Brake Conversion Electric To Hydraulic Disc

Give Cargo Brake a call at 812-655-4544. They manufacture Hydrastar electric over hydraulic brake actuators. They can pu a conversion together to fit your needs. Their actuators come with a 2 year warranty and great customer service.

I am just in process to install disc brake on my new TH Sandstorm 350 GSLR, had them on my previous TH and honestly can't tow such a heavy trailers with electric brakes anymore.
milos

4x, here is a video on a kodiak conversion-good stuffhttp://www.heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/28931-Disc-Brake-Conversion-Tutoral

4x, its the cat's meow-especially on my 5ver. I went to the disc brakes after a road trip to Colorado where my drum brakes overheated in the mountains, twice. Complete brake fade on a 8% grade with a 12k trailer pushing you is not fun. So when I got home, my next project was the discs. My boat trailer I did prior to that and although much lighter, the brakes work so well.
I now have a 21' travel trailer w/3.5k axles, so I'm looking at doing the swap sometime. On the 21', I will mount the actuator on the 'a' frame of the trailer in front of my batteries.
Dexter makes a nice disc, it has two pistons per disc, better than the Kodiak; their customer service is quite good and they have lots of info on the brakes and their actuator on their website.
My controller is a Prodigy P3, not p2. Dexter should be able to tell you if your factory controller will work. On a 30' trailer, you will have peace of mind when you need to stop...priceless...

cruzbill wrote:
4x, I did my boat (3500# single axle) and 5th wheel (tandem 7,000# axles). The boat uses a surge coupler as the hydraulic component; the 5ver uses the elec over hyd actuator. The brakes are sized by the axle rating, common sizes are 3,500#; 5,000# and 6k or 7k and by brake size (diameter of brake drum or rotor). My 5ver used a 16" wheel, 13" rotor on the 7k axles. Try Eastern Marine (Trailer Parts Superstore)
They are very knowledgeable and have a video on a disc brake installation. Also, Southwest wheel, although their prices are higher.
Cost for a 3.5k tandem axle trailer is about $1,000, plus the cost of brake line and flex hose, brackets and fluid. What type and size of trailer do you have?

Thanks for the clarification and the added info.

I have no problem with the wiring or installation or that it doesnt come as a complete kit...although I was hoping it would just to keep things simple.

I have a 30 foot TT with dual 6 thousand LB axles. All Dexter I believe. My brake controller is part of the factory equipment on my truck and so far it's been great.

How has it performed since you installed it?

4x, I did my boat (3500# single axle) and 5th wheel (tandem 7,000# axles). The boat uses a surge coupler as the hydraulic component; the 5ver uses the elec over hyd actuator. The brakes are sized by the axle rating, common sizes are 3,500#; 5,000# and 6k or 7k and by brake size (diameter of brake drum or rotor). My 5ver used a 16" wheel, 13" rotor on the 7k axles. Try Eastern Marine (Trailer Parts Superstore)
They are very knowledgeable and have a video on a disc brake installation. Also, Southwest wheel, although their prices are higher.
Cost for a 3.5k tandem axle trailer is about $1,000, plus the cost of brake line and flex hose, brackets and fluid. What type and size of trailer do you have?

4x, the hydraulic component is the Dexter electric over hydraulic brake actuator. It take the brake signal from your electric brake controller (the blue wire). the actuator is a variable pressure hydraulic pump. It contains a fluid reservoir just like a brake master cylinder. As for the 'kit', you have to make it up yourself, but its easy to do. First, you need the Kodiak (or Dexter) disc brakes, then a Dexter (or other) elec over hyd brake actuator. The actuator must develop 1600 psi in order to actuate the discs. Next is the pre-flared tubing from your local auto supply. I'll correct my previous post again here; the actuator needs its own 30A supply (10 ga wire) and ground directly from the battery (+ and -) to the actuator, along with the blue wire from the controller. The blue wire is not 10ga like I said.
Don't be put off that there is not a complete kit, its easy to make your own. There are lots of install videos out there on youtube, its not that hard. You will need a brake contoller that works with electric over hydraulic, I use a Prodigy P2 controller.
Good luck!

I have tried E-Trailer with no luck so far. The person who answers the phone is only looking at a computer screen and can only do what it tells her. Therefore because I dont have the numbers off of my Bearings she cant do anything...(which I don't really beleive) but obviously I am not getting to a knowledgeable technician type on the phone.

I will keep trying.

Thanks to all for the links and advice and I will keep trying.

I dont anticipate doing this mod till this coming October. But I will supply photos and a blow by blow description here when I do it.

anyone know the approximate cost for the conversion?

cruzbill wrote:
4x, I did a disc brake install on my 5ver a few years ago. I used a Kodiak brake kit (http://www.easternmarine.com/KODIAK-DISC-Brakes-Brake-Parts/ and a Dexter actuator http://www.easternmarine.com/Electric-Hydraulic-Brake-Actuators/
Check around for best price.
Remove a wheel and hub, remove 5 bolts that hold the drum brake to your hub, install the mounting bracket to the hub, replace 5 bolts, grease and install new wheel bearings and hub (included in kit), reinstall wheel ; move on to the next wheel.

Best upgrade I've ever done. The swap is relatively easy, I did it in my front yard. The kit may come with a roll of brake tubing that you cut and flare, but here is a tip; Get your hydraulic brake line from your local auto supply, that way you won't have to make double flares in your brake tubing, they'll leak. The tubing comes in straight sections of varying lengths with fittings pre-installed. The wiring is easy, you need to check that you have a good #10 wire (blue) from your brake controller to your trailer plug. Check for youtube videos for install (Dexter, Kodiak)

Let us know how you made out.

Thanks for the info and the help.

You didnt mention an hydraulic resevoir? where did you mount that?

Also since you got this from a marine store I assume this kit was sized for most boat trailers. How was the kit Sized? By Axle weight?
Did your kit include everything you needed or did you have to buy additional parts and if so what were they? (other than the tubing you mentioned)
Thanks