Tire and bearing temps after a tow

[flyingnugget]

I know there are a lot of helpful ideas and opinions on here about long tows and prepping for them. One was to bring a Laser temp gun that one would use for grilling and cooking to keep an eye on the temps.

I thought that was a great idea but what temp range and values besides ambient temps prior to the tow are useful?

Does anyone have any idea what is normal and when is it starting to show an issue? I just did a 5hr tow this week with air temps in the mid-90's. Checked the tires and bearing hub with the laser to get a value not sure I know what it means.

Tire sidewall temp was 120F
Bearing buddy hub was showing around 115F

Those seemed reasonable. I'm a bit of a nervous tower so anything that helps me build confidence in my equipment helps. This trip definetly helped.

Thoughts? Input? Appreciate it guys n gals.

 

[AZMark]

Agree those seem reasonable. I just watch for one bearing getting noticeably hotter than others - much hotter than 115.

My brake axle will get pretty hot after a long summer tow down the mountain. I don’t recall exact temp but hot enough you don’t wanna keep your hand on it for more than a second. Both sides of each axle will be approximately the same though.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

150 is about the warmest you want. above 200 the grease starts to break down, over 250, catastrophic.
My car hauler is 2 axle, the axle with brakes is always a tad bit warmer.

 

[anmut]

I know there are a lot of helpful ideas and opinions on here about long tows and prepping for them. One was to bring a Laser temp gun that one would use for grilling and cooking to keep an eye on the temps.

I thought that was a great idea but what temp range and values besides ambient temps prior to the tow are useful?

Does anyone have any idea what is normal and when is it starting to show an issue? I just did a 5hr tow this week with air temps in the mid-90's. Checked the tires and bearing hub with the laser to get a value not sure I know what it means.

Tire sidewall temp was 120F
Bearing buddy hub was showing around 115F

Those seemed reasonable. I'm a bit of a nervous tower so anything that helps me build confidence in my equipment helps. This trip definetly helped.

Thoughts? Input? Appreciate it guys n gals.

Those temps are perfect. Hubs with brakes will be hotter depending on usage. Hubs on the sunny side of the road will be slightly warmer too.

It's kind of a pain on our trailers, but if you can get the laser points to line up right on the hub itself - you'll need to do some monkeying to climb under the trailer. Measuring on the outside hub bearing buddy is OK, but I always like to put it right on the hub itself.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Also depends on how hard you stop, quicker stops will put heat into the brake hub quickly. I move the heat gun all over looking for the hottest spot. Also run the heat gun across the width of the tire tread.

on my trip to lake Mojave in March the non brake hubs were in the 70’s brake hub was 85° or so. When o was towing last summer the non brake hubs were in the low 90’s and the brake hub was around 125°, hotter on the sunny side. I usually check them several times during a day on the road, usually when I get fuel.

The best thing is that you are establishing a bench mark, in the future you will be able to know if something gets out of whack.

 

[usmcgoose]

Continue to perform your routine maintenance and you’ll be fine. Continue to check for wobble in wheels and grease hubs. Don’t just rely on the grease buddies for greasing.

 

[flyingnugget]

Thanks guys! Good info and great conversation as always from this forum.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Thanks guys! Good info and great conversation as always from this forum.

I was on the lake yesterday when I responded to your thread, I knew I had posted heat gun readings in the past but didn’t want to search for them at that time. Checkout page 2 of this thread.

Changing out the surge brake actuator.

Update: First tow yesterday, about 20 mins to the second closest lake to me.. 50-55 mph. I pulled out my heat gun and found that the non brake hubs were 76* drivers side and 80* passenger side. The brake hubs were 118* drivers side and 150* passenger side. I checked them again when I got home...

jetboaters.net

From post #21 in the aforementioned thread; I pulled out my heat gun and found that the non brake hubs were 76* drivers side and 80* passenger side. The brake hubs were 118* drivers side and 150* passenger side. I checked them again when I got home and the temps were the same. I checked them with my fingers and the hotter side was too hot to leave my fingers on for anything but a moment, the other side a skosh longer.

What needs to be mentioned about those numbers are that I live in a very hilly area so the brake hubs are going to be hotter that just highway driving, and in post #21 that was the first time the brakes had been working in a long time and you will see in post #5 on page one that I had found a big high spot on the rotor and had it turned at O’rieley auto parts, so its quite possible the drivers side brake disc and pads were not that well seated yet and that is why the heat reading on the drivers side brake rotor was so much less than the passenger side.

From post #29; Did a longer run today on the interstate at 65 mph, after about 50 miles there was a rest area and I slowed down very gradually so I wouldn’t build up heat in the braking hubs. Checked all four hubs with a heat gun, here’s what I observed. Hub temps after 65 mph on the highway for 50 miles was 108 front axle / brake axle 118° passengers side and in the sun, 88 front axle / brake axle 90° drivers side, outside air temp was 90°.

The passenger side always seems to be warmer, that could be due to the crown of the road ??‍. I think the main thing is that your readings are consistent in that one side runs hotter than the other and the temperature spread between the non brake and brake hubs is consistent, if you’ve been driving in a hilly area the brake hubs will be hotter.

Also, check your brake calipers for free movement and make sure there is no air in the brake system. When using the pry bar to move the caliper, do one side, then pump the brakes back up using the bleeding method otherwise you could over fill the brake fluid reservoir making a mess, then when you pump the brakes back up the fluid level will go too low and you’ll push air into the system.

Please share your upcoming results with us.

 

[David Martin]

Ok...... towed boats for over 43 years and hubs never got one to hot to touch.............my 5 different trailers never went above around 110............you have possibly a couple of things happening bearings going bad or a grease plug not allowing proper lubrication...........or a bake pad that is dragging a little....brakes on trailers experience this quite often as dunking them under water sets up rust/corrosion ect.......... I boat in saltwater I hate brake maintenance.