Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

[workerbee606]

I took my new pontoon to the lake this morning , about 80 miles tow each way, well when I got home I noticed some grease had slung out of the right rear hub onto the wheel and the hub/ bearing budy was hot to the touch, not so hot that I couldnt hold it for ten seconds but pretty dang hot. The trailer is new as is the boat and the dealer had serviced it when I picked it up three days ago. The grease was coming from around the little rubber cover that keeps dust out of the grease fitting. I wonder if it was just some excesse grease or a bearing or seal going bad. Both the left and right hub on the rear axle felt the same hot, while the hubs on the front axle felt barley warm, is this normal? The trailer has surge brakes and the trip was faily hilly and I got drove around 60 mph the entire trip. Also the trans temp on my 2011 suburban tow vehicle would get up to 210 on a couple of the real hilly sections, is that too hot on the tranny, I kept it in tow mode the entire time to keep it out of overdrive and help with shifting. The pontoon feels like a tank behind the suburban when I get to highway speed, I guess its the drag from the big blunt front end.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I woullmake sure the brakes are adjusted right, if one of them is dragging or they come on too soon that will boil grease in the hub too, iI have had that happen wit a car when the caliper went bad and drug.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

If you can hold it for 10 sec. Your probably OK but that does seem pretty hot. The grease might be from excess expanding from the heat. Jack up each wheel and make sure they spin freely and no noise or wobble. That will see if a brake is dragging too.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I suspect you have EZ Lube hubs, not Bearing Buddies. Is the grease cap a little black rubber disk that fits just inside the cap? If so, the way those are greased is with a grease gun attached to a zerk on the end of the spindle. You just start pumping and keep it up until grease starts coming out into the cap, then you're done. If the guy who serviced the trailer got a little carried away and pumped in too much grease it could have simply escaped around the dust cap or even blown a little hole in it and weeped out. Since it's brand new and you bought it from a dealer take it back and tell him everything you told us. Sounds like the rear shoes might need a little adjustment, and they can address the escaping grease situation as well. How bout some pics?

 

[WaterDR]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Temps are the enemy of a transmission. Not sure if 210 is too hot, but a tranny cooler is never a bad idea.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

If its got a front gate you might try leaving it open maybe the side gates too.
Or it maybe like a pickup truck that does better with the tail gate closed.
You might knock 5 mph off the speed if your not going too far it won't make much difference in time.

 

[gmctodd]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I would suggest that you weigh each axle of the trailer. Sounds to me like you have to much weight on the rear axle. I just had to return my new boat for this. My boat is 23' and the trailer choices were 22' or 24'. They used the 24' and it made the boat sit to far back on the trailer. I returned it for the 22' and the boat fit the trailer perfectly. but we did have to slide the axles back a foot to get the weight right.

Todd

 

[egclassic]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I would also jack up the trailer on each side and make sure there is "some" play (in and out) on the hub. They may have tighted the castle nut down too tight. You should be able to feel the tire move "slightly" when you push and pull on it. If there is no movement, I would back the castle nut out gradually until you have some (again "slight") movement. As far as grease on the back of the hub, they may have installed the cheaper single lip grease seals instead of the double lip ones. I made that mistake once when I was in a hurry to re-pack my bearings before a trip and that's all that my local Napa had in stock, I changed them to the double lip seals and no more grease came out.

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-repack_trailer_hub_bearings.aspx

If you read the directions below this video, it will explain what I'm describing.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I would also jack up the trailer on each side and make sure there is "some" play (in and out) on the hub. They may have tighted the castle nut down too tight. You should be able to feel the tire move "slightly" when you push and pull on it. If there is no movement, I would back the castle nut out gradually until you have some (again "slight") movement. As far as grease on the back of the hub, they may have installed the cheaper single lip grease seals instead of the double lip ones. I made that mistake once when I was in a hurry to re-pack my bearings before a trip and that's all that my local Napa had in stock, I changed them to the double lip seals and no more grease came out.

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-repack_trailer_hub_bearings.aspx

If you read the directions below this video, it will explain what I'm describing.

Read his post again. The grease didn't come out around the inner seal.

