ME. OR,,,,,,, you could rotate the caliper assy to 180 degrees from where it is

I could do that Obnoxus, but they specifically say it is supposed to be on the trailing side of the hub to keep any drag to a minumum. And I would not want the caliper on the ground side of the hub, in case of catastophic wheel failure/ejection, (had that happen once), the caliper would not be on or close to the ground, just the rotor. Thanks.

I finished the job on Sunday. Everything turned out great. The only gremlins were in a few compression fittings that kept leaking. I have not put the boat on trailer yet, but the system is working fine so far. I installed the solenoid, and fortunately the truck was already wired for this, so that part was easy. If anyone wants to give this a shot, I would say go for it. I did learn things as I went, but not neccesarily the hard way; just had to take things apart once or twice to get the fittings to go together right. All of the rubber lines to the calipers have fixed threads, so you have to figure out where to start tightening from, and then use your compression fittings on the SS lines to finish each axle/T-fitting. I completely disassembled the DICO Mod 60 Surge Brake Master Cylinder, and removed the residual valve, rather than puncturing it. It was not difficult, just took a while. I ended up being able to turn the lower hose input fitting to the calipers about 45 degrees, and just took a little 45* angle cut off of the axle mount plates, (did this with a sawzall and shortened blade). No clearance issues now. I will take some pics later this week. I am going to polish the whole trailer before the boat goes back on.

Was it easy enough the average do-it-yourselfer can do this in the driveway with limited tools? Yes.

Well, just figured I would update after a 450 mile roundtrip.

Everything went great. Axles are perfect. Brakes are perfect. Tires are perfect. The brakes really handle the boat well. We had one panic stop on wet pavement on a four lane road that turned my stomach upside down for 20 minutes after; but the trailer and truck handled everything just fine.

Some pics:

2

3

4

Re: Kodiak Disc Brakes...
 

Brain. I hope you get this :)
In regards to your trailer axle over a year ago.
I have a question for you about the Torsion axles.
Was your previous setup leaf springs?
And if so, how did you go about measuring and installing the torsions?
I have a triple leaf axle with drum brakes on the front and rear and am looking to change to torsion disk on all 3

Hugh, I hope you get this...
...12 years later. :D

No, they were the exact same torsion axles.

LMAO!!!!
Yup Got it!
And no, never did anything with the trailer axles! YET :)
I did a search for this and this is what came up! Talk about timing
Planning on some axle maintenance this afternoon :(

well my brakes have survived 15+ years, better side of 25,000 miles on the original parts!!
thought about just leaving them since I really do not travel far anymore, but ended up ordering new complete backing plates and shoes for all 4 corners!
also putting in new bearings and races on all 6, only found one race that was rough and I assumed that would be the rssince that was one that got hot on me many years ago.
by Thursday trailer will be rolling again!

Yea that did not work out as planned!!
Ended up with all new bearings and races, brakes, new leaf springs, new shackles, new bolts, new equalizers as well as 8 new tires!
Finally took it to the water yesterday and it towed great!
Now lets just hope the tires last longer then 5 years

Ah, another resurrection!

Tips to make tires last:
Do not park them on grass, at all. Carry 2x8s, 2x10s, or 2-12s with you. Especially for long term storage. Gravel, concrete, or pavement is better.
Completely remove possiblityUV ray damage. Install tire covers (like used on RVs) for your trailer tires, including the spare.
Keep them aired up to spec at all times.


Glad you are on the right track Hugh!

Wow the time span on this thread is awesome! I'm just starting to do this as well. But like you said in another thread you were still "wet behind the ears" when you started this! Well I'm doing the exact same! It's a steel trailer but it's my dad original trailer and I don't travel far so I figured id dump 1500 into his old trailer instead of $4500 or so for a nice aluminum. But i'm looking into EoH.