Trailer Brakes, Drum or Disc???
 

Hey Guys

I have a tandem axle alum. "performance" trailer that my 25 Baja sits on, the trailer doesn't have brakes, over the winter I am gonna put brakes on both axles, should I go to Drum or disc brakes? What are the pro's and con's of both?

I would also like to upgrade to a set of "nice" 15" alum rims to replace the 14" ones, any recomendations?

Thanks!
Michael

Discs.

Drums probably provide better overall stopping power, but discs are SO easy to swap out and seem to last longer.

Depending on your location, you could check out Eastern Marine. They have a ridiculous amount of trailer parts. You can literally build a trailer from the ground up with one trip to their store.

I would go Disc.

If you have a Dexter distributor near you then you can try them. They have very good prices and quality.

Electric over Hydr. are the way to go but pricey to retrofit. I put disc brakes on our sons 28 Skater trailer for about $600.00 on one axle. Bought a kit from here. www.championtrailers.com. Very easy install, and they provide technical help if you need it.

Disc brakes absolutely. I'd strongly recommend Kodiak over Tie-Down Engineering.

Electric/Hydraulic brake controller absolutely. It is NIGHT and DAY difference compared to surge brake systems.

Also, you will find wheels and tires on eBay as well as Champion Trailers. You local tire shop can get the Pacer 'Outlaw II' wheel for about $100 bucks and you can go with bigger trailer tires at that point.

There are DOZENS of discussions about trailer tires on here. General consensus is stay away from Carlisle tires. Goodyear Marathon and some LT truck tires are the way to go.

+1 on disk,,,, and elec over hyd if you can swing it

Ditto on disk. drums are terrible on boat trailer. E/O if you have $$. Kodiak stainless if the trailer sees salt water.

Great, if there are any links to companies that make a kit, please post of PM me!, sounds like discs are the way to go, boat will never see salt [or brackish] water.

Just curious?, why are drums terrible on a boat trailer?,

Thanks Guys!
Michael

hey..
champion will set you up with everything...down to the left nut....go disc...less moving parts, easy maintenance, longevity...initial cost is more than paid for over a short time....drums harbor salt and moisture, too many places for it to hide, no real good way to rinse/dry...unless you live in arizona!
c

I can tell you from experience that you need brakes on both axles . Just bought a new trailer .. This one has 4 disc surge brakes and stops GREAT. My last trailer had discs on 1 axle and they burned up quick so I removed them. I could not tell any difference when I had discs on one axle compared to no brakes at all. Boat is a 24 ft vip vindicator around 5000lbs wet and loaded.

Chris