Hot Hub on new Axle

[michael13]

Greetings everyone

we just had our first 20 mile outing on a new set of Henschen Axles

The good news is , they are still where they belong.

One hub got hotter than the 3 others, almost to hot to touch
do i need to worry?????

anyone with advice out there, i would love some feedback


Thanks

Michael

[CrawfordGene]

Sounds like failing wheel bearing, possibly not enough or too much grease, castellated nut too tight, grease seal failure or locked up brake. Only way to find out is to take off the wheel and then the hub (brake drum) and look.

Gene

[azflycaster]

It could also be a break adjusted too tight. Once you get the wheel in the air you can check for break drag.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by michael13

Greetings everyone

we just had our first 20 mile outing on a new set of Henschen Axles

The good news is , they are still where they belong.

One hub got hotter than the 3 others, almost to hot to touch
do i need to worry?????

anyone with advice out there, i would love some feedback


Thanks

Michael

Michael.

Please don't guess or assume. Pull the wheel off and get to the exact problem. Correcting it, should be easy.

Also check the tire pressure, and make sure it's what you want it to be.

Andy

[michael13]

could you explain break drag????

[richinny]

the brake drum should spin freely with the wheel hot. the brakes will drag more as the drum heats up so don't adjust them too tight when they are cold.

[azflycaster]

If the breaks are adjusted too tight, the shoes will rub (drag) on the surface of the drum all the time. This will cause the drum to heat up.

[michael13]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Michael.

Please don't guess or assume. Pull the wheel off and get to the exact problem. Correcting it, should be easy.

Also check the tire pressure, and make sure it's what you want it to be.

Andy

i just went out and the drum is much warmer than the almost cool rest
without taking the wheel off and ................ Then What???????

my instinct is that the break shoes on this side are to tight

according to the manual it should be a quick fix

any advice?????

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by michael13

any advice?????

Yes. Jack it up, remove the wheel, and check the brakes and bearings.

[michael13]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Yes. Jack it up, remove the wheel, and check the brakes and bearings.

I can do a lot of things but i have never taken a break drum apart

How

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by michael13

I can do a lot of things but i have never taken a break drum apart

How

Who put the brake drums on your new axles? Taking the drum off is not hard, it does require a little mechanical ability. Raise the trailer, either using a jack, or the driving-it-up-on-a-2x6 method, and remove the tire and wheel assembly. Loosen the lug nuts first. After you remove the wheel and tire, pop the dust cap off the hub. Remove the cotter pin that goes through the castellated nut, and unscrew the nut. Remove the washer that's under the nut, and remove the outer wheel bearing. It should just slide out of the hub. Put all these parts somewhere clean and dry. After you do that, simply slide the hub and drum assembly off the spindle.
After you get the hub off, you can look to see if anything brake related has fallen off, and is causing the problem. Examining the parts is not tough, make sure the bearings have grease on them, and nothing is rolling around inside the drum when you remove it.
Now, if there isn't any grease in the bearings, you'll need to repack them. If, after removing the outer bearing, you can't slide the drum off the spindle, the brakes are probably too tight, for one reason or another. There is an adjuster wheel on the backing plate, and it adjusts by being rotated up or down.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by michael13

I can do a lot of things but i have never taken a break drum apart

How

Go buy a case of beer (brand not important) and then wait until I pass thru on the way home sometime in August or September....or follow the directions that Overlander63 gave you.

Aaron

[michael13]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Who put the brake drums on your new axles? Taking the drum off is not hard, it does require a little mechanical ability. Raise the trailer, either using a jack, or the driving-it-up-on-a-2x6 method, and remove the tire and wheel assembly. Loosen the lug nuts first. After you remove the wheel and tire, pop the dust cap off the hub. Remove the cotter pin that goes through the castellated nut, and unscrew the nut. Remove the washer that's under the nut, and remove the outer wheel bearing. It should just slide out of the hub. Put all these parts somewhere clean and dry. After you do that, simply slide the hub and drum assembly off the spindle.
After you get the hub off, you can look to see if anything brake related has fallen off, and is causing the problem. Examining the parts is not tough, make sure the bearings have grease on them, and nothing is rolling around inside the drum when you remove it.
Now, if there isn't any grease in the bearings, you'll need to repack them. If, after removing the outer bearing, you can't slide the drum off the spindle, the brakes are probably too tight, for one reason or another. There is an adjuster wheel on the backing plate, and it adjusts by being rotated up or down.

well the axles came fully assembled from the factory

is there a way to test if the break shoes are to tight before i disassemble the drum ?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by michael13

well the axles came fully assembled from the factory

is there a way to test if the break shoes are to tight before i disassemble the drum ?

Get the wheel off the ground and try to rotate it, if you feel drag or it is hard to rotate by hand it is too tight. When I adjust brakes I run them up until the wheel drags then back off the adjuster a bit until it no longer scrapes. Hard to explain but easy to do...

Aaron