What is the advantage of trailers having disc brakes?

Never had to stop faster than anticipated from someone else's poor decision making (or lack thereof) in front of you?

 

Faster than anticipated? Sure maybe but I’ve never been without adequate braking power.

I just envision a bunch of dingbats following even closer under a false assumption that they can stop, not realizing they still can’t react any faster. All I see is coils and steel beams coming through cabs and pallets falling over

I guess that’s what auto braking systems are for LMAO what was I thinking?

 

All I'm saying is that 30% shorter stopping distance claim is real. Otherwise you don't notice much difference. Only when you are forced to hammer them on it's surprising at first how much more braking power you have.

And from the financial standpoint. They last much longer. The cost to buy/maintain is approximately double. The life of pads and discs is looking like 400-500k miles. I have them with about 250,000 miles on them and they still have lots of pad left. Perhaps someone else around here who runs them can give an estimation as to service life who has had them long enough. My annual will be done early August so I will have accurate measurements and I'm sure we can look up thickness of new so we can get some decent first hand data.

Edit to add
I should also say this. Would I change an old piece of equipment over from drum to disc? No. Would I buy used equipment if it had drum? Yes. Will I buy drum brakes on anything new? Never.

 

Considering the future of trucking might include some form of self driving autopilot....the computer may need disc brakes. LMAO

 

I don’t dispute the stopping distance claim I just don’t see me paying extra for something I’ve never needed. However, if it turns out they are cheaper......now we can talk

 

If I were in your shoes I'd be doing the same thing.

 

40 tons moving at 70 mph...

Trucking Accidents could be somewhat reduced if it is applicable to shorten the stopping distance due to human interaction.

The problem is human being slow to react.

My suggestion is allow a safe distance behind the vehicles rushing to nowhere.

 

Never been cut off?
Had an animal run out in front of you?

 

Yes. Lots of times. I lift but never slam on the brakes. Two resulted in wrecks. I hit one and missed the other but neither one would have been prevented by disk brakes. You see I don't want to stop fast so I wouldn't slam on the pedal anyway. I have two kids at home and I have no plans to go out as a martyr by slamming on my brakes and losing control just to save a dumas. If they cut me off that badly they are at the mercy of God like the young lady in Manheim, PA that thought her Jetta could squeeze in front of me at 60 mph. No sir I will stay in my lane and stop safely making sure not to involve a third vehicle.

Couple times. So what? Again it was nothing that drum brakes couldn't handle. The only ones I've hit are the ones that happened so fast I didn't even get my foot off the fuel. Am I supposed to roll a coil through my cab to save a deer? Gimme a break.

Disk brakes with ABS. This is the absurdity of the trucking industry

 

Drive tankers for 6 months ,then you will know why you like disks.