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trailer brakes smoking


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All, my uncle just picked up an 03 Wakesetter. Upon arrival to the lake we noticed smoke coming from the brakes. It appears that the grease is burning. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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All, my uncle just picked up an 03 Wakesetter. Upon arrival to the lake we noticed smoke coming from the brakes. It appears that the grease is burning. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Sounds like your bearings are going.

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We had the same problem a few weeks ago on a friends VLX. When we got to the lake the grease was dripping out of the Bearing Buddy on the wheel with the brakes on the axle(rear) on a tandem trailer. We had to jack up the wheel and back off the brakes some. For some reason the adjusters were too far out and not letting the brake shoes return to normal position causing the brake to drag and heating up the wheel assy so hot that you couldn't touch it.

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All the above plus:

Did you check to make sure the emergency cable was not pulled slightly? It can engage the brakes slightly, heating everything up. Once things get that hot, it can cause additional damage. If you're not comfortable with it, I would suggest getting it to a reputable trailer service center to have it checked.

If you let us know where you are, the collective resources will fill in any experiences with specific repair shops in your area.

What kind of trailer do you have?

Disc, drum?

What actuator?

The trailers are typically put under the boat by the dealer so knowing which boat doesn't help us with the trailer.

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I've got a wheel bearing cap starting to leak also, I'll be pulling the wheel off this sat. to investigate Whistling.gif

You have an Extreme tailer IIRC and doesn't it have the oil bath hubs?

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thanks for all the input guys, we're going to attempt to troubleshoot tonight, I'll let you know how it goes and have answers to the questions posted.

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I've got a wheel bearing cap starting to leak also, I'll be pulling the wheel off this sat. to investigate Whistling.gif

You have an Extreme tailer IIRC and doesn't it have the oil bath hubs?

Yeah I do, but when we got back from the WOW I noticed that the rear left rim had oil all over it. Didn't have time to pull the wheel off that day because I spent the entire day washing all the camping equipment, putting it all away in storage and washing out the carpet and gunk off the hull, never seen the boat that dirty even though we camped on the water most of the time. It was worse than last years WOW.

It was really dirty for being in that nice clean lake water Whistling.gif

It must have been a combo of the fire smoke that settled on the lake for those few days, the scum was really thick :unsure:

Edited by 68Slalom
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try the actuator. I had two seasons with that problem and I had my brakes turned twice. bearings replaced twice, brakes replaced. I went to les schwab four times and finally took it to ryan trailers who fixed it. They told me one good piece of advice when working on trailers. start with the front and work backwards. I had hours into this trailer as well as schwab and we missed the actual problem until it went to the manufacturer who fixed it at their cost and only my time to take the trailer to them. Next time they smoke just crawl under and drain the fluid for the ride home so you dont burn you bearings up as well as your brakes. I know all to well as I had a brake fire on the way home from shasta and I had to do this to make it home. it was not to bad pulling it home. just my two cents plus a cent or two, blake

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try the actuator. I had two seasons with that problem and I had my brakes turned twice. bearings replaced twice, brakes replaced. I went to les schwab four times and finally took it to ryan trailers who fixed it. They told me one good piece of advice when working on trailers. start with the front and work backwards. I had hours into this trailer as well as schwab and we missed the actual problem until it went to the manufacturer who fixed it at their cost and only my time to take the trailer to them. Next time they smoke just crawl under and drain the fluid for the ride home so you dont burn you bearings up as well as your brakes. I know all to well as I had a brake fire on the way home from shasta and I had to do this to make it home. it was not to bad pulling it home. just my two cents plus a cent or two, blake

blake0401,

I too have a Ryan trailer and have had some brake issues in the past. What did they find wrong with the actuator? Was it something that you are able to inspect/check? I've wondered if maybe there was something wrong with my actuator but didn't really know what to look for.

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I've got a wheel bearing cap starting to leak also, I'll be pulling the wheel off this sat. to investigate Whistling.gif

You have an Extreme tailer IIRC and doesn't it have the oil bath hubs?

Yeah I do, but when we got back from the WOW I noticed that the rear left rim had oil all over it. Didn't have time to pull the wheel off that day because I spent the entire day washing all the camping equipment, putting it all away in storage and washing out the carpet and gunk off the hull, never seen the boat that dirty even though we camped on the water most of the time. It was worse than last years WOW. The next boat that I order will have plain-jane hubs on its trailer.

It was really dirty for being in that nice clean lake water Whistling.gif

It must have been a combo of the fire smoke that settled on the lake for those few days, the scum was really thick :unsure:

Sounds like you've got a leaky seal. I've had 3 fixed & have a 4th to go (last one is letting go). I'm so fed up with these things that I'm half tempted to go like chatham & replace all of them with traditional hubs. The ironic thing about this is that they claim that the '04 trailers were the worst & that they've gotten a lot better, yet I never had a single problem with our '04 trailer. See below also, that's another thing to watch for.

I've had to remove my wheels and tighten the screw for the oil bath hubs. They seem to back out over time.
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Swankrides, When I took the trailer to them they just told me to start at the front. they mentioned that les schwab knows tires but not trailers. The only thing I can think back to with the original actuator was that it was slow to reset to its unbraked position. It use to take quite a while after I backed the trailer up to have the actuator slide back to its unbraked position or where the slide is towards the front. Once I had the actuator fixed it was a total difference to pull. The trailer had never pulled correctly since I had it. This was last year when I had it fixed and I truely did not take a couple long distance trips becuase I was tired of trying to adjust my brakes which were not out of adjustment. The one thing I did notice when pulling the trailer which I thought was a brake problem was that every once in a while I would feel as if some little trunk monkey was under my boat applying the brakes. I would constantly back them off, adjust them when I was at my destination or prior to heading home but after about 100 miles or so maybe less it would start surging again. I had the brakes turned twice, replaced the bearngs twice , bled the brakes twice etc and nothing helped until the actuator was fixed. Ryan said the acutator cost about 120.00 but they replaced it for free after hearing about my trials and tribulations. I pulled the trailer to ryan which is about a 1/2 hour from my house in Canby and the wheels were hot to the touch even though the brakes were backed off. Ryan pulled the trailer for 60 some miles with the boat on it after fixing it and the bearings never got over 78 degrees. I just came back from shasta and trinity for a couple of weeks and i had a digital temperture gauge and the bearings never broke 80 degrees even in 110 degree heat. I can say if you have a problem with a ryan trailer call them directly if you can. It would be worth it to take it to the manufacturer and have them fix their product. The guys were great to work with and quick. they told me originally if they could not get it to work they would either put disc brakes on or replace the trailer. HOpe this helps. Ryans web site shows them in estacada but it is in beavercreek. Blake

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Problem solved, repalced the bearings even though they looked good, greased em up, did a road test, everthing is working great. Thanks for all the input.

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Problem solved, repalced the bearings even though they looked good, greased em up, did a road test, everthing is working great. Thanks for all the input.

If the bearings where good thats not the problem IMO, the race would show signs of wear if the bearing was bad.I would guess the slave clyinder on the bad wheel got stuck causing a braking action, heating up the hub and causing the grease to squirt out. It may have unstuck itself while you where banging of the bearing buddies and the drum hubs etc to get to the bearings. I would be aware did you check the slave cylinder for rust under the boot, that would give you a good idea of the condition of your slaves?

If it where emergency brakes or a back setting switch sticking all the brakes would have got hot hence why I think it is a single slave. If it is bad replace them all and bleed the system consider replacing the master clynider as well, should be under $200 for all of it easy. Cheap insurance in my mind

Jason

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