Disc brakes vs standard

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by Jeff&Karen39MB

Hi All,
Just got home from work, saw some of your comments today on my phone, and thank all of you so much for your knowledgeable feedback. I have a call into our dealer in Ashland Va to get the upgrade done.
Next question, looking to get a 2015 Ford F350 crew cab,short bed diesel, any suggestions as to options such as four wheel drive, dual wheels, or anything else we may not be thinking of, not planning to go off road, just to see America, but have concerns as we want to get it right.
We have never owned an RV in our life, though we have camped with friends a couple of times in a pop up. We love to travel and have no doubt this is right for us. Wow that was a lot to say.

I would strongly recommend that since you are looking for a new truck that you get one with dual rear wheels. These Redwoods are heavy. We load our 2012 36RL very lightly and even so, we are overloading our Dodge RAM, CC, longbed, SRW by 400 lbs.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Jeff&Karen39MB

Can anyone share with me the difference between Disc & Standard brakes on Rv?
Just purchased the 39MB and did not get disc brakes, we plan on full timing, RV ordered, so wondering if I need to upgrade.

All I can say is Safety Safety Safety!!!!!! I have been in a couple of situations that if I didn't have mine I am not sure of the outcome. Also please consider a DRW truck, check the posts on this forum and you will see the compelling posts as to why


Dan

[Titan Guy]

Electric/Hydraulic Disc Brakes will stop you up to 50% faster than standard electric brakes.

Electric drums, not known as the best brake, just the cheapest. The National Highway Safety Administration wouldn’t allow it on cars. Cars and truck have had hydraulic disc brakes for years.

The hydraulic disc brakes put out 4084 lbs of brake force on two axles. The electric drum brakes put out 2126 lbs of brake force from both axles.

In stopping distance from 60 mph, 595 ft with Kodiak hydraulic disc verses 1457 ft with electric drum just using trailer brakes alone.

Trans-West Trailer Testing, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Co. 2010.

[Ken&Cyndie]

Anyone know who makes the disc brakes for Lippert/Redwood? Went to Md to pick up our new 38RL on Monday, PDI went fairly well, time to leave & brakes were not working. Dealer worked on them for 2 hours, bleeding etc. - seemed OK. Went to leave, got 2.9 miles down the road, slow down for off ramp, look in the mirrors to see a huge cloud of smoke. Pulled over, called dealer who responded immediately & took trailer back to their lot. They checked it out yesterday AM & found a caliper had failed and are ordering all new brake parts. Meanwhile, we came back to Pittsburgh & the RW is still in MD. Maybe next week! We did have disc brakes on our previous Montana installed by Mor-Ryde and they were fantastic - no problems for thousands of miles.

[piper guy]

Dumb question as I'm not familiar with the Dodge. I'm presuming the onboard controller on the truck was set to electric / hydraulic.
On the Fords, the setting is not in an intuitive place to look in the truck settings for the computer and the default is electric. It will work, sort of, in the electric setting but does some weird things occasionally.

Not sure who makes the brakes for Lippert. Sorry I can't help with that end.

Leo's is a good dealer, they'll figure it out.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by Ken&Cyndie

Anyone know who makes the disc brakes for Lippert/Redwood? Went to Md to pick up our new 38RL on Monday, PDI went fairly well, time to leave & brakes were not working. Dealer worked on them for 2 hours, bleeding etc. - seemed OK. Went to leave, got 2.9 miles down the road, slow down for off ramp, look in the mirrors to see a huge cloud of smoke. Pulled over, called dealer who responded immediately & took trailer back to their lot. They checked it out yesterday AM & found a caliper had failed and are ordering all new brake parts. Meanwhile, we came back to Pittsburgh & the RW is still in MD. Maybe next week! We did have disc brakes on our previous Montana installed by Mor-Ryde and they were fantastic - no problems for thousands of miles.

I had the disk brake option installed by Redwood on our 2012 36RL and they are Kodiak disk brakes. They are the same that Morryde sell and install. We have not had any issues with our brakes in 14000 miles of towing over the past 3 years.

[Rick and Mindy]

I will definitely be upgrading to disc brakes due to the safety factor. It definitely will be worth the price and peace of mind. That being said, knowing that I have the old fashioned electric drum trailer brakes, I am super cautious when it comes to my speed and distance behind the vehicles in front of me. I know I can't stop as quickly as I would like and the people around you have no clue so defensive driving skills must take over for everyones benefit. It only takes 1 close call to realize that you better be driving differently than normal driving.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by Jeff&Karen39MB

Hi All,
Just got home from work, saw some of your comments today on my phone, and thank all of you so much for your knowledgeable feedback. I have a call into our dealer in Ashland Va to get the upgrade done.
Next question, looking to get a 2015 Ford F350 crew cab,short bed diesel, any suggestions as to options such as four wheel drive, dual wheels, or anything else we may not be thinking of, not planning to go off road, just to see America, but have concerns as we want to get it right.
We have never owned an RV in our life, though we have camped with friends a couple of times in a pop up. We love to travel and have no doubt this is right for us. Wow that was a lot to say.

We currently have a F350 SRW, Long Box, 4x2 and with a 36FL and are loaded almost to the maximum for the truck, with no water and packing lightly.

