Kodiak Disc Brakes

[auskier]

I finished installing disc brakes on my trailer. Man what an improvement. Of course my old drum brakes were non-functioning so you would expect an improvement Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

I thought I would throw a plug in for the local manufacturer that makes them… http://www.kodiaktrailer.com

It feels like I can stop almost as hard as I can without the trailer. I guess I could do some tests to see the actual difference but hey what does it matter; I know I’m safer with the brakes. After comparing them side-by-side I liked the Kodiaks better than the Tie Downs IMHO. This is an easy project for anyone who’s interested in going to disk brakes. (Now at least I’ve gotten one project done that I wanted to do over the winter)

[ffmedic74]

RE: Kodiak Disc Brakes

I now have a set of Kodiak disk brakes on my trailer. THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN DRUM!

[geoffc210]

Has anyone had any problems with the calipers locking up? I had to replace one due to it locking up and I also know of one other guy who had one lock up too.

[wakejunky]

Doesn't part of the installation require swapping out the actuator? It is my understanding that the drum actuator does not provide enough line pressure to properly activate the brakes.

Chris

[auskier]

Doesn't part of the installation require swapping out the actuator? It is my understanding that the drum actuator does not provide enough line pressure to properly activate the brakes.

Chris

It is possible that the actuator will not provide enough pressure but as I understand it the main issue is that the drum actuators have a diaphragm check valve in them that maintains residual brake line pressure. You must have no residual pressure for the discs or they will overheat. My instillation instructions said that you can puncture the check valve with an awl and use the drum actuator for disks. I didn’t do this because my actuator was in really bad condition and I could buy a new disk actuator for very close to the price of all the internal replacement parts I needed for my old actuator.

[jmo]

auskier - I'm considering replacing my drum brakes for disk as well, which actuator did you use? did you replace the brake lines or use the existing ones, lastly how did installing the reverse solenoid go?

Thanks in advance...

[ffmedic74]

I purchased a titan disk brake actuator

[jmo]

I purchased a titan disk brake actuator

I was thinking the same thing (replacing the drum based titan actuator with the disk version) or possibly the tie-down model 66. Did you have enough room to put the reverse soleniod inline from the back of the actuator?

It looks to me like I might have to monkey with the brake line a bit to make room. I've got a single axle ramlin trailer.

Thanks in advance,

JR

[auskier]

I'll see if I can get a couple of pics of my actuator set up. Off the top of my head I know I used a tie down disk brake actuator. I don't recall the model number. I believe kodiak sells actuators as well so you might ask them when you order.

I used the existing brake lines with the exception of replacing the hard line at the tongue with a flex line so I could pull out the removable tongue with out disconnecting the brake line.

I did flush the brake lines with alcohol till they ran clear when I had everything disconected. Then I blew compressed air through them to make sure they dried out. I am now using silicone based brake fluid. Everything has functioned perfectly for the last year.

I did not buy the reverse solinoid last year when I did this. I just used the locking pin to back up, Very anoying so I would suggest getting the solinoid. I will be installing one very soon so if I have any advice afterwards I'll post it here.

[jmo]

FYI - I have installed the SCAD version of the brakes, and I used a tiedown 70e model actuator, which has the reverse solenoid built in, and is a much better unit than the standard titan. Only drawback is with the solenoid the brake line comes off to the side a bit and I had to tap a new hole in the top of the box frame and snake a new section of brake line. The tiedown mechanism that engages the ball is superior and the breakaway cable is a much cleaner design. I can't tell you how many times I scraped myself on that lever the titan actuator has while hopping over it. I also purchased a trailer side 7 pin plug prewired with a whipped end. If you go from a 4 pin wire harness to the seven, the wire colors don't exactly match. I can provide the wire mapping in case anyone needs it. This set up rocks!

[RCHANDED]

A couple of qusetions about disc brakes

I am looking to upgrade to disc brakes on my 92 S/A Ramlin trailer, are these kits (ex.) Tiedown & Kodiak universal kits? I don't see any of them specifying make of trailer when ordering.
Who has the best price/service on tiedown disc brake kits?
And last, whats the degree of difficulty of instulation?

Thks

[jmo]

RCHANDED,

There are kits you can get, I bought my kodiak brakes from www.championtrailers.com who had the best price and the kit included the brakes, hubs, bearing and seals. The sizes are pretty standard, by matching the bolt pattern and measuring the diameter of the axle you should have it. Mine was a single axle ramlin - which translates to a 6 lug pattern with 1 3/4 by 1 1 1/4 axle. I then purchased the tie down model 70e actuator from www.easternmarine.com (again best price).

I started by calling my nearest Nautique dealer and they priced the disk upgrade kit at $860 (not including installation), a local marina quoted me ~700 for the kit, and by purchasing myself it was less than $600.

As far as how was the installation, I think it was pretty straight forward, only tricky part was snaking a new 30" section of brake line at the front given I had to tap a new hole for it to work with the new actuator. If you stay with a disk version of the titan actuator you won't have to do this, but I recommend it.

I consider myself pretty handy with tools, but am by no means a mechanic by trade. To install the actuator you will have to buy a 1/2 bit to tap two extra holes to bolt it on, the existing holes from the titan actuator lined up perfectly with the other two.

You will also have to convert the wiring from the 4 pin connection to a 5 or 7 pin depending on what you have on your tow rig (disk brakes work in reverse so you need to connect the reverse soleniod to the reverse lights).

Finally, bleeding the brakes was also pretty easy, again it was the first time doing so and I bought a "1 man" brake bleed hose for $4 at a auto parts store that made it doable by myself.

I found several really useful links that explained most of it:

http://www.championtrailers.com/DISC...ON_ARTICLE.HTM

http://www.championtrailers.com/techsup.html

Hope this helps...

[RCHANDED]

Thanks JMO, what do you think of this kit? it looks like everything I need right?

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index....categoryID=155

[auskier]

Last year the guys at Kodiak said they were now making the calipers and rotors for tie down, so that’s almost the exact setup I ended up with, though I bought much of it separately. I ended up not replacing any of the hard lines just the rubber lines to the calipers, also I only have the e-coat rotors rather than the GalvX coated so that’s a step up from my setup. Like JMO I have the six lug setup for a single axle trailer. I think I paid a total of about $350 for everything and I bought it all locally. I would say $399 looks like a good deal for this package though. (I did pick up my Kodiak stuff at the plant where they make it so I assume that saved me some money)

Personally I did not have to make any new holes, everything bolted on as is. Very basic skills set required, I did use a torque wrench to try to get the right foot pounds of torque on the calipers. I made a power bleeder like this http://www.bmw-m.net/techproc/bleeder.htm to bleed my brakes. It made the job very easy. It was well worth it since I have used it on my wife’s car and my jeep since then, and I had to re-bleed my brakes after adding the backup solenoid this spring. I also had to change to a five wire system from a four wire system but that’s pretty basic. Four of the wires stay the same and you wire the 5th wire to your reverse lights to engage the solenoid. If you have questions about the wiring just post it here and we can help.

[ag4ever]

If your vehicle is not wired for 5-wire, you can flip the plug over and then turn on your headlights. The solinoid will then be powered by the driving light circuit, and the ground will be thru the coupler and ball. It is not the ideal situation, but it can keep you from having to rewire a vehicle. Just remember to flip the plug back over before driving down the road or you won't have any trailer brakes and your turn signals will be reversed.