Trailer brakes, wanting to change them?

[lf133]

Hi All

Last year I bought a boat and only took it once to the lake and once home as it spends its summer in the water. I had noticed that the brakes did not seem to work very good but forgot to look at them. Then last week I was bringing the boat to the lake and heard them rubbing. Not a good sound and not to mention they were hot!!! and grease all over the place. Well I took them off and for the most part the pads were gone and wearing funny at the top edges. Based on the way the rotors were gouged I bought it this way. Lucky me nothing seized up. My question is this.

I have the UFP DB-42 disc brake set up on there now. The caliper seems to be a poor design to me and may have contributed to the funny ware. I am thinking of changing them out for the UFP DB-35 system. They look like they may be better but I have no clue. Do any of you have the DB-35, if so how do they work, any problems? Do any of you think there will be a problem switching them over?

Thanks for the help, and any words of advise.

[99response]

I just had to rebuild a caliper on my DB-35's, it was sticking and made for a nice sizzily dip into the water by the time we got to the ramp.

I don't have any direct experience with the 42's, but I would say your issue just comes from lack of care. Lots of people seem to just ignore that basic trailer stuff like bearings, wheels, brakes, until something fails.

I would get some those rotors resurfaced or replaced, rebuild your calipers, get some new pads, repack/replace those bearings, and flush out the brake fluid (I did mine and it was cloudy and rust colored on my 05 trailer) and roll on.

-Chris