Trailer wheel hub w/ electric brakes heat up

mmmkay325

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Location
Waxhaw
I have a new tandum axle 16ft trailer with one axle w/ electric brakes. On a recent trip I noticed the wheel hub that had electric brakes on it was hot to the touch. You couldn't leave your hand on it more than a second. Both sides where this way. The axle w/o brakes was cool to the touch. I wasn't doing excessive braking, brake controller was set at 30%.
My question is do the wheel hubs on brake axles get hot cause of braking? If so how do I tell when the bears are heating up then?
Are my electric brakes dragging and need adjusting, if so how?
Any help is appreciated.
adam
 
It should not be any hotter, jack that axle and spin the wheel by hand.. Any drag will cause heat... Honestly it's only 5 lug nuts to pull the wheel and take a peak.

You could have bad bearings. Many times people don't load a trailer properly and it can overload one axle..

If you just got the trailer, might be a good ideal to repack the bearings anyway.. Side benifit is you will learn how to do it in your driveway, so when you need to fix somthing on the road, you will be familiar with the setup.. (fwiw: I used to carry spare bearings and seals as well as a spare magnet.

there is a sticky at the top with trailer info.. might be helpful
good luck..
-mike
 
man I appreciate it...yeah that's my planned project for the weekend. Don't they make caps w/ zerk fittings on them so you can grease gun them instead of pulling out the bearings and packing by hand? Are those worth it??
 
IMHO those caps are 'ok' for a quick hit of grease IF you know your stuff is in good shape. They are priarilly designed for boats to put some positive pressure (with grease) on the bearings to keep water out. Not as a maintenance aid.

For an unknown trailer, i'd take it all apart and repack the bearings so you can establish a good base line. If they look worn out replace them.. (If cost isn't an issue change them anyway) and use a good high temp wheel bearing grease..

While your doing maintenance check to see if you can put brakes on the second axle, it will make a big difference in towing/stopping..
 
How will I know if I can put brakes on the 2nd axle? Where's a good place to get a price on brakes for the second axle if I can use them?
 
well im sure if you took one apart you'd see it, but just in case... theres a small flange with ~4 bolts holding the brake backing plate to the axle.. In that case goto Northern/TCS or any other place like that and buy new brakes. Get the loaded backing plates and new drums and hook it all up..

This assume you have standard axles (im guessing 3500#s) and not mobile home stuff.. If you don't have the small flange on the end of the axle you can get one and weld it on also..

Before you replace any parts if you need to compare that to what the loaded backing plates cost, you may find that its cheeper to just buy it all new and keep the good parts that are left for some spares.. It all just depends on the condition of your current parts...
 
Not sure how old your trailer is, but several folks have bought new trailers only to find the tires wearing like crap after a few hundred miles!... Final diagnosis was the wheel bearings were semi-"dry", loose and boogered all to @#$%...

Either the builder(s) are throwing the assy's underneath w/o checking or just plain setting them up too loose...

FWIW, the hubs on both axles (3500# w/ brakes on rear axle) on my 10K# Hudson run very cool... OTOH, the bias ply tires will blister you after an hour on the road! :shaking:
 
not to side track the thread... but actually I did have a minor issue with my new trailer. I guess it's not the manufactures fault since they buy the axles complete..

But one brake hub was 1/2 a flat looser than I cared for. I'm sure it was in spec. but, I just didn't like the feel of it.. I down loaded the manual from dexter and simply re-seat the bearings. Point is even new you still have to check stuff and know your equipment...

btw: here is the manual for 10" brakes probably similar to what you have..

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/Brakes/10_in._Brakes_80_res_2-05.pdf

And read this.... it should help a lot..
http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f...4_06/Lit-001_Complete_Catalog_2-07_72_res.pdf
 
I checked, greased, and tightened my trailer bearings after a few hundred miles after purchase. I think all trailers need to be checked once the bearings have had a bit of run time on them.
 
For information only.

I borrowed a trailer that the owner never used the electric brakes.:shaking: Well lets just say its stupid to tow anything that is big, yellow, and says cat behind a single wheel f250 and no brakes.

But back on track. I hooked up and began towing. The brakes locked up. Turns out that if you back up 20 or so feet the brakes will unlock themselves. He said its designed into the system. So if your brakes seem to lock up just back up 20 feet and test again.
 
jrraw23 said:
lol just saw this thread, my hubs are always frikin hot when I tow I can still touch em fine but there pretty warm . . . might need to down adjust the brakes :shaking:
Click to expand...

If you can lay your hand on the hub without burning it, you're fine.
 
I have a few new trailer brake assemblies left that should bolt up to your axle (#3500 cap.) let me know if I can help

these are backing plate & all
 
Jeff B: pm sent
 
didn't get a pm-----so I sent you one
 
Down&Dirty said:
But back on track. I hooked up and began towing. The brakes locked up. Turns out that if you back up 20 or so feet the brakes will unlock themselves. He said its designed into the system. So if your brakes seem to lock up just back up 20 feet and test again.
Click to expand...

Never heard of backing up because the trailer brakes lock... What's the reasoning for them locking up in the first place? :confused:

On a separate note, Tater's trailer (brakes NEVER used by the PO) completely locked up the left rear going thru the twisties between Clemson and Clayton, GA (on the way to Beasley Knob)... Unfortunately, it skidded until the tire blew. We yanked the Moss off, chained the axle, and limped into town. Bought a new WallyWorld skin, changed it at camp and thought we'd be good... locked again leaving town (luckily the road was wet so it "only" took 1/2 the tread off :rolleyes: ), so we ended up DQ'ing the trailer brakes for the ride home. Later found that 1 dang wire (IIRC, the brake leg) out of the entire bundle of 5-6 made a detour from the eyelets underneath and ran over the dang frame under the decking (bare & shorting)... from the "factory" :shaking:
 
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