Today, I took a friend's trailer a few miles to pick up some material. It is a tandem axle 16' trailer. I looked back, and there was smoke pouring out of one wheel. I had just started from a stop, and was doing about 15 mph. I pulled over, put it in reverse, and then went forward and all was good. The tire had jammed up in some way, and the smoke was from the tire skidding, and not from the hub.
This trailer has electric brakes, but they are not hooked up. When I got home, I had driven about eight miles. That one wheel was very warm, and the outer brake drum was nearly hot.
I think what has happened is that some component has come loose inside there, and jammed. Backing up unjammed it, but there must still be something causing the shoe to come out and engage the drum making it hotter than the rest. The rest were cool to the touch.
I am going to block the trailer up tomorrow, and take that wheel off first, and look for loose parts, or obvious failure.
Should I just put a spring on there to hold the electric brakes closed? I would do this to all four wheels. Plus, check the bearings while I have it in the air. This trailer is not used for heavy loads, and my friend would probably not want to spend the $$ to have it put back as new, as it was manufactured in 1965.
A mechanic friend of mine said to just take off all the shoes and everything, and not be bothered in the future. My friend pulls this with a
3/4 ton truck, enough to handle the trailer and load.What would you do?
Steve