Titan Brake Kit

[piper guy]

The difference in Disc brakes is nothing short of amazing. The re was a thread on another RV forum the other night about whether to add disc brakes and some guy with a 2003 Hichhiker kept saying that a properly adjusted drum setup was every bit as good.
About 4 of us politely :-; told him he was full of dog doo. He didn't take it well and kept insisting he was correct and that there are "many, many problems" with disc brakes. LOL. after that we just said ok, I will just always make sure I'm not in front of you ......

[Shane Wood]

Disc's were the best addition I have done to my rig

[Holmgirl79]

I can tell you 1 thing. I do not have to worry about grease inside my drums any more. I just packed my bearings by hand before going to the rally. I already had 1 drum covered with grease on the inside. I packed them by hand & DID NOT use the easy grease fitting. After driving 20 miles with the new disc brakes. The stopping power is easily 50% better than the drum brakes. The one thing you get with 7,000 lb axles is 7,000 lb brakes. There is not enough friction material in 2" brake shoes to stop a 16,000 lb coach in a timely manor.

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by Holmgirl79

There is not enough friction material in 2" brake shoes to stop a 16,000 lb coach in a timely manor.

I don't know if I would go that far, as I've had great results with drum brakes as well on prior coaches that were as heavy. However I do like the additional stopping power these disks offer, and I'm sure they tolerate the heat better on those mountain passes.

[Holmgirl79]

Brad,
I didn't say that 2" shoes would not stop the coach. I said they are not sufficient to stop it in a timely manor. I have had 10 different coaches in the past, all with 2" drum brakes. I Never had a problem with stopping those, but they did not weight 16,000 lbs.

[atom ant]

As a subjective observation, I'll accept that

But from an engineering perspective, I don't think we can say the standard brakes are under-braked or overloaded without seeing the standards.

[Ford truck guy]

My last SOB fiver had the IS installed , while there I opted for the 12-1/4"X 3-3/8" electric brakes..I could not afford the disc conversion so this was the best option at the time.
That trailer had a 16K GVW and weighted in at 15,500 loaded for vacation...even that brake set up was better than the stock 2"..
I agree that the 2" electric has their place in the RV market , just not on anything as heavy as our RW's..

[Titan Guy]

At the Dallas show I was told about a new law, think it is Texas where DOT will be testing trailer brakes. Something like you must stop the combined unit in 40 feet at 25 mph. I have not investigated this and not sure the feet/speed are correct but there is a new law.
This inspection is required to get new tags for the trailer.

Stopping is more a relationship between the GCWR of the tow vehicle and the actual trailer weight. A TV with a GCWR of 10,000 lbs pulling a 10,000 lb. trailer will stop much differently when you hook a class 8 to that 10,000 lbs.
Regardless, measuring trailer brakes only, disc will stop 50% faster than electric brakes operating properly.

[Holmgirl79]

Ron,
Good info. I am going to try an explain why I started this thread.


I started this thread to inform other coach owners of my experience. I wanted other owners to know what I was experiencing & what I did to correct the problem I was having. I did not start the thread to challenge the engineering process.


Do I blame Redwood or their engineers? NO. My wife an I are completely satisfied with our coach. After attending the rally this year, WOW what an experience. When Andy spoke to the group. You could feel the passion. my wife an I are completely confident we made the right decision in our purchase. Besides, If we didn't have our Redwood. We couldn't attend the rally next year.


Engineering wise. Are my axles & wheel weights within specs? Yes. I have 2 wheels within 200 lbs of being over loaded, but within spec. As an engineer is this acceptable? Yes. My question. What is the desired stopping distance if all weights are within spec? My answer. I don't care. My rig did not stop to my satisfaction.


As I saw it I had 4 options:


#1 Continue to use the unit as is.
#2 Contact Redwood and complain.
#3 Trade and get a different coach.
#4 Do something about it.


I chose to do something about it. I spent the money & installed the Titan disc brake system. My experience?


The quality of products sent from Titan. Awesome.
The support from Titan & Ron (Titan Guy). Awesome.
The install? Went flawless. I spent a lot of extra time to make sure I was able to document my process for future installers.
Would I do it again? You bet.


