Quote:
Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog
I use the back of my hand to feel each of the wheels at a fuel stop. Not very scientific, but you can easily tell if one is hotter than the others.
On my recent trip, I found the driver’s side rear wheel very hot at a fuel stop. I jacked the wheel to check the bearings and found a broken spring hanger. We limped it to the next campground and got a welder to come out and weld the hanger. While I had the wheel off I decided to pull the hub and check the brakes and bearings. The bearings were good, but I repacked them anyway. However the brake pads fell out when I pulled the drum. It appears both the primary and secondary pads came unglued from the shoes and were binding in the drum creating the heat. The rest of the trip went good and there were no more temperature issues.
The likelihood of more than one wheel heating up at the same time is very low, so as much as I love gadgets, the back of my hand is all I need.
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Rob go ahead and get the gadget! The hand thing works pretty well until you get someone jabbering to you (and you jabbering back) while putting your hand on the hubs absent mindedly. A person can blister their hand and come up with some very colorful words!!
You can get one of those infrared temp gauges for $13-14 and have it in a couple of days (just got my 3rd one yesterday).