Troubleshooting Overheating Hubs on a Trailer With New Bearings and Grease

Question

Question:

My 8inch hub runs quite hot even with new bearings Timkin and fresh grease. After about 15 miles at 60 mph, I am not able to hold on to the hub... its too hot. The nut is not that tight... just tight enough to have no slop. How hot do these 8inch wheels get? My trailer is empty so its not a weight issue. Any ideas?

asked by: Tim

0

Expert Reply:

Hubs will heat up when driving, but if it feels like they are getting too hot, then you will want to look at a few things on your hub. My guess is that the spindle nut is too tight and the added stress on the bearings is overheating the bearings and hub and could be causing damage to the bearings.

When you install the castle nut you will want to tighten the spindle nut while turning the hub. When there is a slight bind on the bearing, the parts are seated correctly. Back the nut off up to 1/4 turn to allow .001 inch to .007 inch end play for the bearings.

Failure to back off the adjusting nut could cause the bearings to run hot and be damaged.

Once you have backed off the spindle nut you will want to bend the cotter pin or tang on the washer to prevent the nut from backing off. I have attached a video of our technician installing a hub on a trailer and how the spindle nut should be tightened to prevent over heating. You can skip to the 1 minute and 45 second mark to see the hub installation.

expert reply by: John H

0

Andres G.

5/28/2020

I change out my wheel bearing on my trailer last week drove about 5 miles but still think it's still getting hot

Chris R.

6/1/2020

Have you tried backing off the spindle nut or just making sure it isn't too tight? How hot is the hub getting?

Joey L.

7/22/2020

Hi can I wire 5th wheel brakes to bust bar to work together. Instead of them individual. Wire them to come on at same time instead of one getting power first let them come at same time and work together. Thanks

Chris R.

7/28/2020

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. How do you currently have the brake assemblies wired?

Joey L.

7/28/2020

They are factory wired. I was thinking I could wire them were they would come on at same time using a terminable board or something else where they would Get the same power at the same time.

Jon G.

8/5/2020

Any delay between the individual brakes being applied will be extremely minimal. The way that your current brakes are wired is standard and you shouldn't be experiencing any noticeable delay. If you are then you're going to want to check your wiring for any places where it is damaged.

Answer 1

So long as a hub uses the correct bearings that match the dimensions of the spindle that is on the axle there is no worry about using two different brands of products, such as a Dexter hub on a Lippert axle. That in itself is not a concern. When a…

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Answer 2

Yes, Steve - that’s a perfect match. The #MXS27FR runs the same ST235/80R16 size tire and 8-on-6-1/2 aluminum wheel pattern you already have. The machined face design will blend nicely with your Featherlite’s trim. Do you prefer to match the spare…

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Answer 3

To determine the size of the hub assembly you need to purchase you have to determine which bearings are in the old assembly. If the old assembly has L44649 inner bearings, you would use the hub you chose #8-258-5UC1. If the inner bearings are marked…

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Answer 4

In order to pick out the correct tires and wheels for a trailer you are going to need to know some information on your trailer first. First thing you will want to know is the bolt pattern of the hubs on your trailer. I attached an FAQ article on how…

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Answer 5

Yes, the temperatures you mentioned are normal. If you were getting over 200 degrees that would be a bad sign. But typically if all of the hubs are the same temperature you're good and it's only really an issue if one of the hubs is hotter…

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Answer 6

Hello Ed, thanks for reaching out. Kenda tires like the Karrier ST225/75R15 Radial Trailer Tire #KE63KV are manufactured overseas in China. This is the case for virtually every other trailer tire. As far as I know, Goodyear is the only trailer tire…

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Answer 7

If your trailer has 7 wires running all the way back to the brakes, then yes, you can tap into the existing wiring. Each of your new brakes will have two wires for the brake magnet. One wire is for 12 volt power to the brake magnets and the other…

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Answer 8

There really isn't a particular maximum trailer weight that is used to determine when brakes need to be added to both axles of a tandem axle setup. While I do still recommend checking your local laws, I am also not aware of any general laws that…

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Answer 9

You can definitely add brakes to an axle without purchasing another one. The easiest thing is if your axle already has a brake mounting flange installed on it. If your axle doesn't then you can have one welded on, but we typically recommend…

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Answer 10

Typically if your hub is bad then you'll experience quite a bit of noise whether it's just when making turns or even while just rolling down the road if it's severe enough. The trailer will start to pull to one side when the brakes are…

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Answer 11

Wheel bolt patterns are defined by two numbers: the first being the number of lug nuts and the second being the diameter of the circle the lug nuts are arranged in. So a 5 on 4-1/2 bolt pattern is 5 lugs arranged in a circle that is 4-1/2 inches in…

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Answer 12

It looks like the previous owner of the trailer had vehicle tires installed since there are very few trailer tire manufacturers that carry a 235/75R15 size. Even though it might work for a while, trailer tires are always better to use for trailer…

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Troubleshooting Overheating Hubs on a Trailer With New Bearings and Grease

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