Drum vs Disc

[Jack Newton]

We might factory order a 3623EB, I was wondering if the Disc brake option is worth the upgrade or will the stock drum brakes be ok. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with either?

[seasure1]

The disc brake option is most certainly worth it. I purchased a 295rl off the lot and just paid $4k to have it upgraded. Drum brakes should not even be considered for an RV over 30 ft. There is just too much weight pushing your tow vehicle.

Best money ever spent is on safe brakes and tires as the people on the road show little respect to people towing an RV and will cut you off cross over 3 lanes to exit right in front of you.

[Theunz]

Drum brakes are a joke on a trailer that is going to hit the road at over 14,000lbs. The drum brakes may seem ok until someone pulls out in front of you and you need to slow down NOW. With disc brakes you can actually slow down NOW! The panic stopping difference is night and day different.

[mlh]

I don’t have disc but yes they are a worthy upgrade. Would you like drum brakes on your truck? It weighs less than your camper.
Lynwood

[LeftOverParts]

We have discs on our ‘21 3231CK (16.7k GVWR). Stops great. You won’t regret the upgrade.

In addition to better stopping:
- Less risk getting grease on the brake surface during bearing service
- You can easily inspect the pad through the wheel spoke
- If they are Kodiak brakes, you can get carbon ceramic pads from a car application for about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of Kodiak brand pads
- Haven’t had to yet but pad changes are pretty easy. In general, remove wheel, remove caliper, snap out old, snap in new pads, reassemble. Almost like a car.

[Diesel guy]

My 22 3781RL Legacy has disc brakes. What a difference in stopping power. It took some adjustment on my trucks brake controller and dash to get it just right. It stops allot better than my last fifth wheel. Only problem is you have to ensure that you do not get any leaks in the system. I had a hose come loose and lost brake fluid, so I had no brakes. Great upgrade

[Richard Blackwell]

We installed discs on our 2013 3402RL several years ago...my son and I did the install which went without any problems. HOWEVER...after several hundreds of miles, had one hose feeding the left, rear wheel disc develop a leak due to vibration against the trailer frame. Nearly cost us a horrific rear-end collision at at red light intersection while getting to RV park near Mt. Rushmore...with no brakes due to the leak, a 15800lb 5vr doesn't want to stop!

Lesson to be learned: 1) be sure any hose lines are clear of anything else and 2) do make sure you inspect all the lines frequently to be certain you don't have unusual wear or potential trouble spots. Trying to do repairs on the road to a disc brake system can be frustrating, expensive and HOPEFULLY not a cause of a vehicle accident for anyone.

[Todd & Mary]

January 2022 we upgraded our 3761FL with 8k axles and disc brakes and haven't looked back. Best upgrade we've done. Rig stops a lot better than it ever did, last Jan. i installed the x-factor cross supports for the spring hangers just to get it a little bit more rigidity. So far so good!

[bshgto]

Originally Posted by mlh

I don’t have disc but yes they are a worthy upgrade. Would you like drum brakes on your truck? It weighs less than your camper.
Lynwood

This is another vote for disk brakes. People will spend $4ooo,00 dollars on 2 e-bikes and another $1000.00 on a bike carrier for the back. But won`t spend $1500 to $1800.00 dollars for parts and a half day of work on disk brakes that will improve safety by a long margin. And if you're really handy like me you can take the disk brakes off and put the drums back on to be reinstalled on the new unit when it`s time to trade in or up so they pretty much become a lifetime purchase. But I know carrying your big butt around the campground on a no-effort bike is more important to some.

[Traveling Many Roads]

I drive tractor trailer with disc brakes and disc brakes vs drum brakes is night and day, ordered my 23 Montana Legacy with disc brakes wouldn't drive either without them.

[Jdunnagan68]

The drum brakes on these 14000# plus 5th wheels are definitely inadequate. Now that I've switched I realize how bad they really are.

[PSFORD99]

Originally Posted by mlh

I don’t have disc but yes they are a worthy upgrade. Would you like drum brakes on your truck? It weighs less than your camper.
Lynwood

Although the answer is no I wouldn’t want drum brakes again on a vehicle, but it’s like comparing apples , and oranges between drum brakes on a vehicle , and an RV . I have driven many drum brake cars , and trucks in my life . I will say good quality drum brakes stop pretty darn good , nothing even close to how bad a drum brake RV stops .

To answer the OP , after having several rv’s with drum brakes , and my present fifth wheel with disc , I’ll never own another Fifth Wheel with drum brakes.

[Paul Mantz-Powers]

Whatever the Disc brakes cost, they are worth the money. As full time travelers our disc brakes have saved our lives several times. You'll be amazed at how fast they will stop you. The first time was when a car passed us in the right lane, swung over I front of us and slammed on the brakes. She had planned on making a left turn into a side street. However, there was a car in the on coming lane of travel. I stood on our disc brakes and got stopped about 6 inches from her rear bumper. We had just upgraded to disc. We still had the drum brakes we would have been in her back seat. Another thing that amazed us is that we stopped in time and never left a skid mark. We had our brake system upgraded at the MOR/ryde factory.

[H. John Kohl]

Second RV with disc brakes. More stopping power. Safety worth paying for. Will not tow Montana without disc brakes.

[Foldbak]

I agree that (if you can afford it) disk is the way to go! Unfortunately, since my retirement my money tree isn't as fruitful as it once was so no disk brakes for me.
I will say that I test my brakes by using them to stop the whole rig during a trip and they do surprisingly well. I had a hard stop last week and it did good. Would have been better with disks but....

[loadmaster]

Originally Posted by Jack Newton

We might factory order a 3623EB, I was wondering if the Disc brake option is worth the upgrade or will the stock drum brakes be ok. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with either?

I had a 2013 3582RL Montana that I installed disc brake on, and boy was that a game changer, I now have a 2024 3781RL with drum brakes and I plan on changing it over to disc brake this winter, I have talk to Performance Brakes and Humphrey Hitch and Trailer supply and both have about the same price on the system only thing is the actuator that I want. So YES I would spend the money just to have a peace of mind that I can stop both the units with out thinking about it, and with all the crazy driver on the road nowadays you just don't know.



Safe Travels

[KingRanchFan]

Get the Disk Brakes! We spend our days up and down Colorado's finest. When you need to stop going down a step grade, you would never regret it again. I was hoping for an ABS system but the factory Disks on our 24 Monty are impressive. Our 2017 didn't have them.

[Derby6]

Interesting. My Montana is first trailer I’ve owned with disc brakes. I honestly didn’t notice a difference. still don’t with my other trailers honestly.
That doesn’t mean they’re not better????? I mean I’m sure they are. I just haven’t noticed difference.