[Msmith2054]

What a wonderful surprise! Pulled the hubs from both axles and found everything looking normal. Plenty of meat on the shoes, nothing burnt or melted in any of the hubs. On the inside of the backing plate is where I saw the source of the burning smell. The wires for the front axle brake magnet on both sides had melted at the connector and had become one with the backing plate on each side.
Cut off the melted sections of wire on each side and reconnected the green/black to each other and short has disappeared! I metered the wire from the front to the wheels separately and I have full continuity and no short to ground so I feel confident the remaining wiring is ok. Visual inspection of what could be seen looks fine.
Of course, I cleaned the bearings, axles and hubs of old grease and repacked the bearings and reinstalled with new grease seals.
But, I will take the recommendations and purchase new backing plate assemblies with auto adjusters and replace them next time I pull the hubs.

Thanks to everyone that posted helpful hints and recommendations.

Now, where is that highway that leads to the lake.................