Trailer- Electric over Hydraulic Disc Brakes

ScottR

ScottR

It's never done.
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
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I looked at it for ours. What I learned was that when it comes time to service, you just pull the whole thing off and put on new parts. The brakes are supposed to be "better", but they're also more expensive, and it meant running a bunch of hydraulic lines and buying an electric to hydraulic converter. I just bought all new Dexter drums and loaded backing plates and swapped it all out. Only took a couple of hours. Only thing I screwed up was ordering the drums with 1/2" studs. Had to buy all new lug nuts.
 
I have one new I will sell.
 
I have hydraulic brakes on a fuel wagon they work well.
 
Do you mean electric over hydraulic? If by any chance you would be using a 2005-2010 super duty to pull the trailer, and have the built in electronic brake controller, you will need to add in cost of an aftermarket controller. For what ever reason the first couple generations of the built in controller Ford used are not compatible with electric over hydraulic brakes. The latest version has an option in the cluster to put the controller in electric over hydraulic mode, so if you have a later model truck, you're good.
 
Yeah- I meant Electric Over Hydraulic (EOH). I updated the thread title. I have a duramax- pre integrated controller. So, I already have a controller. I had heard of some issues with the early generation of integrated controllers.
I got the disc brakes and brake lines installed this weekend. Will install the actuator later.

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ScottR said:
Yeah- I meant Electric Over Hydraulic (EOH). I updated the thread title. I have a duramax- pre integrated controller. So, I already have a controller. I had heard of some issues with the early generation of integrated controllers.
I got the disc brakes and brake lines installed this weekend. Will install the actuator later.

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Have you towed it yet? How's it stop?
 
ScottR said:
Yeah- I meant Electric Over Hydraulic (EOH). I updated the thread title. I have a duramax- pre integrated controller. So, I already have a controller. I had heard of some issues with the early generation of integrated controllers.
I got the disc brakes and brake lines installed this weekend. Will install the actuator later.

View attachment 205248
Click to expand...
Scott, what's your take on those torsion spring axles? I always meant to check on it, if I bought a new trailer. Only, I picked up another used one.
 
rodney eppes said:
Scott, what's your take on those torsion spring axles? I always meant to check on it, if I bought a new trailer. Only, I picked up another used one.
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Torsion springs are the bomb. But expensive, and the trailer has to be dead level. They don't equalize like leaf spring tandems, so if you're nose high, you're overloading the rear axle.
 
Sadly, I have not worked on the camper since I posted last. I had a honey-do list a mile long before our second child was born. Our new son was born on Feb, 14. So, been busy with him. I plan to get out to the camper next weekend. I will definitely get the pump mounted/plumbed. I am not sure if I will have enough time to wire it up. If I do, then I will definitely take it for a test run.

Torsion axles on the camper ride great. However, I don't know any better on a trailer as heavy as this. I have leafs on my 18' car hauler trailer.
 
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Dirt Mcgert said:
my dad put electric over hydro Kodiak brakes on his triple axle boat trailer . Has brakes on the front two axles , made a huge improvement over the surge brakes , it can be "tuned" , super easy to bleed , stops great .but........ it aint cheap . I think between 6 tires and brakes he spent close to $3000 to get that trailer up to snuff

Here is the link to his "build thread"

Converting to Electric over Hydraulic brakes, How I did it. - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum
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Yeah, I have just under $1500 with this setup. That is a good write-up that your dad did. I plan to work on it some more tomorrow. How far I get depends on how much time the event planner gives me. :)
 
I got the brake actuator pump (Tuson Actulink) installed this weekend. I put it up on a bracket in the front compartment that was already holding the pump from the front lift legs. Ran the brake line to the splitter back at the axles. I got all the wires connected/soldered. I pulled the breakaway switch and the pump came to life! That was a great sound. I bled the system. Tested the breakaway switch several times and tested with the brake controller in the truck. Everything seems to be working great. I ran out of time to take it for a test run. I will do that this coming weekend. I will bleed it again before and after the test run.

20160312_Hydraulic Pump.jpg
 
I was finally able to take the toy hauler on a test run with the new brake setup. The difference is night and day. I am very happy with the braking power. This wasn't the true test since I didn't have the jeep in the toy hauler. However, the braking force that it has now is way better than before.

Prior- I could manually apply the trailer brakes 100% and the electric drums were just a suggestion to slow down. They were not suitable at all.
Now- at around 70% the trailer hydraulic disc brakes would lock up easily. I had to set the controller around 45% for even braking to match the truck. The end of April (CNC Spring Fling at Uwharrie) will likely be the first time I try the new setup with the jeep onboard.
 
I hauled the camper with the jeep, fresh water tank full and all other supplies onboard this past weekend. The brakes on the trailer are awesome. I ran the controller at around 65%. I couldn't ask for anything more. I am not worried about the toy hauler's braking capability anymore. So glad I made the change.
 
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