Electric over hydraulic - anyone using them ?

n0arp wrote:


O'Reilly (just one example) stocks generic "BrakeBest" hoses that are universal fitment. The one closest to me in a small town in NW Indiana, shows that they have 71 different ones in stock for in-store pickup today. Go to the store and lay eyes on them, and you'll find what you need. I checked out the selection when buying spare parts to carry in my toolbox a while back. Plenty of valid options as I was able to assemble a kit from what they had on hand.

I found all new seals for one of my calipers at a NAPA in West Yellowstone, MT.

I completely agree with you on redundancy. If you lose the EoH controller/pump or a line or even a seal, you will lose your brakes. Fortunately those failures are rare, and the increased stopping power and control more or less justifies it for me. I experienced one failure in five years and 20-25K miles, which is probably one too many. Luckily, I noticed it during a routine brake test at slow speed after hooking up, and (I believe) it was due to dirt making its way into the crevice behind the pad due to extended use on dirt/unimproved roads and lands.

There are ways to mitigate most of those issues and perform roadside repairs (anything excluding complete controller/pump failure). Again, I would never consider going back to drum brakes on a 16+K trailer. I opted to carry a handful of spare parts to address any issue short of a complete pump or hub failure.

No Oriely around me, have a couple of NAPA stores but I could simply buy a new trailer for the prices they charge.. Last time I bought anything at a NAPA was a couple of incandescent taillight bulbs, yeah $5 later for a pack of 2, could have bought those at WM for $1.99 but it would have cost $3 in fuel to run to WM..

The box autoparts stores near to me all rely on their computer systems, they have zero ways to simply browse for say brake hose..

As far as drums goes, I also have a 10K GVW flatbed trailer which has drums, it has 5,200 lb axles, I have had loads in excess of 12K lbs on that trailer and have never had issues with not enough brakes or brake fade. Last summer I moved 2 cords of green Oak (nearly 8K lbs), that was eight 40" across "rounds" that were 20" tall plus my tractor with FEL and backhoe (4K lbs)Tractor FEL is rated 980 lbs lift and the FEL was barely able to lift those rounds. Trailer weighs empty 2700 lbs (14K+ lbs load and trailer combined!) and still only had my brake controller set to 5.5 out of 10 for gain and never felt like the trailer brakes were not working or effective. Have to take a couple of massive steep hills for some of the fire wood loads I haul on a regular basis.

So, yeah, I have experienced loads darn near 16K lbs on a trailer with drum brakes that are technically only good for 10.5K lbs..

Good quality wiring to the brakes also makes a difference, wouldn't want to try that with 14 ga wiring..

If one has drums and is looking for better braking, try running heavier wire first, much cheaper and will drastically improve braking performance.