 

[phillyg]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

So your dealer serviced the hubs? If so, I'm guessing they pumped in too much grease. Get an infrared thermometer and take readings at the hubs, because feeling the hubs with your hands can't pinpoint how hot they are. The other suggestions about checking for play are good, but I recommend you just take it back to the dealer to get it checked out.

 

[egclassic]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Incoop,

Thanks sooo much for pointing out my mistake, really?

 

[lncoop]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Incoop,

Thanks sooo much for pointing out my mistake, really?

It's nothing personal. Just don't want him to be confused. Blown inner seal is an entirely different problem than the one he's having. If you reread his post you'll see what I mean. Sorry you were offended.

 

[egclassic]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

It's nothing personal. Just don't want him to be confused. Blown inner seal is an entirely different problem than the one he's having. If you reread his post you'll see what I mean. Sorry you were offended.

No problem, I must have missed the fact that he has a tandem axle trailer, as he mentioned grease on the "right rear hub" and not "rear of right hub"

 

[treker]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Temps are the enemy of a transmission. Not sure if 210 is too hot, but a tranny cooler is never a bad idea.

210 for the trans is getting up there, what model is the Suburban, you may want to get one of the diesel trans coolers(they are larger) and mount it in place of the one you have now

 

[JGator]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I suspect you have EZ Lube hubs, not Bearing Buddies.

I have the bearing buddies, and just pump enough to see the cap move out a bit against the spring never letting the spring fully compress. Does this sound like the correct way to pump them up and if so how often is it recommended to do this?

Jim

 

[lncoop]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

I have the bearing buddies, and just pump enough to see the cap move out a bit against the spring never letting the spring fully compress. Does this sound like the correct way to pump them up and if so how often is it recommended to do this?

Jim

Yes Jim, that's the correct method. As for how often, that's really up to you. I'd think once a year would be plenty provided everything seems to be working properly. Of course you have to remove the grease that's in there before adding more. I'm sure you knew that already, but I've been amazed to see how many boaters have the misconception that the bearing buddies should receive a periodic squirt or two of grease on top of what's already in there. Lots of inner seals get blown that way.

 

[workerbee606]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Its a 2011 1/2 ton burban. It stayed around 198 but hit 210 on the realy hilly sections of the tow.

 

[lmuss53]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

http://www.txchange.com/heatchrt.htm

Check the chart in this link, but keep in mind they sell trans coolers.

If you have a 195 degree thermostat the 210 isn't all that much hotter than the engine coolant. I have a factory installed towing package, which is bigger brakes, and a trans cooler, I added a second cooler rated for trucks towing 12,000 lbs., a trans temp gauge measuring the temp right as it leaves the torque converter where it is at it's hottest, and a drain plug in the pan. When I hump the pontoon over the big mountain between my house and Raystown it pegs the trans temp gauge for about 30 seconds before I get to the top. The truck also has a factory "trans temp" light which does not come on. I drain and change the trans fluid every 12.000 miles. The truck has 195,000 mile on it right now.

I would add at least an additional cooler to any truck that I was going to tow with.

 

[workerbee606]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Imuss53, I towed the toon saturday with my 2011 titan, the trans temp gauge on the titan is a needle not a digital guage like the burban but the titan never showed it near the hot mark, but backing the boat up my driveway for about one minute did put it in the hot range quickly and thats with an external trans cooler for sure. The suburban seemed to work a little harder rpm wise and trans temp wise pulling the toon but the burban sure as heck had less trouble backing the toon up hill. My titan pickup is geared for pulling better than the burbans highway gearing but it sure doesnt have the backing up strength the burban has. I also went to another lake with a much less hilly route than what the suburban pulled and it was 30 miles shorter too. The trailer bearings didnt get nearly as hot and didnt sling any grease out this second time around si I think the bearing issue may have been due to new equipment and too many hills.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Trailer bearings getting hot, is this normal?

Workerbee, regardless of the circumstances you should not be slinging bearing grease. Something isn't right, and you really need to find out what it is. Right now it's probably something small, but if you let it go it could turn into something big.