At a minimum I would suggest a F350, long box, DRW. The heavy tow package option also give you the F450 wider front axle and rear gearing. The wider axle reduces the turning radius a fair bit.

We will be upgrading the truck next year to either a F450 or F350 DRW c/w heavy tow package.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Titan Guy

Electric/Hydraulic Disc Brakes will stop you up to 50% faster than standard electric brakes.

Electric drums, not known as the best brake, just the cheapest. The National Highway Safety Administration wouldn’t allow it on cars. Cars and truck have had hydraulic disc brakes for years.

The hydraulic disc brakes put out 4084 lbs of brake force on two axles. The electric drum brakes put out 2126 lbs of brake force from both axles.

In stopping distance from 60 mph, 595 ft with Kodiak hydraulic disc verses 1457 ft with electric drum just using trailer brakes alone.

Trans-West Trailer Testing, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Co. 2010.

So that's what they do at the dragstrip in the off season! Wondered what all the lights were

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by Oriana

We currently have a F350 SRW, Long Box, 4x2 and with a 36FL and are loaded almost to the maximum for the truck, with no water and packing lightly.

At a minimum I would suggest a F350, long box, DRW. The heavy tow package option also give you the F450 wider front axle and rear gearing. The wider axle reduces the turning radius a fair bit.

We will be upgrading the truck next year to either a F450 or F350 DRW c/w heavy tow package.

There are also a couple different 3500 duallys that would do a very good job.

[Jim & Mary]

You can see on my post I bought the 2015 Ford long bed dually. Short bed I don't believe is available with dual wheels. I drove 1500 miles to Blair, NE to buy mine. Most pleasant and shortest vehicle buying experience of my life. I echo Michelle and Ann's advice about the dually. I towed my 36RL with both Ford SRW and DRW and can tell you dually all the way.

[johnboytoo]

Ram has a short bed dually.... but I'm not in a ram

[lwg]

Originally Posted by Titan Guy

The hydraulic disc brakes put out 4084 lbs of brake force on two axles. The electric drum brakes put out 2126 lbs of brake force from both axles.

In stopping distance from 60 mph, 595 ft with Kodiak hydraulic disc verses 1457 ft with electric drum just using trailer brakes alone.

Trans-West Trailer Testing, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Co. 2010.

Titan Guy,
I hope they use this information for marketing. It's very compelling! Assuming the only change was the brakes (electric to Disc) this is something that every RV salesman should know before recommending against Disc Brakes when they are an option.

Thanks for sharing!

[Rick and Mindy]

There are only 2 reasons I can think of as to why a salesman would try to sway you away from disc brakes:

1. He wants you to buy what is on the lot and most dealers do not order disc brakes.

2. He has no clue as to what it's like to pull 16,000 lbs down the road!

[DLRAKOWITZ]

We were told the same thing when first bought ours. Even the tech told us to stay away from disc brakes for redwood as their were to many problems with them and not worth the extra price to have it

[Titan Guy]

This is pretty standard stuff that applies to all electric/hydraulic disc brakes. When you are talking Integral hub/rotors, calipers and pads, there are no performance differences between Dexter, Kodiak, Titan or NAPA.

The major differences are in the electric/hydraulic actuators and how brake lines are run. example: Titan Brakerite uses a 5 pump system vs. Carlisle & Dexter's 3 pump system. Titan generates 75 cu. in per minute vs Carlisle & Dexter 40 Cu in per minute resulting in Titan's activation time of .3 sec vs 1.0 to 1.1 sec on Carlisle and Dexter.

What I am saying is the brand of brakes is not important. But there is a huge difference in how you fire the system.

Additional improved response time can be achieved by moving the actuator closer to the brakes. On mine, I placed the actuator under the trailer on the cross frame by the door. By reducing the hydraulic line distance I improved response time.

[Enroute]

Originally Posted by atom ant

What was his reason for talking you out of it?

I believe it was a lack of experience (both mine and theirs) with coaches this heavy. I had 3 Montana's prior to my Redwood and the heaviest Montana I had was grossed just under 14,000 lbs. The electric drums did the job just fine and I never had an issue. As many have already stated, the Redwood's are heavy --- my 36RL is pushing just over 16,400 lbs gross. My 2012 Ram dually did not really have an issue stopping the Redwood, but I have now noticed with my 2014 Ram SRW, that it does not feel like it has the same stopping power. I am confident that the dics brakes would have prevented that feeling.

I realize that I could update the brakes on my coach to disc, but I am in the midst of deciding if I want to stay with the 5th wheel or make the leap into a Class A diesel pusher. Love my Redwood, but with flying all over the world for work 40+ weeks a year, having the dually created too many issues for me in parking at airport parking decks. I guess it is a good thing I have options and time to decide.

[atom ant]

I hear you - something to be envied about a pusher pullin a Wrangler maybe someday for us, but I sure like the comfort this Redwood offers for us now - sans the pain parking the dually.

However - I must say this new F350 dually is a pleasure to drive compared to my older ones.

[spindrift]

I consider parking in the hinterlands of a lot a bonus. It gives me an excuse for some exercise that normally I wouldn't get.

[atom ant]

here in the big city, that can mean the next county! Pretty bad when you have to get in line with the other small cars driving around looking for someone coming out of the store so they can follow them and grab their space, and the one you followed leaves a half space for you with his Fiat!