Air disc brakes

[barf]

Lots of our trailers have them. If I owned my own trailer I think I'd carry a spare brake pot with me. I just had one replaced this trip, Friday March 30. Total bill was $655.06 at the TA in Knoxville. No shi#t! $341.99 for disc chamber, $43.99 to drive to other side of town to get the part, $100.99 labor, $30 shop supply, $84 road service call, $54.09 tax.

It's a company trailer so I'm so glad it's their bill.

[Nilao]

And TA loves to mark that part up a good margin on top of charging you a fee to go get it.

[Dtruck]

There is no way to warp rotors on new bendix air disc brakes by over torquing. Rotor is separate from hub. 2 piece. And it's not air over hydraulic . And DOT always smiles when he pulls me over. Easy brakes to change. And did I say DOT loves seeing them. Oh you get a level one sticker!

[Dtruck]

P.S. Best feeling brakes I ever had. Feels like your driving a car.

[Chamberpains]

I looked at the cost of the Caliper because I'm sure they are as prone to malfunctions like a car Caliper with the tappets and glider pins seizing. $1300 a piece, No thank you and a wheel seal every time the rotor gets worn or gets surface groves in them or warps do to violent heat changes. Seems to me that alone would take away from the fabulous change time of the pads. Also with the Bendix air disc brake system you can't inspect the push rod assembly for the brake chamber without pulling the chamber off. How are you gonna know it's getting full travel = full braking force. There is nothing to lubricate moving parts except the dirt and grime they're exposed to. That can't be good on parts.

I'm sure I could come up with more down sides that far out weigh the plus side of stopping a little quicker with 40 some thousand lbs behind you. That would be another concern of mine. How does the freight react to such stopping forces? Will it stay where it's at or end up sitting in the cab with you? I guess the argument would be keep a safe following distance. With which my response would be if I maintain a safe following distance then why do I need the ability to slide my freight over top of myself in an emergency situation?

As far as DOT loving them.... I'm really confused as to why this is a good thing. I want my officer under there groaning and complaining about my dust covers and getting dirty trying to measure the stroke and pad thickness. Hopefully that eats in to his attention span and ruins his state issued coveralls and he doesn't care to look to closely at the rest of my truck any more. Or better yet, he's already tired from doing the same thing to the 5 other trucks in front of me and doesn't even want to do a level 1 inspection.

Again, Rotor systems are great at stopping vehicles for sure. But I believe in the trucking industry they are proven to be too complicated and expensive to maintain in the long run. They are exposed to and demanded to perform 10 as much as your car. To me, that equates 10 times the risk exposure. Drum systems in trucking are the simple serviceable solution that time has proven works and the maintenance cost is pretty stable.

Disc brakes seem like they fit perfectly in the disposable truck world. Just about 400,000 miles and the engine is designed to be junk, the brake components should be seizing and need replaced, plastic cab parts are rattling apart and chasing electrical nightmares becomes the new daily task. At over $150,000 currently to replace the truck, I don't know how the Owner Op's of the future are gonna make it. But we are already seeing the push back from over engineering with the use and demand of glider kits.

Today's truck rotor systems are not selling me. I can be easily swayed into a better braking system. The main reason I purchased a truck with an ISX is because of it's incredible Engine Brake. I went from changing brakes once a year to barely touching them every other year or longer.

[Dtruck]

Bendix air disc brakes are not complicated. Different yes, and yes not what we are used to. There is no doubt in my mind they have more stopping power and come on smooth. The calipers are not built like a cars caliper. And if you wanna talk about parts failure and adjustments. No adjustment on disc. Nobody gets to adjust slack adjusters and hope they are tight or loose enough. Brakes feel the same from new to the end of life of pads. So far I've been happy with my disc brakes and I carry more weight per axle then most anyone on here. Just my 2cents. Not to get pissy but I would rather have a better brake and never have to use it, than not have it and rely just on good driving habits. Sometimes ther is nothing the best driver can do to keep from hitting a car when the car gives you no choice. It's like carrying a gun, hope I never need it, but it's there if I do. It's gonna rain hot sauce. Lol

[dhirocz]

Good points. I was just talking to another forum member yesterday about the 'disposable truck' world now. He's in the market for a truck and I told him my views on it, how the bean counters and the feds have gotten into engineering in the last 10 years.

I think there is merit to disc brakes, however, I wouldn't worry about them unless I was spec'ing out a new truck, which I doubt will happen any time soon, if ever. Right now I can't see myself doing it unless that x15 really impressed me long term.

I paid $40 a side for new haldex' shoes with no core and rebuilt the entire wheel end of my steer axle in several hours at home. Did both sides and was ready to go on monday. This includes kingpins and pressure washing it clean, slacks, chambers, wheel bearings, s cam bushings, etc...using all good parts and it didn't rob me and now I know it's all new and good to go for awhile. The drums work fine too. Hard to argue with that, either.

[Tanker]

They are a bit more pricey but you cant compare the performance and obviously maintenance is easier (no greasing, no adjusting for a start). We use them on majority of our 200 odd trailers and dollys here in Western Australia.. 120-171ton combinations and 45+ degree heat and they do the job day in day out no problems.. the only time we prefer drum is when going off road and onto serious corrugations. Anybody having overheating problems pulling 1 trailer is more than likely doing something wrong because it sure doesnt happen here. As for the whole "gotta remove the caliper to fix a wheel seal" thing, if you spec the right caliper, you can unbolt the hub from the disk thus leaving it behind making lighter work for yourself.. we rarely have that issue as we run grease in our hubs (besides on the truck) so im assuming most of you run oil?

[Magard]

I’m sure tire wear has to be better with disk also. No more out of balance drums. Smooth stopping less tire skid on a empty trailer. Just a guess never ran any.