So I guess in closing. Engineering wise, the weight numbers do work out. Did the numbers work for me an the safety of my wife an 2 grand sons NO.


For anyone that has the same braking sensations that I did. Feel free to contact me & I will give the best advise as possible. I strongly recommend the Titan Brake system.

[atom ant]

Good explanation

Just saying - I love my disk brakes but didn't want people to get the impression they had to have them to be safe or that Redwood was putting out an unsafe product if you didn't spend the bucks for the disk brakes - Titan or otherwise.

[Holmgirl79]

Originally Posted by atom ant

As a subjective observation, I'll accept that

But from an engineering perspective, I don't think we can say the standard brakes are under-braked or overloaded without seeing the standards.

I'm confused by your 2 posts?

[atom ant]

Not a big deal -

When you said this

"The one thing you get with 7,000 lb axles is 7,000 lb brakes. There is not enough friction material in 2" brake shoes to stop a 16,000 lb coach in a timely manor."

it is opinion or impression, not fact. There is no reason for a new buyer to assume the standard electric brakes are unsafe based on your statement. Probably 90% of the Redwood's out there weigh in over 16,000 lbs and they are running 7K axles and electric drum brakes. That's all I was trying to say.

[mhs4771]

Lets put it this way: Once you have Disc Brakes you'll never go back to Drums.
And there was a reason the Auto Industry switched to Disc years ago.

[Holmgirl79]

Michelle & Ann,
I can not wait to get out on the road & have a few miles put on the disc brakes. I want to monitor rotor, hub & tire temperatures to see if there is any difference from the drum brakes. I'm still adjusting the trailer gain from my tow rig. On my short 20 mile run I found 5 on the gain worked best. At what level do you have yours set on your duramax?

[mhs4771]

We're generally set between 7 & 8, but we run very heavy. We were over 17K on our RL, haven't run this MB across the scales, but I estimate with its heavy dry weight from the Factory and what we've loaded in that we're close to 18K.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by Holmgirl79

Michelle & Ann,
I can not wait to get out on the road & have a few miles put on the disc brakes. I want to monitor rotor, hub & tire temperatures to see if there is any difference from the drum brakes. I'm still adjusting the trailer gain from my tow rig. On my short 20 mile run I found 5 on the gain worked best. At what level do you have yours set on your duramax?

According to my infra therm .... My rotors were running at 117 on my last trip out... If I was hard braking and it was HOT out , I was up to 150.. To me , the key was that all 4 were within 4/5 degrees of each other... And within a few of the tow vehicle ...

[Holmgirl79]

Thanks for the temp info. Weekend of the 10th taking a 150 mile 1 way trip with the grand boys. I'll let you know what my temperatures are. On my quick 20 mile trip all were 124@ except R/F was 127@. I'm sure after some time at highway speed the temperatures will come down.

[Holmgirl79]

1st road trip with the disc brake upgrade. WOW! what a difference. I set the IBC gain down to 5 from previous 9 with stock drum brakes. The trailer actually stops. 85 degrees out yesterday. Rotor temps after 1 1/2 hour pull 115 degrees. Now that the trailer stops, I can feel the rotors on my truck are warped. Always something. I would recommend this upgrade if you currently have drum brakes. If your getting ready to order a new Redwood. Get the 8,000 lb axles & disc brakes from the factory.


I have my notes & pictures from my install on my cell phone. I'm Not sure how soon I can get everything posted. I'm on a limited down load service from my internet carrier. If anyone is getting ready for an install PM me & I'll get you my phone number.


I did my install a little different than the other posts & pictures I've seen. I mounted my hydraulic controller in the right side of the front storage area. I ran all the steel brake lines above the under belly. The only lines exposed are the 4 rubber hoses going to the calipers.

[PsychoBob65]

I would like to install the Titan disc brake kit along with the MorRyde suspension kit onto our 2015 39MB.
Were can I locate the kits for my unit? What info do I need to make sure I get the right parts?

[Titan Guy]

I have all the parts for a Redwood install.
You can call me at 405-626-7009