Disc brakes

Yes it does.
Watch "Air Disc Brakes: One-Quarter the Maintenance Cost and Time" on YouTube

 

Wow what a misguided info

 

Mainly cause he hasn’t been in a truck in 15 years. Most of his info is misguided

 

Nothing new there with him.

Sad thing is, in every one of his scenarios disc brakes work better than drums do.
Less moving parts and springs and things that could get dirt and stones lodged in.
Brake fade is very much less on discs.
Discs wear slower than drum. (as per our mechanics)

There are negatives to discs, but it almost always ends up being cost as the main one....

 

Perhaps happy medium for most uses is disk on non powered axles?
I never knew what pad life to expect. Nobody I ever asked even at a shop would just say they had no clue.

 

Its funny my dad used to own logging trucks too and he never would have considered running disc brakes. I guess the earlier setups must not have been so great. I seem to remember him telling me about a fellow O/O who tossed them in the trash and converted to drum brakes because the disc brakes didn't hold up in the bush.

In my personal experience I used to run a C5500 service truck and the mud just ate those rotors up. I think our in house automotive mechanic who maintained the fleet said he'd be doing brakes on the trucks about every 5-10k km during the muddy seasons.

 

Every year my trucks and trailers brakes get a really good inspection. The discs wear very little, way less than drums do, and the pads always look to be lasting well over twice as long as shoes do. The nice part about discs to, is the first time pads wear down to around 20%, they only need new pads, not pads and discs. We find that when shoes wear down to 20% we almost always have to replace drums as well as shoes. Because I am anal about maintenance, I won't run the same discs through a third set of pads, so replace them with the pads then. No more S cams to replace and all new bushings, and worn out slack adjusters etc. If the calipers ever do wear out, very easy to replace, or buy rebuild kits and just do that. On the shelf in the shop is 12 rebuild kits, and 6 new calipers I bought long ago incase we ever needed them, because I don't like down time waiting for parts. Haven't used any of them. Just pads and discs, plus if a wheel seal leaks it doesn't contaminate the brakes like it does with drums. And when looking the truck over, its so easy to see at a glance how much pad is left, because the small black rod, is basically like a tape measure. Whe pads are new you can see 4 small lines on it. As the pads wear it slides in and the lines disappear, when the last line disappears you are down to 25%, so next time the truck is in for a big service, replace them, but no rush, they wear slowly, so say within the next 6 months or so. That leaves you with 20% or so pad.

 

I am terrible at describing things, so here is a video that shows the little black rod.
Watch "Meritor EX+ Air Disc Brakes" on YouTube

 

I ordered 2 new Timpte reefers in the late 80's with Rockwell disc brakes. Disaster. Couldn't keep them going in spite of Rockwell overnighting me rotors and the set-up tools they used at the factory. Finally swapped them out for drum brakes. But.... I have a 2016 KW with discs and over 300K and they are great. They aren't even showing any wear. However, I think the huge Cummins jake has something to do with it. I have a new truck and trailer on order for fall and I ordered discs all around. By the way, I'm also one of those guys who took off the front brakes AND the power steering from a brand new 1980 Kenworth.

 

It takes much longer to jack the truck up, set jack stands, and remove the wheels than it does to service disc brakes lol.