Diagnosing a hot tire...

[talltigeguy]

I think it has to be a sticky brake. Today I had a chance to get to the lake. It is about a 15 minute drive for me, and part of that is going 65 MPH for a couple of miles. The tire monitors all stayed pretty close to the same temperature today. On my way home, I stopped at multiple locations to run some errands (including dropping off my bimini to be modified to a 'surf bimini' but that is a topic of another thread). I wondered how I thought that the problem had mysteriously gone away last year after I fixed the overinflated tires. Now I don't quite feel as dumb.

I think about the only thing that could cause intermittent overheating would be a sticky brake, right?

I already found a reputable trailer shop and had plans to take the boat to them tomorrow, I think I will still follow through. I will have them thoroughly check the brakes, the bearings and alignment and see what they have to say. Especially if they note the uneven wear on the pads, indicating it has had a problem with sticking.

[Nobody]

I think it has to be a sticky brake. Today I had a chance to get to the lake. It is about a 15 minute drive for me, and part of that is going 65 MPH for a couple of miles. The tire monitors all stayed pretty close to the same temperature today. On my way home, I stopped at multiple locations to run some errands (including dropping off my bimini to be modified to a 'surf bimini' but that is a topic of another thread). I wondered how I thought that the problem had mysteriously gone away last year after I fixed the overinflated tires. Now I don't quite feel as dumb.

I think about the only thing that could cause intermittent overheating would be a sticky brake, right?

I already found a reputable trailer shop and had plans to take the boat to them tomorrow, I think I will still follow through. I will have them thoroughly check the brakes, the bearings and alignment and see what they have to say. Especially if they note the uneven wear on the pads, indicating it has had a problem with sticking.

Surf bimini?

[turbonine]

I think about the only thing that could cause intermittent overheating would be a sticky brake, right?

I already found a reputable trailer shop and had plans to take the boat to them tomorrow, I think I will still follow through. I will have them thoroughly check the brakes, the bearings and alignment and see what they have to say. Especially if they note the uneven wear on the pads, indicating it has had a problem with sticking.

I agree, probably sticky piston in the caliper. Easy fix if it is. Call UFP and the will send you out a new caliper and pads.

[chpthril]

Dont overlook sticking slide pins. No parts needed, just clean and re-lube with some silicone grease. Sticking slide pins are usually evident if the outboard pad is worn more then the inside.

[Fiveflat]

At first I was going to say that I'm not sure if I'm following the logic that a sticking brake will cause a hot tire...

But as I wrote it, I think I do understand that theory now. I would still be more suspicious of a misaligned axle, bent torsion, hub, etc.

[talltigeguy]

It is now in the hands of the trailer shop. I think the guys seemed competent. It is always scary to leave it with folks.

I asked them to repack the bearings regardless, since it has probably been a while. The previous owner said he had the bearings packed recently, but he also told me the tires were 'nearly new', and they were stamped 2007. So either he was exaggerating, or got hosed at the tire shop.

[chpthril]

At first I was going to say that I'm not sure if I'm following the logic that a sticking brake will cause a hot tire...

But as I wrote it, I think I do understand that theory now. I would still be more suspicious of a misaligned axle, bent torsion, hub, etc.

If something was bent, I would think we would see some abnormal wear on at least one tire, if not both on that axle.

[Fiveflat]

If something was bent, I would think we would see some abnormal wear on at least one tire, if not both on that axle.

He said he saw some bulging on that tire, although he didn't see it worn. Torsion axles are independent of the others, so it's possible to have an issue with a single wheel.

Bent wheel also maybe?

[chpthril]

He said he saw some bulging on that tire, although he didn't see it worn. Torsion axles are independent of the others, so it's possible to have an issue with a single wheel.

Bent wheel also maybe?

Tire bulges would typically point to a problem with the belts, but would not be related to an alignment issue. Yes, a bent suspension component on a torsion setup would effect the tire wear of that one wheel only, but if it was a solid axle, as many trailers still are, we may or may not see similar abnormal wear on the opposite wheel. If its a bent frame, we could see tire wear from both wheels on that side, even with torsion.

[talltigeguy]

I just got off the phone with the guys. Interestingly, we both thought that my hubs were grease hubs with a standard bearing buddy type of cover. The glass was black and no oil was visible through it. It turns out that my hubs are oil bath hubs, and the gear oil was super nasty inside and on more than one assembly, there were small shards of metal from the bearings. 2 of the bearings looked pretty beaten, he said, and he suspected they would run warm, but enough of the bearing was intact to prevent any immediate catastrophe from happening.

After some discussion with the trailer guy, he thought that oil bath hubs were not the saving grace they were supposed to be. I also recall several threads about oil bath hubs failing on the MC website (MC makes their trailers with oil bath hubs), we decided to replace all the bearings, and go with grease instead of oil.

The brakes look good. He had not yet checked alignment.

To sort of elaborate on Skippy's question on which is better...an oil bath hub may leak and the oil all falls out at once,then the next thing you know is when your rim is red hot and smoke is pouring out from your trailer. Then the tire seizes up and you are hosed. With a grease assembly, the grease seal fails, you get black grease all over your boat and you can still go a long ways before the bearing is so devoid of lubrication that it actually fails. So I guess it is catastrophic and sudden vs. slow and painful death. For trailer tires, I elected to go with slow and painful death so I can get home from wherever I am.

Teamallen, I didn't see your question until just now. I have the Sunpro TPMS sensors. I really didn't consider getting some, but I found a good deal, so decided to pull the trigger. Having towed the boat 3 times now with them, I am stoked about them.

[talltigeguy]

On the way home from the trailer shop, I noticed that the tires all seemed to run identical temperature, whereas before it seemed like all of them varied 5 degrees or so. It is too short of a trip to really make a definite conclusion, but interesting observation nonetheless. It will be a while before I actually know how to interpret the TPMS data anyway.

The one thing that really bothers me is that the TPMS unit in the tow vehicle continues to display the last reading once you disconnect from the trailer. So by the time I got to work, several miles from the shop, I still had readings on the unit like nothing was wrong. There was no fluctuation, but I really expected the display to go blank. How will I know that the unit lost signal? When I unplugged the display, and plugged it back in, the temperature and pressure readings remained blank. So if I lose a monitor in the middle of a trip, I can only surmise that the display will continue to read the last transmitted data. That is lame sauce.

[SPBFAN]

On the way home from the trailer shop, I noticed that the tires all seemed to run identical temperature, whereas before it seemed like all of them varied 5 degrees or so. It is too short of a trip to really make a definite conclusion, but interesting observation nonetheless. It will be a while before I actually know how to interpret the TPMS data anyway.

The one thing that really bothers me is that the TPMS unit in the tow vehicle continues to display the last reading once you disconnect from the trailer. So by the time I got to work, several miles from the shop, I still had readings on the unit like nothing was wrong. There was no fluctuation, but I really expected the display to go blank. How will I know that the unit lost signal? When I unplugged the display, and plugged it back in, the temperature and pressure readings remained blank. So if I lose a monitor in the middle of a trip, I can only surmise that the display will continue to read the last transmitted data. That is lame sauce.

Sounds like you are getting your trailer figured out and that is a good thing.