Parts Needed to Convert Terry Travel Trailer from Electric Drum to EOH Disc Brakes

Question:

I have a 2006 Terry tag-a-long Travel trailer which has Quality brand 5200 pound axles with Dexter 12inch x 2inch electric drum brakes. Thru the hub grease fittings. 16inch wheels and tires. We pull it with a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel with a Tekonsha P3 brake controller. We are interested in switching from the electric drum brakes to electric over hydraulic disc brakes to get better and faster braking. Do you folks offer a kit that would allow such a switch? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

asked by: Wayne

Expert Reply:

A great starting point for your trailer brake conversion is the linked article that covers all of the considerations for converting a trailer from electric drum to electric-over-hydraulic (EOH) disc brakes. While electric brakes do respond faster than hydraulics, they do not match the stopping power of an OEH disc brake setup. EOH disc brakes will also require less maintenance than drums thanks to their fewer moving parts. The up-front cost to convert to discs is significant but you'll definitely find that the performance is far superior to drum brakes.

I have linked our main page for hub-and-rotor disc brake kits that are compatible with 16-inch wheels and rated for 5200-lb axles. You'll need a kit such as # K2HR526D for each axle. You will choose the disc brake kit based on the bearings used now on your current hubs. New hub/rotors must use the SAME INNER AND OUTER BEARINGS as your current hubs. This ensures the hub/rotors will fit on your spindles.

You'll need to plumb the trailer with hydraulic brake lines using a tandem axle kit like # 20TA-BLKIT. For an EOH actuator I suggest the Hydrastar # HBA16. You might prefer the kit # CAR-HBA16-2 since it also includes brakes lines and a breakaway kit, which is required. I linked a wiring diagram showing how the Hydrastar and breakaway should be wired. If you choose a different EOH unit that does not include a breakaway you can also select one of those separately, such as Tekonsha # 50-85-313.

Your Prodigy P3 # 90195 brake controller will work fine with the EOH setup since it has a setting for this type of operation. Just be sure to re-set the controller for EOH operation.