I am having a problem with one of the hubs on my trailer. First a little background: I had a blown rear seal on one of my hubs and since it's an old trailer with an uncertain history, I decided to replace the bearings, races and seals on both sides. So I installed new bearings (packed according to instructions I read on the forum), races (professionally installed at the trailer supply store) and seals, preloaded the bearings, loosened the nut and tightened to finger tight then backed off to install the cotter pin, installed new bearing buddies and finally add some grease to the bearing buddies just until the piston started to move.
Now on to the problem; this past weekend I took the boat to the cottage we go to and since the hubs were newly redone, I stopped a couple of times to check them. What I found was the hub on the drivers side was barely even warm (more like cool) and stayed that way for the entire trip. The hub on the passenger side however, became what I would describe as either very warm or hot (I don't know if it's relevant but this is also the side that had the blown seal). I did not have any way to measure the temp but I was able to hold my fingers on the hub for 2 to 3 seconds. I checked it at every rest stop on the trip (150 miles) and the temp seemed to be about the same each time. If I let it sit for a few minutes the temp came back down quickly (after about 10 min it felt just a little warm). Once I got to the cottage, I pulled the bearing buddy off and tried readjusting the retaining nut thinking maybe it was too tight. When I put it back on there was a slight amount of play in the wheel but if I tightened the nut any more it was restricting the wheel from spinning so I left it with the play. I check the hubs on the trip home and had the same results; the driver side was cool and the passenger side was hot. I am at a loss as to what else I should check to find out why that one hub is running hot? I was also wondering how hot the hub can safely get before it starts to cause a problem?
Now on to the problem; this past weekend I took the boat to the cottage we go to and since the hubs were newly redone, I stopped a couple of times to check them. What I found was the hub on the drivers side was barely even warm (more like cool) and stayed that way for the entire trip. The hub on the passenger side however, became what I would describe as either very warm or hot (I don't know if it's relevant but this is also the side that had the blown seal). I did not have any way to measure the temp but I was able to hold my fingers on the hub for 2 to 3 seconds. I checked it at every rest stop on the trip (150 miles) and the temp seemed to be about the same each time. If I let it sit for a few minutes the temp came back down quickly (after about 10 min it felt just a little warm). Once I got to the cottage, I pulled the bearing buddy off and tried readjusting the retaining nut thinking maybe it was too tight. When I put it back on there was a slight amount of play in the wheel but if I tightened the nut any more it was restricting the wheel from spinning so I left it with the play. I check the hubs on the trip home and had the same results; the driver side was cool and the passenger side was hot. I am at a loss as to what else I should check to find out why that one hub is running hot? I was also wondering how hot the hub can safely get before it starts to cause a problem?
