So coming home from Silverwood on Saturday, I had to come down through Crestline because of the 138 being closed by the 15 because of a fire, when I got to the bottom of the hill at Waterman, my brakes smelled very burnt, and they had gotten so hot, all of my wheel bearing grease had become liquified and was dripping out. I have an Extreme trailer with the sliding tongue for the brakes and although I kept my truck in low gear and did not hit the brakes very much, I think just the weight of the boat going down hill is what caused the brakes to be applied. 3 questions........ 1. should 1 replace the brake pads even if they still have quite a bit of material left? 2. Should I replace those wheel bearings or just re-pack them? 3. What should I have done to prevent this from happening? Any help would be appreciated.

But do you have disc or drum brakes on it?


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I'd say as long as the rotors and pads look good roll with it, jmho


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Look into " bearing buddies"

My parents extreme trailer does the same thing. There is a little pin near the front that you can put in that will cause it to not slide forward as easily.


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On the sliding actuators you need to make sure the surge brake slider moves very freely. These have two pounds and slider pads. When they get rusty, they tend to "stick" while going downhill similar to riding the brakes on the car. We have the of these actuators on the family and I have taken all three apart and cleaned then up and lubed the snot out of them. I have also installed a smaller orifice making the brakes less sensitive.

You also may have to bleed them.

I switched to silicone brake fluid.  Just be sure to flush then really well worth denatured alcohol before you switch.

GT

I hear a lot of people say the same thing you did about the brakes sticking, I'll be checking them this weekend. Thanks GT

As for the bearings, I'd recommend cleaning and inspecting them closely before repacking them.  If you find any pitting, damage or severe discoloring I'd recommend replacing them.  A bearing failure can turn catastrophic quickly, causing damage to the axle that will leave you in need of more than just a hub.

Yea, Ive had a bad experience before that's why I want to be cautious, I had a bearing come apart and I lost a wheel, its out in the desert somewhere, never found it. I had to chain the axle up and limp it home....... not fun.