is there such a thing?

[TGriffith]

Do they make a temp sensor for wheel bearings?



Here’s why I ask, I just got back from a run to Arkansas with some friends (took our Jeeps to the Superlift ORV park) and we were talking about wheel bearing temps on the trailers and he mentioned a situation where he had a retaining clip wedge into the wheel bearing on one of his axles during the trip, the bearing got REALLY hot and had he not stopped at the rest area and noticed the issue he believed he would have had a fire in a few more miles.



Seems like there would be something out there to monitor the temp, wheel bearing fail all the time and it seems that increased heat would be a good clue to replace or repack the bearings.

 

[JFaughn]

The best is using your hand , senses , just hover over them to start than to touch , bearings & brakes , if you really want to go tech , get a hand held infur red , temp gun ,
Or pay twice as much for your new truck , too many bells & whistles .

 

[TGriffith]

The best is using your hand , senses , just hover over them to start than to touch , bearings & brakes , if you really want to go tech , get a hand held infur red , temp gun ,

Or pay twice as much for your new truck , too many bells & whistles .

I wasn't clear in my first post, this is for the trailer.

Right now I just use my hand during my trailer check when we happen stop somewhere but I thought that if there was a sensor kit for the trailer that either had an temp readout or simply a LED that would go on in the cab if the bearings started to get to hot that it could prevent a disaster.

 

[rweis]

I use SmarTire but it is a tire pressure and tire temperature system. Alerts etc etc etc. MIGHT show increased brake temperature if it showed up in tire temperature.



Bob Weis

 

[CRuth]

Be careful using the hand check method. On my old truck I felt something wrong, did the ol hand grab and burned my hand. Luckily I had an ice chest full of ice in the bed or it would have been ugly.

 

[JSchooley]

Harbor Freight has some very inexpensive infrared thermometers. Just point and click. It will tell you if you have one wheel out of whack.



John

 

[jeepit]

Be careful using the hand check method. On my old truck I felt something wrong, did the ol hand grab and burned my hand. Luckily I had an ice chest full of ice in the bed or it would have been ugly.

I had brakes (surge) lock up on my car hauler. I went out and grabbed the hot hub and said a few choice words. I was amazed the tire had not blown.

 

[JFaughn]

You guys did not use the hand method , the hand method is hover over & move slowly to touch , do not touch , if hovering tells you its going to be hot .

 

[MCummings]

Ok, that's great to check your temperatures.



What about traveling? AM I supposed to stop and check every fifteen minutes? Every Half Hour? Every Hour? I can easily drive a full tank of fuel without stopping. I would like to be able to see my wheel bearing temps to see wheel bearing temps. Wheel Bearing failures can happen in just a mile or so.



This is like stopping to check your engines water temperature every fifteen minutes. Things can go very wrong in just a minute or two.



What if road debris kicked up and knocked off a bearing cover on an oil bath axle? A temperature sensor or light could prevent a stranding failure.



I don't want to stop when I feel the trailer tugging, or see smoke, or even a fire. I want to stop when I see bearing temps go from 250* to 350* in less than a mile. Atleast I could possibly prevent excessive damage.







Merrick

 

[Ragain]

You have axles w/ wet bearings? My experience has been that wheel bearings are actually pretty tuff. I once had a hailstone knock a hole in my wheel bearing cover and hub oil stayed in due to centrifical force. Once I stopped it wanted to run out. Kept refilling the hub until I made it into a Spokane trailer supply. I drove it that way for several hundred miles. I have grossely overloaded those axles to the point that the steel wheel actually broke away from the hub and the axle weight was riding on the brake drum against the inside of the wheel rim! (duals) Funny thing was that I wasnt even aware of this until I jumped off the interstate and felt an unusual vibration. So as long as you have the correct preload on the wheel bearings and the correct oil level, they are pretty much trouble free. A good idea is to carry an extra wheel hub with bearings and seal installed to make a roadside swap if you do have a failure.