Trailer Brakes Overheating

Poodlehead · Jan 17, 2025

3930dave said:
Welcome to TBN.

Many of these threads are timeless..... as Murphy, mice, and other nefarious forces are always lurking !

Good Luck with your fix, and please post-up how it went.....

Rgds, D.

Thank you ! I realized later that this thread is over TEN YEARS old, so I was wondering if I'd get any response. Lol!

Anyway, I pulled the drum on both sides and my left wheel (hotter side) shows the magnet rubbing more than the right side. Is this normal?

I also backed off on the axle nut a little, but couldn't do much without getting some play so I don't think it was too tight...

Went for another test drive and it's still getting hotter than the other side, without a load on the trailer...

I have questions about the P3 controller, but I'll search first...

Thanks in advance for any input!

3930dave · Jan 17, 2025

Poodlehead said:
Thank you ! I realized later that this thread is over TEN YEARS old, so I was wondering if I'd get any response. Lol!

Anyway, I pulled the drum on both sides and my left wheel (hotter side) shows the magnet rubbing more than the right side. Is this normal?

I also backed off on the axle nut a little, but couldn't do much without getting some play so I don't think it was too tight...

Went for another test drive and it's still getting hotter than the other side, without a load on the trailer...

I have questions about the P3 controller, but I'll search first...

Thanks in advance for any input!

Assuming mechanical is good (adjusters adjust, everything else is reasonable clean and moving freely), check electrical next.

You need to make sure the cold side (right) is getting adequate voltage, and the magnet is functioning.

Axle on jackstands, drums and wheels on, brakes adjusted so shoes are close to the drum, then get someone to apply the brakes while you turn the wheels. If the cold-side doesn't lock-up the way the hot side does, then you may have a wiring issue, or a weak or even open-circuit magnet. Check any inline splices for corrosion or loose wires.

Easy to add to somebody-else's To Do List

..... if you haven't already, once you are done with brakes, check the pivot bushings on the suspension spring shackles for wear. I ended up replacing all of mine (visible wear), when I overhauled my new to me travel trailer a # of years ago.

Rgds, D.

DJ54 · Jan 18, 2025

My buddy had the same problem as his trailer sets a lot anymore and called for advice. I told him to check the arm the magnet is attached to and see if it was hanging up. Sure enough, it had rusted from all that setting. It would hang up a little not completely releasing the brakes.

Pulled it off, cleaned it up and applied a little never seize, problem was solved.

M59 · Jan 18, 2025

Hanksride said:
Ok, I am fairly new to the world of electric trailer brakes so please lend me some knowledge.

I have a 2010 18ft tandem axle dovetail trailer for hauling my L2800 on not to mention jeeps, smaller tractors etc. I recently installed a Tekonsha P3 brake controller on my 2004 Z-71 pickup.

How warm or hot should the hubs and wheels actually get. As for stopping, they seem to be working very well except for getting pretty hot.

I realize this thread is 10 years old and a final outcome was never posted, so here goes.

Based on my experience with towing a 26' 14K Lb rated flat bed loaded to within 500 Lbs of rated weight and pulling thru mountains of NC and KY, I have no issue with wheels getting too hot to touch. Warm yes but not hot.

Most "light" duty trailers use brake drums and not brake disks so I presume we are discussing brake drums.

Isolate the electric brake controller from the mechanical bits by separating the electrical connections at or before the brakes and go for a 10 mile drive to determine if brake controller system is culprit OR is it some mechanical problem.

I'm going to presume you mean drum when you mention hub. The fact you can't get the brake drum off is concerning and should be immediately corrected since you have no idea of internal components conditions and could be faced with catastrophic situation when towing loaded.