Rear trailer brakes overheating

[Ole Orange]

Here is what I have and what I have done so far.

I have a 7000 lb equipment trailer with dual axels
the axels are Dexter with fairly new brakes, bearings, and new wiring.
I have tried this on a few short trips one empty, 2 loaded with my 40 hp Kubota.

I have deduced that the rear hubs are getting very hot and that it is coming from the outside of the hub not from the bearing area.
the front axels are ice cold. both axels have electric brakes wired to my brake controller.
I pulled all 4 wheel hubs and cleaned them, I have jacked each side and adjusted brakes as instructed and now have even backed off the brakes a little on the rear.
I also hooked my truck to the trailer and hooked up brakes and tested wiring, etc.
At wits end as even a short trip 10 miles or so causes them to overheat. both sides???
if I had too much weight on the rear(loaded wrong) could this cause this? although this happened unloaded as well.


ANY HELP!!!!

 

[oldballs]

It sounds like you know what you are doing. But did you "back off" the rear by turning the star wheel in the wrong direction which sounds like something that I would mistakenly do. And hang on, there are guys here who know much more than I.

 

[mikehaugen]

The loading shouldn't matter if it has leaf springs, they will have an equalizer to distribute weight evenly.

Are you sure everything moves freely? Maybe they are not releasing correctly. Jack up the trailer and spin the wheel and have someone hit the brakes in the truck then let go. The brakes should release nearly immediately and you should be able to spin the wheel easily by hand. If not then you have a problem.

 

[mikehaugen]

Just another thought, perhaps the brakes are installed backwards on that axle? I don't think the brakes release the same going forward and reverse, brake kits come as left and right. Not sure it would cause what you are describing, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[Ole Orange]

Do you know how to tell if they are correct
someone said the actuating levers should be on the front side, how about right and left how can I tell? are they marked.
Thanks for any help

Just another thought, perhaps the brakes are installed backwards on that axle? I don't think the brakes release the same going forward and reverse, brake kits come as left and right. Not sure it would cause what you are describing, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[Ole Orange]

Nope, I tightened then backed them off till I had no drag
Thanks

It sounds like you know what you are doing. But did you "back off" the rear by turning the star wheel in the wrong direction which sounds li
ke something that I would mistakenly do. And hang on, there are guys here who know much more than I.

 

[cockeyedMFer]

Are the tires wearing the same all around? Are your leaf spring pivots moving freely? I'm thinking that in the past someone overloaded the rear axle and damaged spindles, or maybe the equalizers are frozen and not allowing the front axle to take its share of the load. (also, what's the angle of the trailer when its hooked to your truck? Nose high, or level with the ground?)

Are the bearings the same between front and rear? You might try swapping either the entire drums, or just the bearing sets between front and rear. Maybe there was some sort of mismatch and the rear axle received incorrect spindles or hubs.

 

[oldballs]

The "Backing Plate" should be marked as to Left or Right....just as if you are sitting in the drivers seat looking forward, the magnet always goes on the bottom and the "arm" to the front.

 

[Ole Orange]

Are the tires wearing the same all around? Are your leaf spring pivots moving freely? I'm thinking that in the past someone overloaded the rear axle and damaged spindles, or maybe the equalizers are frozen and not allowing the front axle to take its share of the load. (also, what's the angle of the trailer when its hooked to your truck? Nose high, or level with the ground?)

Are the bearings the same between front and rear? You might try swapping either the entire drums, or just the bearing sets between front and rear. Maybe there was some sort of mismatch and the rear axle received incorrect spindles or hubs.

trailer is new to me but used, tires all seem to be worn the same.
The pivots are moving freely and go up and down.
I did not mention it but between test drives I changed hitches on my truck and it is setting level when towed and hitch change did not help.
As far a bearings go I did a road test today loaded and stopped every couple of miles and the heat build up starts on the out side of the drum so I am thing brake problem.
Thanks for the input and I will keep trying fixes.

