I would imagine the subject has been covered many times but in ‘Search’ i cannot find a thread. Do disc brakes on trailers cost a lot more to run in comparison to drums and are they easier to maintain? i would imagine the efficiency is much better on discs but would you seek out one over the other when buying secondhand trailers, such as low loader, 70cube bulker, flats?
Discs are good when they are working right, but they dont like been stood for any lenght of time as the calipers seize, early model discs / calipers wasnt a great hit due to failures, pads a lot quicker to change " if not seized! than shoes… drum seem to work ok must do they have been round for donkeys now
puntabrava:
I would imagine the subject has been covered many times but in ‘Search’ i cannot find a thread. Do disc brakes on trailers cost a lot more to run in comparison to drums and are they easier to maintain? i would imagine the efficiency is much better on discs but would you seek out one over the other when buying secondhand trailers, such as low loader, 70cube bulker, flats?
I bought a 2002 tipper on SAF discs about 18mo ago and it has cost me an absolute fortune. So far out of the 6 wheels it has had 5 discs and 3 calipers, one of which also cost me 2 days work and an expensive callout when it jammed solid onto the disc and could only be removed in the end with a 9" grinder (and ended up costing me a disc as well).
On the plus side changing the pads is a doddle, takes no time at all.
I’m told that newer ones are better - one of my customers buys tippers new with Merc discs on and other than changing pads has never had to touch any of them at all up to the point he sells them on at 3 years old.
Paul
early disc brakes were prone for the callipers seizing up causing problems, that said, they are much better now
as for maintenance, the pads are easier to replace than brake shoes, pads are done in the same way as a car, but on a bigger scale, whereas brake shoes, you have to wind the brakes off and remove the drums
costs, brake shoes are cheaper to replace than pads, drums are cheaper than callipers
repton:
puntabrava:
I would imagine the subject has been covered many times but in ‘Search’ i cannot find a thread. Do disc brakes on trailers cost a lot more to run in comparison to drums and are they easier to maintain? i would imagine the efficiency is much better on discs but would you seek out one over the other when buying secondhand trailers, such as low loader, 70cube bulker, flats?I bought a 2002 tipper on SAF discs about 18mo ago and it has cost me an absolute fortune. So far out of the 6 wheels it has had 5 discs and 3 calipers, one of which also cost me 2 days work and an expensive callout when it jammed solid onto the disc and could only be removed in the end with a 9" grinder (and ended up costing me a disc as well).
On the plus side changing the pads is a doddle, takes no time at all.
I’m told that newer ones are better - one of my customers buys tippers new with Merc discs on and other than changing pads has never had to touch any of them at all up to the point he sells them on at 3 years old.
Paul
Thanks for that. Yes you see trailers advertised with Merc axles, i was wondering why they were mentioning them. There is a good chance that anything i buy may be stood for weeks at a time so i need to be careful with what axels/brakes it has then.
I’ve been told by people who have operated both to get one on drums, everybody seems to have more trouble with discs.
as an aside, in 2007, i specced out a brand new trailer from Dennison, the salesman advised having it on drums, not disc as the disc brakes were still very troublesome even in 2007
What about stopping? if you were needing to stop sharpish when fully loaded with your tractor unit and a trailer that had been coupled up for you and you were not allowed to look around before, could you easily tell whether it is a disc or drum trailer just by the stopping power?
Harry Monk:
I’ve been told by people who have operated both to get one on drums, everybody seems to have more trouble with discs.
This is what i was wondering because looking at adverts dealers are advertising trailers ‘with drum brakes’ and as far as i have learnt in life, dealers never highlight a defect 
.
puntabrava:
Harry Monk:
I’ve been told by people who have operated both to get one on drums, everybody seems to have more trouble with discs.This is what i was wondering because looking at adverts dealers are advertising trailers ‘with drum brakes’ and as far as i have learnt in life, dealers never highlight a defect
Yes, that’s right, drum brakes are a selling point. You may have noticed the same with 06/56 reg tractor units having it flagged up if they have analogue tachographs, they are more desirable.
Harry Monk:
puntabrava:
Harry Monk:
I’ve been told by people who have operated both to get one on drums, everybody seems to have more trouble with discs.This is what i was wondering because looking at adverts dealers are advertising trailers ‘with drum brakes’ and as far as i have learnt in life, dealers never highlight a defect
You may have noticed the same with tractor 06/56 reg units having it flagged up if they have analogue tachographs, they are more desirable.
Yes,but call me thick as i fail to understand why as far as i know ‘she who must be obeyed’ can take the old tachos and analyse them easy enough for speeds, breaks ect and can easily work out mileages for a finish the day before and when someone left home at 4am got to a drop then threw the tacho out and started their day from the drop point, but as i say, please call me thick or pm me.
Quite simple, you can move an analogue tacho fitted truck over a short distance without a card in, e.g. to tip or load “off the card” without it being easily detectable, but as soon as you move a truck with a digital tachograph without a card in, the device will record this as an infringement and it will be there in the memory for ever and a day.
Harry Monk:
Quite simple, you can move an analogue tacho fitted truck over a short distance without a card in, e.g. to tip or load “off the card” without it being easily detectable, but as soon as you move a truck with a digital tachograph without a card in, the device will record this as an infringement and it will be there in the memory for ever and a day.
Ahh, the lorrys that come to me for straw will not move on break and they are on analogue tachos. Is that the only advantage?
On break you can’t move without it showing up on an analogue tachograph but once you have removed the card at the end of the day, you could remove the fuse which protects the tachograph and move the truck around to load while you should be on your daily rest.
your thick
harry,stopping giving all the secrets away 
Drums for me every time, I managed to find a 2009 bathtub Fruehaf on drums, so much cheaper than discs,the braking force isnt as good, but if you drive properly, you should’nt notice the difference!! 
my skelly is on discs and i,ve had no bother, but i,ve been running over the A171 between scarborough and middlesbrough at 44ton all week so i,ll probaly need new pads by saturday
I have had equal success with both types, the only disc problems I have ever had are with an FH12 and a cracked rotor, drums are simple but take longer to do, discs are simple and quick
Drums for me every time, a lot of the big firms went back to drums after the grief and cost of disc brake problems.
chaversdad:
i,ve been running over the A171 between scarborough and middlesbrough at 44ton all week
Raflatac?
Paul