Trailer Breaks Or Wheel Bearing Problems

[bamabass78]

I have occasionally been having trouble with something on my rear passenger side wheel overheating.  About 2 months ago I pulled to a ramp about 10 miles from my house.  I got out of the truck and smelled something burning.  I had smoke coming from that wheel.  I let it cool off for a while before I  put in.  I fished for a couple of hours and took it easy coming back home.  When I got back home, I checked it and their was no sign of any trouble.  I have probably pulled my boat 10-12 times since then with no problems.  Yesterday I went fishing and had no trouble on the way to the river.  On the way back home, I rolled down the window about a mile away from my house and I heard a slight whistling or whining sound.  When I got home I could smell the burning smell again.  It does not do it every time, but it is always the same wheel that does it.  I have a tandum axle trailer with surge brakes.  Is this my wheel bearings or my brake on that wheel sticking?  What do I need to do to fix this problem?  Thanks.

[Fishing Rhino]

A sticking brake cylinder is most likely the cause of your problem. 

 

If you were burning out a wheel bearing it would not be an intermittent problem.  It would continue to get worse until it had a catastrophic failure.

 

Why would you continue to use the trailer without getting it fixed?  The longer you wait, the more it will cost.

[Koofy Smacker]

Same thing happened on my car. It was a sticking brake caliper. Sometimes I would hear a grinding or whining and other times it would be perfectly fine. One day I went to look at it and my hand slipped off the wheel right onto the rotor and seared the tips off of my index and middle finger. Took it in and by the time I got there it had chewed the rotor apart and everything needed to be replaced.

 

The longer you wait the more parts will wear out but thats also my guess as to what it is

[slonezp]

If the caliper is hanging up, you risk warping the rotor the longer you hold off on repairing it.

[RoLo]

I agree with the boys above, you're most likely dealing with a hanging surge brake caliper.
The longer it's neglected, the more costly it will likely become.
If it were a wheel bearing, the sound would come and go but would get progressively louder,
eventually sounding like a can of dry gravel (but rarely accompanied by odor).

 

Roger

[Way2slow]

If you are just making short run to and from home to the ramp, you are better off with out the brakes. I finally had to lock mine out and then go in and redo the pistons every time I make a long trip so I will have brakes. The housings rust/corrode and make the pistons stick, burning up a $40 set of shoes when it does.

I keep bunches of 1 1/8" brake cups just for that purpose.

By the way, if it got that hot, you might want to pull that wheel and replace the seal. They will ruin the seal if they get too hot, letting water get in and you are sitting on the side of the road with with a bad bearing.

[Glenn]

Yep, the guys above nailed it.  Sticky caliper. And since it got that hot, yes, replace the bearings and seals at the very least.

 

I had a similar issue and had to replace everything.  Brakes, rotors, bearings, seals, calipers....a complete overhaul.  And mine never smoked or got that hot.

[Traveler2586]

You don't want to get stuck on the side of the road with a bad wheel, it can be very expensive.  My Ranger 185VS did not fit on a Tilt-bed truck very well, and it took around four hours to get to a shop after I first stopped.  You can carry a complete spare rotors, bearings, seals, tools, etc. but you may not be able to work on the side of a busy road.

[bamabass78]

Thanks for all the help. Hopefully I will get this problem corrected this week.