 

[Ole Orange]

The "Backing Plate" should be marked as to Left or Right....just as if you are sitting in the drivers seat looking forward, the magnet always goes on the bottom and the "arm" to the front.

I do recall L and R on a stud on the back just not sure if they were correct.
For the life of me I can't remember those levers being front or back I will look tomorrow at the front ones and see if they match the back.
Hate to pull the hubs again but will do what I need to do
I have thoughts of cutting the wires to rears only and see what happens
Thanks

 

[kevinj]

Are you certain that the front axle is working properly???????

If not the rear will overheat as it is doing ALL the braking.

Check ALL connections, especially the grounds.

 

[JCByrd24]

Heat starting at the outer edge certainly suggests brake drag. Like has been said, spin each wheel and engage the brakes and make sure they disengage quickly. Make sure the springs are retracting the shoes certainly. Being on backwards (L and R swapped) would also cause brakes to engage potentially. Also, check that you have no voltage at the rear brakes, maybe some wiring crossed/shorted and rears are getting power (even a little) all the time.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Lots of good suggestions so far.

One thing that comes to mind is leaf springs or torsion axles?

Chris

 

[Deere Dude]

I just want to follow the thread because I had presumed hot wheels on my camper.

How hot is too hot? Can you hold your hand on the wheels? Maybe that is normal and something is wrong with the cool fronts.

 

[Ole Orange]

Lots of good suggestions so far.

One thing that comes to mind is leaf springs or torsion axles?

Chris

Leaf springs

 

[Ole Orange]

I just want to follow the thread because I had presumed hot wheels on my camper.

How hot is too hot? Can you hold your hand on the wheels? Maybe that is normal and something is wrong with the cool fronts.

If i drove 20 miles I would blister my hand if I held it there

 

[Diamondpilot]

If i drove 20 miles I would blister my hand if I held it there

It's time to get a second set of eyes on it. Many times I get tunnel vision and miss something obvious and my neighbor will figure it out in 5 minutes after I spent 5 hours and vice versa.....

Where you at? Maybe even someone here can help you out?

Chris

 

[3930dave]

Double check your wiring - make sure your rear brakes are getting the variable voltage signal from your brake controller, not just the brake light feed.

I like to use bullet connectors - low cost in bulk packs, and relatively reliable (vs. price) esp. when packed with grease. Easy to troubleshoot with, and changeout parts.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Wire+Connectors+-+Bullet+Style/N0215/C0189.oap

Use two people with the vehicle parked - use a DMM or just a test light, and make sure that the voltage at the rear magnets varies when you hit the manual control on your brake controller. If that's right, then make sure the front magnets are powered properly too.

Rgds, D.

 

[Ole Orange]

Thank you every one for all the help. I am in northern Maine, I also am a master electrician, I will this evening have my wife run the controller and check voltages. If I remember correctly I always had the same voltage at all the brakes. should it vary as the controller is pressed?
I have a different older controller available and may try it out. I just bought this controller last year for my 30 ft camper and it worked good in my ford truck but I now have it installed in my older dodge truck. The Dodge truck had a ready plug all set up in the harness and hooked color to color for the controller.
When I went through the whole system I checked voltage at each brake while the trailer was jacked up. I only checked actuation by clamping the controller on and checking 2 brakes at a time with one side jacked up.
Each axel brake feed comes back to a box with the junction at it then crosses over in the axel to the other side.
I had thoughts of disconnecting the rear axel and running just the front one and see if they over heat or not just as a temporary measure. Or backing the rears all the way off with the thumb gear so they do not work and checking this.
I do know about the another set of eyes thing and might have my neighbor who is a mechanic take a look really frustrating problem to say the least. spent more time on this than wiring a house.

 

[square1]

Do they get hot if you pull the plug / connector and tow it? That would separate mechanical / trailer issue from electrical / tow vehicle issue.