Trailer Wheel Bearing Issue

[voltdr]

Rick,
I saw that you were in Topeka. How did the trailer toe? How were the temps? I would think that getting a little weight off the front (problem) axle could be good.
Dan

[63corvette]

Originally Posted by voltdr

Rick,
I saw that you were in Topeka. How did the trailer toe? How were the temps? I would think that getting a little weight off the front (problem) axle could be good.
Dan

Dan I did make it to Topeka and back home now and did not have any problems.
Trailer towed just fine with it about 3 inches up front to back. I had it basically level in the past.
Being retired we do not have to hurry back home so we traveled on Monday.
On the way home we traveled in rain off and on all day so I did not get to take the temps on the bearings and tires. I did not think they would tell me much anyway with the rain and cooling it provided.

I did take temps going to Topeka on Tuesday with the ambient temps running from 88 degrees on my first stop to 99 degrees on my last stop before arriving at Topeka.
One thing I did note is the tire temps are 20 to 30 degrees higher if the tires are running on the sunny side of the trailer versus the shade side of the trailer. That is something I did not expect.

The curb side bearings run 10 to 20 degrees higher than the road side and if the tire is hotter in the sun it seems to transfer to the bearings also and then the curb side bearings can be as much as 30 to 40 degrees higher than the road side. The temps seemed to balance side to side a little if the road side tires ran in the sun.

The highest bearing temp I recorded was 145 degrees and the highest tire temp I recorded was 154 degrees.
The highest bearing temp was from the center axle curb side and the highest tire temp
was the front axle curb side running in the sun for several hours.

I believe the balance of the load and lowering the tongue weight and the raising the trailer on the front is the key.

One other thing I did find when rebuilding the front axle I found the curb side which I had packed annually but it had its original bearings the outer bearing race was smooth but it was discolored. It did not look like it had been hot it just had a grey color only where the bearing rollers ran. It just looked strange to me and something I had not seen before.

I plan on taking the temps again on the next trip. I am just not sure when that will be.
Thanks to everyone who commented and made suggestions.
I appreciate all the knowledge on this site and hope I can contribute to others issues in the future as some of you have done for me.
Thanks again,
Rick Cates
Canyon, TX

[340Cuda]

Rick,

This has been a very interesting thread.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Bill

[63corvette]

Originally Posted by 340Cuda

Rick,

This has been a very interesting thread.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Bill

This has been my pleasure and I received much more than I put into the thread.
I hope this helps everyone who pulls a trailer as everyone will have a bearing issue at some point.
I will follow up when I take my next trip with more info.
I really believe the key is balancing the load over the axles without to much tongue weight and having the front up just a little.
Those things seemed to keep the temps balanced when I checked.
I just wish I had done that earlier to know what they were when I was having issues.
More to come in November after the Finals in Pomona.
Thanks to everyone.
Rick Cates

[63corvette]

A quick update on the trailer bearing issue.
The son was found to have a brain tumor the first of October with two surgeries to follow that my racing was done after the trip to Topeka for 2017.
I have now pulled all the China bearings out of the 2 remaining axles and all axles now have fresh grease and new USA Timkin bearings.
There were a couple of the China bearings I pulled that looked discolored. Not rough in any way just like they were etched in a few places. They are now trash anyway.
The next racing trip will now be in February or March 2018 and I will take the temps and post again how it goes for everyone to view.
I really believe with a better balance front to back and side to side in the trailer and the bearings change will take care of my issues.
My personal idea is that the balance of a trailer weight over all the axles is more important than I had previously thought. I thought in the past the three axles balanced the weight themselves better than I do at this point.
Again thanks to everyone for the input.
Rick Cates

[340Cuda]

Rick,

Thanks for the update.

That is a disadvantage to the torsion axles, they don't equalize like the leaf springs on most of our old open trailers.

I hope your son is doing well.

Thanks,
Bill

[63corvette]

My trailer is a leaf spring and shackle system and I also thought that would balance the load however, I believe balancing the load is the key.
I will watch it again on the next trip and report back to everyone.
Bill, thanks for the concern for the son. He is doing better every day.
Rick Cates