Hydralic drum to disc brake switch ?

[lineman49]

Has anyone ever switched from hydraulic drum brakes to hydraulic disc brakes on their boat trailer ?  Is it a real pain ?  Does the coupler/actuator need to be changed ?  Thanks for any info. on this!

[jimski2]

Some states do not allow hydraulic brakes. Either electric or air operated trailer brakes only.

[Hookedup]

Not a bad job to do! All depends on the actuator you have. Some actuators it's a simple part change. If your actuator is old just get a new one that is disc break ready. When venture set up my trailer they used the wrong actuator so I burnt the breaks off it the first trip. Sean

[lineman49]

Not a bad job to do! All depends on the actuator you have. Some actuators it's a simple part change. If your actuator is old just get a new one that is disc break ready. When venture set up my trailer they used the wrong actuator so I burnt the breaks off it the first trip. Sean

  Good info to know,  thanks

[lakebound88]

I think I remember the guy who fixed yours Sean!

Sent from my XT1080 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Hookedup]

I think I remember the guy who fixed yours Sean!

Sent from my XT1080 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

LOL. Ya thanks! Man the amount of work that was done on a new boat trailer was insane. I'll never buy another one from them

[lakebound88]

Yeah it was a crappy situation, but at least you haven't an issue since. Knock knock.

Sent from my XT1080 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[High Bidder]

There a two types reverse bypass valves on the actuators for disc brakes. The best seemed to be the normally closed type which doesn't lock the brakes if you are backing up a hill. It allows the pressure to release in any situation. You will need a back up light connection in your trailer wiring to release the brakes for backing up. It took just a few hours to change the trailer brakes and discs work much better.

[BC FD]

Do you have surge brakes on your trailer now? I bought a new Ace custom aluminum trailer from Ace in Gibsonton Florida 2 years ago. It came with electric over hydraulic brakes . As folks say, IMHO it is the best system going. We have towed our boat, a Mako 201 back and forth from Florida to Ottawa,Ont.  I love the system. It may be more than you are looking to do but we are pulling around 6000 lbs on the back of a 2008 F-250 and when I need to stop you can really feel the trailer help the truck. I know 6000 lbs is not a lot for this truck but we have 15,000 miles on this trailer and I am really happy with this system. It came with Kodiak disc brakes on both axles and stainless tubing to the calipers.

I looked at a comparable trailer in Port Charlotte. The guy tried to tell me I didn't need brakes. I said thanks for your opinion and left. A good trailer guy is sometimes hard to find.  

Etrailer.com has a good supply of parts. The one drawback to electric over hydraulic system is that it doesn't operate on all brake controllers. There is a Titan adapter some controllers need to run the pump. It may be way more than you want to do but for my application , with the high mileage I put on my trailer , the cost was worth it. There is my 5 cents Canadian so 3 cents US. Good luck with your project. The Kodiak calipers are very easy to work on. We blew a seal the last day before heading home and pulling the caliper and changing the hub took less than an hour. I had problems finding a grease gun. Should have been about 20 minutes. My Ace trailer  came with the spare mounted on the winch tower on a spindle on a spare hub. Brilliant thinking. If you do a lot of long distance traveling a $35 dollar hub makes a lot of sense to carry.

Hope I didn't run on too long.

[lineman49]

Stayed with the drum brakes. tore all apart & only found bad wheel cylinders. Replaced them, now only need to bleed the system & will be on the road!   Thanks guys for all the  good info.