Parts Needed to Upgrade to Electric Over Hydraulic Disc Brakes on 19 Foot Trail Lite Travel Trailer

Question:

I plan to upgrade to disc brakes on my tandem axle 19foot Trail Lite travel trailer. The Dexter axle manual says the axles are 2800 lb axles dry weight rated at 3098 lbs. Gross vehicle weight for the trailer is 6152 lbs. I think I am reading the specs correctly and they come from two sources, the manufacturers website and the information inside the trailer. The brakes on the trailer now are 10inch x 2 1/4. The hubs are 10inch with 14 inch wheels and bolt pattern 5 over 4 1/2. The Dexter manual says the bearing numbers are Inner L68111/ L68149 and the Outer are L44610/ L44649. The comprable Dexter numbers are Inner K71-390-00 and Outer K71-306-00. My question is can I purchase the Kodiak K2R35D disc brake kit with a 3500 lb axle rating to make my conversion on this trailer? I appreciate your help on this question. .

asked by: Bill W

Expert Reply:

To convert the electric brakes currently on your travel trailer to an electric over hydraulic disc brake system, you'll want to use a hub/rotor kit like part # K2HR35D. The kit you referenced, part # K2R35D is a slip on rotor, and would be used only if your current hubs were idler hubs, so it won't work for your application.

The # K2HR35D kit includes hub/rotors that use a # L68149 inner and an # L44649 outer bearing, and the races are included. The kit is compatible with 13-16 inch wheels that have a 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern. You'll also want to use a digital caliper like # PTW80157 to ensure that the grease seal journal surface on your spindle is right at 1.71 inches in diameter. The # RG06-050 grease seals are sold separately in a quantity of 2.

The kit includes 2 hub rotors, 2 brake calipers complete with brake pads and two caliper mounting brackets with bolts for installing the calipers to the mounting brackets.

You'll also need an electric over hydraulic brake actuator which accepts the electric inputs from the brake controller and actuates a pump to operate the hydraulic disc brakes. We've found that the Hydrastar # CAR-HBA16-2, which includes brake lines for a tandem axle trailer and a break away switch and battery to be a good performer at a good price. You'll also need a brake controller that's compatible with electric over hydraulic braking systems, like the Tekonsha Prodigy P2, part # 90885.

I'll link you to an FAQ article about adding electric over hydraulic brakes to a trailer, I hope you'll find it helpful.