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Trailer Brakes Hot


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I have a 2008 Boatmate tandem trailer with surge brakes and only about 90 hours on it and boat. Noticed the last two times out when I get to lake (10 miles) that I smelled the brakes. I felt the chrome wheels and the front drivers and rear passenger wheels were smoking hot. The others were just a little warm.

Actually burned my finger touching the chrome on one of the hot ones. Nothing else looked abnormal. I had some dark brake dust on those wheels but that usually happens. I've never noticed this before. It is moderatly hilly on the drive to lake but nothing extreme. I checked the emergency brake cable and it appears in the usual position. Boat pulls fine, backs well and when it is unhooked I can move it around in the barn so brakes don't seem seized. Nothing is making any abnormal noises. The temps have been very hot here these last two weeks (high 90s) and 99 today. I have not put it on a jack and spun the wheels yet.

Is this normal and I've just never noticed it before, or could two of the four brakes be locking or braking too aggressively or could it be the wheel bearings?

Thanks for any insight.

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That is a potentially hazardous situation if you have drum brakes and standard hubs, not sure what you have though, can you clarify?

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I have a 2008 Boatmate tandem trailer with surge brakes and only about 90 hours on it and boat. Noticed the last two times out when I get to lake (10 miles) that I smelled the brakes. I felt the chrome wheels and the front drivers and rear passenger wheels were smoking hot. The others were just a little warm.

Actually burned my finger touching the chrome on one of the hot ones. Nothing else looked abnormal. I had some dark brake dust on those wheels but that usually happens. I've never noticed this before. It is moderatly hilly on the drive to lake but nothing extreme. I checked the emergency brake cable and it appears in the usual position. Boat pulls fine, backs well and when it is unhooked I can move it around in the barn so brakes don't seem seized. Nothing is making any abnormal noises. The temps have been very hot here these last two weeks (high 90s) and 99 today. I have not put it on a jack and spun the wheels yet.

Is this normal and I've just never noticed it before, or could two of the four brakes be locking or braking too aggressively or could it be the wheel bearings?

Thanks for any insight.

Normal operating temp for surge brakes is up to 265F per rotor, says Extreme trailer and UFP. I went through the same concerns. If there are wheels that are not hot, does that axle have brakes? Be worried about the wheels that dont get hot! They may not be working, if there are brakes on that axle.

I actually bought a digital inferred thermometer to read the temps of my rotors, a $40 buck investment at Home Depot. Short story is, regardless of some advice you may receive about others only being slightly warm to the touch, brakes get hot when they are used. If i drive 100 miles on the freeway and come to a very slow stop, mine arent hot either. A drive around town and the rotors are 190+F fast. Completely normal.Clap.gif

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I had a similar problem on a 2008 Boatmate Tandem with 4 wheel disc brakes.

One smelled hot and was significantly hotter to the touch (actually the wheel, not the disc).

One of the calipers had froze up and would not fully release. My bill was $175 to have it replaced.

Try this -

Jack up the trailer and rotate the wheels. One of mine spun freely. The other rubbed. I took the disc set apart and ttried cleaning the pins, and that helped a little but did not fix the problem.

I found a boat / trailer repair place to fix mine when I was out for a week on the lake - then they could work on it without the boat.

Also - we may have the same trailer. if you don't have the brake booklet let me know and i can scan and send you a copy of the booklet.

Edited by Soon2BV
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I have the same problem with my 05 boatmate trailer, lots of steam when it went into the water one day.

It was a frozen caliper, I removed it from the axle, popped the cylinder out cleaned it up and put it back together, worked fine after that. They tend to stick because the brake fluid gets nasty in those trailers, regular bleeding is important to keep the brakes working properly.

Would an 08 trailer still be under warranty?

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I have the same problem with my 05 boatmate trailer, lots of steam when it went into the water one day.

It was a frozen caliper, I removed it from the axle, popped the cylinder out cleaned it up and put it back together, worked fine after that. They tend to stick because the brake fluid gets nasty in those trailers, regular bleeding is important to keep the brakes working properly.

Would an 08 trailer still be under warranty?

Thanks,

Not sure if under warranty, my boat still is until Oct. Is the trailer warranty same? Problem is my dealer is 75 miles away so I can't really drive it there.

I did jack up the trailer with boat on it last night and checked one of the wheels that gets hot and has more brake dust. It did seem that the caliper was sticking so I bet this is the problem. How much fluid should be in the resevoir on at the trailer neck and what type of fluid does it take?

Edited by Tedro
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Just an update on the hot trailer brakes in case anybody else has same issue. Called Boatmate, they informed me of some things to try: bleed lines, clean calipers/pins and re-grease, check fluid, emergency brake, ect. I did all the above with no help. They seemed surprised it was two bad calipers at once. When I would jack up trailer had two different brakes, port front and back starboard sticking. The piston on the caliper would not release after it was deployed by pushing on the actuator even when I would push it back with a c-clamp and would bleed lines.

Ordered two new UFP calipers from Boatmate for $79 each and installed them last night and that has solved the issue.

Just hope the other two don't malfunction anytime soon. Luckily no other damage was done to the rotors, wheel. tires or lines. The brake pads were more worn on those calipers. I replaced those with the new ones. Weird they both went bad with so little mileage and with so few hours and always garage kept. Guess just really harsh enviornment for brakes on a boat trailer and with sitting all winter.

TR

Edited by Tedro
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