Wheels hot after towing

How hot would be normal after towing my boat about an 1hour and a half. Axle with brakes is the one I am talking about.

Warm but not burning hot. Sounds like you have a wheel bearing failure.

It also depends upon the conditions of your
1) driving (air temp or constant breaking)
2) going uphill (Shouldn't be hot)
3) going downhill (Could be really hot depending upon the decline)

Depends on the terrain. Flat lands, not hot at all. Down hills, pretty hot to the touch. Make sure the brakes aren't "dragging" by jacking each one up off the ground and spinning the tire. It should spin with very little drag.

Winding roads and not flat at all, though not mountain type roads. Foothills.

Winding roads would make them hot since you are speeding up and slowing down. But, it doesn't hurt to have them looked at by a professional. That way it is less cost than a whole new boat.

David's right, look at or have it looked at. Worst case scenario is they can catch on fire...not good.

They were hot but not that hot. I think I will have to check them out though.

They will be hot with any drive and if you are on windy roads, that will make them hotter. I agree, have them checked for safety and security of mind.

Try repacking the bearings and see if that makes a difference.

Generally, if your breaks were dragging on the rotors you would see extreme heat in only a few miles. Bearings and lube or grease are the more likely issue.

How much drag should you be getting on the brakes?

I have this same problem, and the brake axle is MUCH hotter. I'm selling the boat, so I don't want to sell an unsafe situation. Isn't a slight drag normal? They should be making noise, right?

Typically if your wheel bearings are going out you will see grease sprayed on the inside of the rim. This is usually the first sign, which is a result of the rear bearing seal failing, either due to wear, excessive heat, or over-filling.

Let us know how it goes.

Disk brake calipers on these trailers are self aligning, which means they may or may not align and can get stuck to one side a bit. SO they will most likely rub a bit here and there.

YES, your brake wheel hubs will get hitter for sure, and depending on road conditions they could get alot hotter. Like windy up and down roads. This is a good indicator that they are working!!

As far as noise, jack up each wheel and spin it. The non brake axle wheels should spin freely with no noise. The brake axle wheels should spin freely, but may have a touch of binding due to the calipers being on one side or the other of center. Check them to see if they move freely and see if the pads are worn yet. Any bad noise, you have a problem.

Sounds like mine turn perfect according to that test, then. Thanks for the info! I'll double check the pads as well tonight.

Just grab the whole caliper and see if it moves side to side, it should. Check for uneven wear on the pads, the calipers can get stuck.

LOL....

Step 1. Go down to your local auto parts store and buy a Grease Gun, and a couple of tubes of grease.

Step 2. Remove HubCaps if you have them, or center Caps.

Step 3. Place Grease Gun on Zerk Fitting in the middle of your Hub.

Step 4. Pump Grease Gun a Few times until Grease begins to flow into Zerk Fitting.

Step 5. You will see that Zerk Fitting start to move towards you, after it moves a bit, and becomes almost flush with the center of the Hub height stop.

Step 6. Pop Grease gun off, put Caps back on..

You should do this before ANY long drive. It never hurts to check your bearing buddies or buddy bearings (depending on what you have, but they are both basically the same).

RD

On a Side note..

Some of you might have "Oil Bath" Hubs.. They were touted as the shiznit when they 1st came out, but everyone has had nothing but problems with them.

In that case I'd recomend switching back to standard bearing buddies to save yourself the aggrevation. If you do have them and they are leaking though, you can fill them via the fill screw on the side of the hub.

RD