As you all may or may not know, I upgraded to Disc brakes 3 fifth wheels ago and will not look back...
The upgrade can be expensive at first, but to me it was priceless..
Coming home from he beach Monday on I95 south of Philly, I was in the right lane, minding my own business and there was a car 2 in front of me that was obviously lost..
Once we got to the I95/476 split the lost car split the exit and STOPPED.. the car in front of me made a panic stop not knowing what the one in front was doing and not aware he had people behind him, and I had nowhere to go.
I stood on the brakes, closed my eyes and puckered for impact..
YUP, we stopped with a few inches to spare.... I will never go with out them.... NEVER..
There is nothing like the feeling of the trailer pulling you back when braking.....
The upgrade can be expensive at first, but to me it was priceless..
Coming home from he beach Monday on I95 south of Philly, I was in the right lane, minding my own business and there was a car 2 in front of me that was obviously lost..
Once we got to the I95/476 split the lost car split the exit and STOPPED.. the car in front of me made a panic stop not knowing what the one in front was doing and not aware he had people behind him, and I had nowhere to go.
I stood on the brakes, closed my eyes and puckered for impact..
YUP, we stopped with a few inches to spare.... I will never go with out them.... NEVER..
There is nothing like the feeling of the trailer pulling you back when braking.....
Learjet ,
Is that factory install? or aftermarket? Those quad piston calibers look great !
Is that factory install? or aftermarket? Those quad piston calibers look great !
they are actually 4 piston calipers, the line connects at the inner top, crosses over and then there is another crossover line at the bottom for the inner calipers with another two pistons.
They are much smoother and stronger than my single piston calipers on the old trailer. Went from 6.5 on the brakes to 4.0
Just looking at my own picture and thinking about it...This set up eliminates the pins the calipers usually ride on and the stick problem they can have.
here is another picture...
They are much smoother and stronger than my single piston calipers on the old trailer. Went from 6.5 on the brakes to 4.0
Just looking at my own picture and thinking about it...This set up eliminates the pins the calipers usually ride on and the stick problem they can have.
here is another picture...
Learjet wrote:
I agree disc brakes only...I converted my old trailer and ordered the new trailer with disc brakes...they are great!
Looks like a nice setup. I bet the brakes work great with the twin piston calipers.
I agree disc brakes only...I converted my old trailer and ordered the new trailer with disc brakes...they are great!
BurbMan wrote:bucky wrote:
I agree that they are better. Maybe you were following too close to begin with?
Having lived on Long Island for many years and towed a 34' TT all around the area, I can tell you that it's impossible not to...if you leave the required space behind the vehicle in front of you, somebody will jump into it. More than likely will proceed to hit the brakes as well. Spend any amount of time on the highways in the NE corridor and it's baffling the stuff that people do.
I've only had 1 incident like that on I-95 just north of Stamford, CT and also was fortunate to stop. Thankfully it wasn't raining that day.
TT was 8500 lbs and I always kept the Prodigy dialed up so that the TT brakes led the truck brakes. For me, changing them out to self-adjusting drum brakes was a big win. It's a sad commentary on the RV industry when you're excited about upgrading the braking technology on your 2008 RV to 1960 standards...
You're absolutely right, though...big, heavy 5ers should come from the factory with disc brakes.
You are correct about the NE corridor, although the PA drivers are a smidgen better than NJ who are a smidgen better than the NY drivers...
Was I too close, I guess that would be subjective, in my eyes, no.. I always keep MY safety BUBBLE around me, but like Burbman stated, it is difficult in this part of the country.. Pulling a 17k fifth wheel primarily around the NE and you get you aware of ALL possible scenarios... Not to mention my wife didn't tell me I was too close, so I guess I was ok :B
JTrac - Jim, I am surprised the the Pinnacle line does not offer the disc option?? I had Performance Trailer Braking do the install back on my first Redwood, back when Ron was the owner of the company, they were and still are a good company.
YUP..
My wife always comments that she can't see the difference ( does not toe it ) and no idea why we spent that money... After Monday, she told me that she agrees and we would have been in trouble without them...And she still has no idea how we stopped
My wife always comments that she can't see the difference ( does not toe it ) and no idea why we spent that money... After Monday, she told me that she agrees and we would have been in trouble without them...And she still has no idea how we stopped
