Trucks & Trailers - Changing to Stainless Steel Brakes on Ameratrail Trailer

My Ameratrail trailer has Tie Down Silver cadmium brakes and even though it is only 6 months old, the calipers are sticking. When I pulled it for a long tow, the brakes were smoking after I applied strong braking to stop on several occasions. I was worried about a fire!

Therefore I called Ameratrail. They said that they had been having trouble with Tie Down Calipers sticking and are switching over to DeeMax. I have been told by others about the problems with Tie Down brakes and it is well documented on this message board.

Since I plan on keeping this boat and trailer for several years, I have decided to change out to Stainless steel brakes. Wow, Sticker Shock city! I decided to go with Stainless Steel Calipers and Rotors. For the three axles, the price is $2187! At least the good customer service from Ameratrail is giving me $438 credit for the Silver cadmium defective Tie Down calipers. I decided to change everything out for safety and a trouble free future trailering experience.

Dee Max brakes are apparently from a former partner in Kodiak brakes, and the stainless steel brakes look nearly identical except for some beefier mounting brace areas. The rotors are apparently vented. Hopefully, they will provide the same trouble free years of service that I received with my Kodiak stainless steel brakes on my previous trailer.

I put the SS DeeMax on my Ameratrailer this past summer and they were an upgrade from Kodiak DE that were on the trailer. Much better build than the Kodiak system and the DeeMax has done very well since they have been on the trailer. My next trailer will have them also. Make sure you check the brakelines when changing out the Calipers, I had to upgrade the lines also.

6000 miles on our Ameritrail with the Deemaxx with no problems. All the other brands have given us problems. Scott at Ameritrail highly recommended them to us.

Jim
OBX GIRL/TEAM CALCUTTA

Ameritrail updated my trailer to the Deemaxx this summer. Brand new trailer and those piece of junk Tie down brakes left me stranded twice on my first two trips.

Anyway the new Deemaxx have been performing fine so far.

Just curious, did you guys go with the all stainless kit or just stainless calipers with coated rotors?

I have Tie Down Disc brakes and don't have a problem at all. Does your trailer sit level when connected to your tow vehicle? If the tongue of the trailer is below level the brakes have a tendency to apply while decelerating without even touching the brakes causing over heating. The Trailer tounge should be above level when connected. Your actuator bolts that allow the actuator to move may have been too tight, not letting the actuator release the brakes fully.:thumbsup:

in answer to SturdyBuilt, I went with the all stainless kit. It was not cheap! (Over $2000 for all 3 axles) but Ameratrail gave me credit for the TieDown Calipers that are sticking. I am paying now, so I don't have problems and pay later! I can keep the old silver Cadmium rotors for later problems if necessary.

So the Tie Down rotors are compatible with the DeeMax calipers and mounts?