How to: *Convert drum to disk trailer brakes

[Airslot]

This thread will document swapping out my drum brakes and actuator for new Kodiak disc brakes and a Tiedown 70E actuator with built in reversing solenoid. *The weather is forecast to be cold and I'm really busy at work, so this is going to take a few days. *I'll be adding pics and dialogue as I progress through the project. *Last night was the first step, receipt of the goods.



On the first side, I had already started disassembly as part of diagnosing my original problem. *I had the boat jacked up and the wheel tire removed already. *Any fasteners to be removed were “pre-soaked” in PB Blaster. *Step one started like this:



There aren’t many parts in disk brakes. *The hub / rotor are one piece, then there is the caliper and caliper mounting bracket. *That’s about it. *These brakes come with new bearings and the races are already pressed in. *The hammer and block of wood shown were used to press in the rear seals.



The entire drum brake assembly is removed by removing the 4 bolts that go through the brake mounting flange on the axle. *After the flange was cleaned up with a wire brush, the new caliper mounting bracket is bolted on.



The next step is to install the hub / rotor assembly and the outer bearing.



Now I installed the provided dust cover. *Kodiak supplies a nice piece that can be used with grease or oil bath.



Nearing the end of side one, the caliper is mounted with two bolts, which are the “caliper slides.” *I gave these a light coating of high temp grease.



The next two photos show the brake line modifications. *The drum brakes had hard lines running to them. *Because the calipers slide, they had to use flex hoses. *Thanks go to Gibbons Auto Parts in Pocomoke, MD. * When I went to the counter and told them what I was trying do, they got me setup with what I needed. *Try that at your big box store...





Side one is complete now.



Side two is much of a duplicate process. *I used “never-seize” on all hardware possible and grease most everywhere else.







Drum brakes have a lot of parts compared to the three components of the disks.



This pic shows a dust cover preloaded with grease and ready to be installed.



The next pic is of the hub / rotor installed and packed with grease. *When I pack my hubs there is no air void left. *I don’t use “bearing buddies.” *I feel that as long as my grease doesn’t get out, no water is getting in.



The TieDown Engineering Model 70 actuator is a nice piece. *Most agree that their brakes suck, but they make a nice coupler. *Note the safety pin right behind the ball. *When the pin is inserted the coupler can’t come off the ball, even if it comes unlatched up top. *This model also has s built in reverse solenoid.





And this project is complete. *It was a gray and rainy morning, but we got the job done. *I’m home from a 40 mile test ride in one piece, and I managed to fill the boat up with gas while I was out, so add another $75 to the project total.



Airslot, out

[macojoe]

Nice, Very Nice!!

[turbinedoctor]

Air I don't have one of those fancy avitars like MJ but I agree it is a job well done and documented. I dont have brakes but your post made it look like I could do it if I did. Nice Job. ;)

[Airslot]

Thank you gentlemen. :)

Really, anybody that owns one of these not new boats probably has ammased the technical ability to do this project. I left out a few things, but not much. I should have documented packing the bearings, but grease and camera were kept seperate. I also ran into a snag bleeding the brakes, but that was due to a "two piece bleed screw" that I missed. One piece was emmbedded in the other.

[reelapeelin]

GREAT documentation, Slot!!...good job ;) ...

The two-piece bleeder problem...was that a ''speed-bleeder'' you showed?...

Ya might wind up ''rethinkin'' the ''no grease out, no water in''...if you dunk 'em, water's GONNA get in there and some grease GONNA get past those seals goin' down the road over time...with no way to displace the water that DOES get in, it'll turn milky and less effective...I've used Bearing Buddies for years with good result...trick to those is don't ''over grease''...soon as piston moves slightly, STOP ...I use a flexible nozzle on the grease-gun so can see the movement unrestricted... JMHO ;) ...

Good job on that retrofit, Slot...you really gonna like 'em. ;D 8) ...THANKS for the pics!! 8) ...

[garagenc]

Great work Air, I'm gonna need to do mine again soon (this or next year) so I'm looking at doing something quick and with as few headaches as possible. Drum breaks are a pain and headaches when changing.

[Airslot]

Sorry REEL, no pics of the bleeders, guess I forgot a few things along the way. As for the hubs, I've seen more damage by the overzealous use of grease guns than by not greasing. That said, you do it the right way. I'll bet that 80% of people w/ bearing Buddies add grease every trip. Where does that grease go? My hubs never get dunked. I back the trailer in until the rear hub is nearing the water. After that, the boat rolls off the trailer and Mr. 912 Power Winch handles the loading chores.

Airslot

[reelapeelin]

Slot, you posted the SPEED BLEEDERS...I's wonderin' if those were the 2-piece bleeders you mentioned a problem with?...

...and you're RIGHT...if you're not dunkin' your hubs, regreasin' is not as big an issue ;) ...

[macojoe]

I use to use buddy's and they worked great!! But I love looking at all the fools that grease every time with more grease on the back side of there tires then they have in there berins!

My new trailer has super hubs or something like that? But any way what you do is pump grease Thur a fitting that goes Thur the spindle and pushes the old grease from the back to the front, just wipe it up and you good to go!

[reelapeelin]

Welp...no doubt there's some slung grease inside my wheels and yep, I ''touch 'em up" each trip (1.5 hrs on interstate) , but only as described above ... rather have wheels a little dirty inside than broke down on I-85 :P ...leavin' my "V" in the emergency lane and goin' off lookin' for bearing, etc ain't exackly, uh...reelapeelin', if ya know what I mean... ;) ...


My hubs get dunked on every load/ unload and boat power-loaded ;D ...