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Random Quote: A man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child fish. Jim Porter
My 2003 trailer came with the lowest level Kodiak brakes - corrosion has just about finished them off - I may hit the rotors with a wire wheeel and try to get another season out of them.
I realize that the stainless are probably the ultimate solution, but I'm looking at $600 for a pair with calipers.
The e-cad version would run about $260 - Is anyone here running this version? How are they holding up in the salt?
I don't trailer much - maybe four dunks a year, plus a couple of 500 mile roundtrips. all parts get a freshwater rinse after a dunking.
Just DO NOT get anything TIE DOWN you will absolutely get no customer service or any kind of warranty. I will be posting my (almost new, 4 months old) trailer nightmare very shortly. I had Kodiak SS on my old Loadmaster and they functioned flawlessly for almost 3 years till I got rid of it..
__________________ "I'm suing the THT and the guy that made it."
When I did a brake job last March I looked seriously at the Kodiak SS. They are probably the best available, but expensive.
I was able to get Tie Down "Eliminator" brakes under warranty so I went with them. So far, they are holding up well with lots of salt water dunkings. I have a 15 gal sprayer tank in the back of my truck that I use to wash down with the brakes and wheels with salt away immediately after the trailer comes out of the water. I had one of the wheels off this past weekend and the only corrosion that I could find was where the wheel mates to the hub. On previously brakes I washed down the brakes after towing the boat home. I don't think that does any good because everything has already dried up.
I did a brake job on my 2001 Loadmaster trailer about a year ago.I replaced the OEM`s with the SS calipers,silver cadium rotors/mounting brkt,and they seem to be holding up well.I ordered direct from Kodiak,I think the cost was about $325. with shipping.
Hi Jerry - How do your rotors look? It's not clear to me how well the the S-CAD rotors resist corrosion on the rotor face. Especially once the brake pads wear the coating off.
Hopefully, they would hold up better than the shots below.
It's become clear to me why my hubs become so hot - I have the proper coupler (replaced last year thinking it might be a drum coupler.) But as you can see from the shots below, the corrosion on the rotors has significantly increased their thickness. So they constantly rub on the brake pads.
For those of us that use our trailers 2 or 4 times a year, somebody outta come up with a protectant we can spray on these things that would come off when we use the trailer and not hurt the pads. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Kodiak sells a hybrid version of the SS and S-Cad brakes. SS calipers with S-Cad rotors. The rotors are S-Cad, and these are cheap enough and easy enough to replace every 2 seasons. The SS rotors are really expensive, and one bad brake pad can render one unusable.
There is still nothing perfect when it comes to disc brakes in saltwater.
I put these brakes on my boat at the begining of the season. I dunk several times a week in the salt and they have held up great. I spray them down when I get out of the salt and give them a good soak when I get home. I do not have any rust on mine yet. I will remove the wheels and inspect again before I put the boat away for the season, but I didn't see any issues last week when I repacked my bearings.
Paxfish; doesn't even look like the pads are making contact with the rotors. You should have a bare metal surface where the pads run (maybe with a light rust coating from sitting after use.) Are those pics of an S-Cad rotor, or plain steel?
The theory with the S-Cad coating is that non-abraded rotor surfaces are protected; there isn't much you can do about the friction area, but that gets scraped clean each time you hit the brakes anyway.
My trailer supply guy said he's been getting a lot of complaints about SS rotors warping, so he suggests going with the S-Cad rotors. Just hearsay, but from a good source.
Thanks all - After talking to you all, the manufacturer and the distributor, I just ordered the S CADs.
jky - yeah - I think they are regular iron rotors too - I seldom run the trailer, so there's plenty of time for them rust without the pads wiping them clean. But when I do use it, I want it right. The pads definitely are on the rotor - all the time! - that's the main issue - they've expanded their width! In that particular picture - I had already hit the surface with a wire wheel.
I like the Salt-away in a garden sprayer approach too - I will incorporate that into my launching routine.
Thanks all - After talking to you all, the manufacturer and the distributor, I just ordered the S CADs.
jky - yeah - I think they are regular iron rotors too - I seldom run the trailer, so there's plenty of time for them rust without the pads wiping them clean. But when I do use it, I want it right. The pads definitely are on the rotor - all the time! - that's the main issue - they've expanded their width! In that particular picture - I had already hit the surface with a wire wheel.
I like the Salt-away in a garden sprayer approach too - I will incorporate that into my launching routine.
One thing commonly overlooked is replacing the pads every couple of years regardless of wear. The backing and clip on the pad tends to be the weak link in the system (although they are now using SS clips). The backing rusts and causes the pad to expand and then contact the rotor more than necessary (of course this will also wear out the friction surface of the pads).
While the Kodiak calipers are based on GM design and generic pads are available I would recommend purchasing the pads directly from Kodiak. They tend to use the most corrosion resistant parts available. They also use a salt spray to test anything new they introduce including the pads.
Thanks East Coast - yeah - I changed the pads last year, and kept the corrosion away from the backing plates with Corrosion X - so that's not the issue there.
Chris to be honest I have not used my boat in the manor I usallly do.Having said that I just went out and checked my rotors ,their in great shape ,just of the normal little rust spot from sittin,that would come off with with just a coupe of brake stops.The salt X in the garden sprayer is a great idea and I will do that.
Kodiak S-Cad rotors 
