2016 Ranger Reata 1850MS, Yamaha F150, on the factory tandem trailer with surge disc brakes on the front axle. ran it Paris to Pickwick saturday, about 120 miles, most of it on 22 and 64. stopped for gas in Savannah and the passenger front hub was too hot to hold my hand on. driver side front was warm, rear two were barely warm.
Bearing Buddies on all four, i give them a couple pumps every spring. made it home fine, nothing smoking. but i don't want to find out the hard way on the Natchez Trace.
first, "too hot for my hand" isn't a number. buy a 20 dollar infrared thermometer and shoot all four hubs right after you stop. after an hour at highway speed i see 120 to 150 on healthy hubs depending on the day. if one is 40 or 50 degrees hotter than its partner on the same axle, that's your problem wheel.
second, a couple pumps every spring on a Bearing Buddy can be too many. once the spring piston is pushed out, more grease just goes past the rear seal. pull the wheel and look at the inside of the rim and the brake parts for grease. if it's slung all over, the seal's gone.
front axle has the brakes and it's one front hub. i'd bet on the caliper before the bearing. surge disc brakes on boat trailers sit in lake water, the caliper slide pins rust, and one side drags the whole trip. that heats the hub and people blame the bearing.
jack it up, spin the wheel by hand. if it drags or rubs every revolution, it's the brake. if it spins free but rocks top to bottom or grinds, it's the bearing. also check the reverse lockout. if the trailer has an electric lockout solenoid and the wire is hooked to the reverse lights wrong, it can hold the brakes partly on going forward.
bought the thermometer. took it out on 79 to Buchanan and back, 30 miles. passenger front 182, driver front 121, rears 108 and 112.
jacked it up and ray wins. passenger front drags all the way around, you can hear the pad. driver side spins like a top. no grease on the rim either side, so the Bearing Buddies are probably fine.
since you're going to have it apart anyway: pull the caliper, clean and grease the slide pins, look at the inner pad. if it's worn way more than the outer, that's the drag. a lot of those Ranger Trail trailers came with Kodiak brakes, the caliper's under a hundred dollars. look at the rotor for a lip or rust pitting while it's off.
and since the hub's already off the spindle, look at the bearings and repack them. cheap insurance. lug nut torque and bearing adjustment are on the axle maker's site, if your axle tag says Dexter it's dexteraxle.com, they have the charts. torque the lugs again after the first 50 miles.
done. new Kodiak caliper on the passenger front, 96 dollars at the boat shop in Paris, cleaned the pins on the driver side while i was there. inner pad on the bad side was down to about an eighth, outer had plenty. bled the brakes, the fluid looked like tea.
repacked all four bearings since the hubs were off. they looked fine honestly, no pitting, grease clean.
ran to the Kentucky Dam ramp tuesday, 70 some miles. front hubs 128 and 131 at the gas stop, rears both about 115. two weekends lost. better than losing a wheel on the bridge at Big Sandy.
