boat trailer calipers vs auto

[Stinnett21]

I've worked on the calipers for my boat trailer but never on automotive calipers. Due to the fact that boat trailer calipers are routinely dunked in water I was wondering if the boots for the slider bolts were made more water proof than their auto counterparts. If they are indeed tighter and more robust wouldn't this mean they would need to be lubed more often?

 

[tpenfield]

My trailer has HydraStar brake calipers on all 6 wheels. According to the manufacturer's information - the piston, the mounting bolts, and slide bushings are stainless steel.

The caliper bodies are "Dacromet" coated for rust protection, but I have found that they rust regardless, and the brake calipers are partially seized. It may be the slide bolts/bushings.

So, I'm not sure if they are more robust than the automotive equivalents or not. They certainly need to be lubricated more often IMO and experience, as I'll be rebuilding the calipers over the winter.

 

[dingbat]

I have Kodiak disc on my trailer.
Started with "Dacromet" rotors and calipers. Switched to KodaGuard calipers when the pistons seized a few years back.

The sliders are stainless and ride inside a rubber bushing. Made it 4 years until the bushings wore enough to trap a bit of moisture. New bushings and a bit of silicon grease made them like new again.

 

[tpenfield]

I have Kodiak disc on my trailer.
Started with "Dacromet" rotors and calipers. Switched to KodaGuard calipers when the pistons seized a few years back.

The sliders are stainless and ride inside a rubber bushing. Made it 4 years until the bushings wore enough to trap a bit of moisture. New bushings and a bit of silicon grease made them like new again.

Did you find the Kodaguard held up better? I dunk in salt water a couple time a year. After a couple of years, the HydraStar calipers were not having it.

 

[dingbat]

Did you find the Kodaguard held up better? I dunk in salt water a couple time a year. After a couple of years, the HydraStar calipers were not having it.

Unless you go with a set of Kodiak stainless calipers, the outside protective coating is meaning less. Both will seize if moisture gets past the piston seal causing rust in the bore.

The outside of the Dacromet calipers held up well. Little rust here and there but nothing worth complaining about. Made it 6-7 years before the piston seal failed (dry rot) and the piston seized. Replaced with kadaguard calipers for monetary considerations only.

New Loadrite trailer came with Knott, zinc plated disc brakes.
We will see how they hold up

 

[Stinnett21]

I drove to the boat today and lubed the slider bolts. I applied caliper grease to a Q-tip and lubed in the inner part of the boot that squeezes the bolt and lubed the bolt also. Should be good to go. I have UFP/Dexter DB35s galvanized only but I'm in fresh (Kentucky).

 

[tpenfield]

Fresh water should be fine. You can always test the brakes (disc brakes) by disconnecting the electrical to the trailer and backing up a slight grade. Probably a good thing to do now & then, if you don't trailer often.

The tandem trailer that I had for my 24 footer had a great set of brakes . . . 7 years of salt dunking and they still worked well. I just don't remember what brand they were .

 

[Grub54891]

Automotive calipers get wet every time it rains. I get the salt water thing, but living in a salt water environment they get some on there also. I’ve always believed that boat calipers were mfg with less care about quality, but then again your trailer sits around a lot and doesn’t get used nearly as much as a car. That’s where the issues arise.

 

[dingbat]

Automotive calipers get wet every time it rains. I get the salt water thing, but living in a salt water environment they get some on there also. I’ve always believed that boat calipers were mfg with less care about quality, but then again your trailer sits around a lot and doesn’t get used nearly as much as a car. That’s where the issues arise.

Yep….its the rotors and pads, not the calipers that present problems with saltwater use.

Any coating you put on a rotor is worn off the first couple of times you hit the brakes. Unless you go with SS rotors, the rotors will have surface rust within hours. The rust will clean off the first time you hit the brakes, but it eats up pads in the process.

The best way I’ve found to counter the rust problem is to use ceramic brake pads with stainless steel backing plates.

 

[Stinnett21]

I launch solo so the calipers sit in the water under pressure sometimes for several minutes. Having just lubed my sliders, as said in post 6 above, I was very pleased that there was very little water intrusion. There was, however, very little lube if any on em.

 

[Lou C]

I would coat the dust boots for the piston with silicone disc brake grease to try to keep water out. Each season do that and lube the caliper sliding pins. Flushing out the brake fluid every 3 seasons or so could help as well. Despite anti corrosion coatings on calipers the real issue is that the dust boots aren’t really water proof and once water gets in & can’t get out you start to have caliper sticking. With drum brake cylinders I would fill the area above the brake piston with silicone disc brake grease and use RTV to seal the boot to the cylinder. This helped in that it made the cylinders last longer.