tire temp.

[YWORRYDOG]

Has anyone found it useful to use a Digital Infrared Thermometer to check the tires at every stop?

[wmtire]

Yworrydog, that suggestion reminds me of something I remember from several years back. It seems like Bridgestone/Firestone and Michelin were both experimenting with a radio frequency transmitting computer chip manufactured/embedded into the sidewall of medium (18 wheeler) tires. This chip was supposed to constantly collect tire pressure readings, and I think high temperature readings too (for recapping purposes).

You could just scan the tire with a sensor and get all this info. I think Michelin even went so far as to put monitors in certain truck stops, where you just drove your vehicle by and there was a screen that showed the pressure in each tire, without the driver having to get out, like weight scales.

I don't know if anything ever came from this, or if they even still do it. It seems like all the experimenting was done up in the Yankee north......where it snows and they eat lobster.:)

[SireMike]

I bought a digital thermometer but am not sure what the range should be.

Of course the tires facing the sun will be hotter but what temp should you be concerned about

mike

[Bill]

I haven't used one, but I'm not sure it would be any more useful than simply putting your hand on the tire. I found that my hand got calibrated pretty quickly. And yes, the tires on the sunny side do get warmer - my hand tells me so. I was surprised - I thought that the airflow past the tire would even out the temperatures.

I also put my hand on the hub, just to reassure myself that the bearings are OK.

Bill

[mjlaupp]

Bill,

I use the same procedure except I use the back of my fingers. Why the back of the fingers? I burned my finger tips on the hub one time years ago. Makes handling anything a pain, pun intended. I havent found many things that I want/need to pick up with the back of my fingers so they have time to heal.

I always stop and check within the first 5-10 miles for the towing day and check again at any other stops along the way. It's part of my walk around inspection of the vehicles at every stop. Guess what? The tire on the side toward the sun is always warmer except when it's raining.

Mike

[mtnguy]

So, how hot should your hub be??? I check my hubs often, and have noticed a difference between sides. Maybe the brakes are a little tighter on the hotter side, causing the hub to run a little hotter?? Of course, I have to use the brakes right before stopping and checking temps. I just repacked the bearings on the hotter side, with no noticable temp. improvement. I intend to check the brakes on the cooler side to make sure they are functioning properly. I also check tire temp. and brake drum temp. via the hand method......and those drums can get really hot after some of these mountains here is western VA.

So, the question after all of the above run around: If you can leave your hand on the hub for a couple seconds without getting burned, should that hub be OK??

Chap

[Bill]

If you can leave your hand on the hub for a couple seconds without getting burned, should that hub be OK??My experience is that the hubs run a bit cooler than that. I can leave my fingers on the hubs for any amount of time. It is sometimes marginally uncomfortable, but I don't have to pull them off. Mike, what is your experience?

Bill

[mjlaupp]

In most instances the hubs are warm to very warm to the touch at any time except after extended periods of braking. I have only found them to hot to hold after a long downhill run following a conservative driver. I had to stay on the brakes almost all the way down. If the hubs are too hot touch at any other time then there is something very wrong.

Mike

p.s. I melted or deformed the plastic (yes plastic) caliper brake pistons on one of my minivans going down a mountain following a "conservative" driver. I wasn't towing anything and had a minimum load aboard. I had an automatic an he had a manual and must have been in 1st gear to keep it that slow without braking.

[wbmiller3]

Using my realtime pressure monitoring system I can tell that if I drive a long time with one side in the sun the pressure goes up in that side more than the other side. Also, on rainy days the pressure hardly goes up at all when you drive. Liquid cooling works!

[Freedom]

Another thing that can make a hub hot is having the bearings too loose or too tight.

I had an automatic an he had a manual and must have been in 1st gear to keep it that slow without braking.
I hate it when that happens, but I usually shift the automatic down and brake as little as possible. We were coming down from Pikes Peak and got behind one of "those". Half way down they stop you and check for hot brakes - the other guy was pulled over but we weren't. LOL