Forum Discussion

ford_truck_guy's avatar
May 27, 2014

operator error ! ! !

Well , I took my first long trip with my new Kodiak Disc brakes this weekend and they worked good.... MAYBE a little too good! I have 2 separate settings in my truck now for the trailer brakes and the pressure to be applied..
I had no idea and have always just kept my gain at 8-9.... well , apparently that is WAY too aggressive and about 130 miles into my trip ,I had smoke bellowing from the axles..my fear was either tire or bearing ,had no idea the brakes could be causing that!! ... Well I had them installed a week ago today , and now only have about 1/4 pad left :(
The good news is that I figured it out ( with help) and was able to allow them to cool down and carry on... my trip home was un eventful , and now I have ordered replacement pads so I can replace them next weekend... LIVE AND LEARN .!

19 Replies

  • taken wrote:
    Did you change the setting in your truck from electric brakes to electric over hydraulic? It's in the settings if you go into the MFD. Disc conversions are electric over hydraulic and if you run them as electric, you will have the trouble you describe.


    I did ,,, BUT I had the power setting set to MAX.. and the integrated brake controller set to 9... had no idea.. its like I was brain dead or something :h
  • Did you change the setting in your truck from electric brakes to electric over hydraulic? It's in the settings if you go into the MFD. Disc conversions are electric over hydraulic and if you run them as electric, you will have the trouble you describe.
  • Regardless of what your gain is set at there should not be any brakes being applied to the trialer unless there is on the TV. Am I missing something??? Faulty brake controller?
  • I plan on removing the rotors and doing a thorough inspection to each... I did put a call into Dexter and spoke to an engineer who told me that 500 degrees is normal operating temps for some rotors and that the bearings are more than capable of withstanding those temps....
    With that said , I have ordered 4 spare (that I can return)50 MM never-lube bearings to have on hand at the time of inspection..
  • I think I would put an indicator to the rotors to make sure they are not warped. Then clean and inspect the wheel bearings. 500° for an extended period is not good.

    Don
  • Francesca Knowles wrote:
    Bet your gas mileage was better once you backed the brakes off, too!


    :B MUCH BETTER !! ! !
  • My rotors were showing at 500 degrees with my inferred thermometer . .There was NO discoloration on the rotors , in my eyes that was a good sign
  • While your at it you better order new seals too. Or at least have a really good look at them. Same goes for the grease and bearings.

    In fact, if that system got that hot you really need to check it over really well.