really hot back wheel (hotbox?)

[olase]

Hi,

last summer at vacation i was in the mountains with my explorer and two mountain bikes in the back. When i went back (downhill with my car) this day i had a stop at the supermarket. When i arrived i could noticed some hotbox smell. I checked my wheels outside and found a really hot one at the back on the driver side. Also you could hear some metal ping noises and cracks and with some distance to the car you even could see some smoke.

Back at the hotel it took more than two hours until the temparature was back on normal level.
From this moment on i was sensitized to check from time to time the temparature. It never came up again to a suspected level. So it seems to be that when i drive downhill i have a issue with my breaks. I thought...

When i had my car now in the fixing garage they checked if they could find anything at that wheel. The result suprised me now a bit cause they found no friction bearings nor a discolored break disk.

Does anyone had a similar problem or has some tips on that what could do?

PS: I know i should have at least some bottles of water or a extinguisher in my car when i go back downhill again.

cheers,
Olaf

 

[Scorpion8]

Yes. I just recently replaced the rear calipers because one was doing the exact same thing. They get grit inside the piston seal and then the caliber either doesn't reset after braking or leaves one brake disc rubbing so the whole unit friction-heats up. The pinging is metal expansion and contraction due to heat, and mine smelled like burning brake fluid. One rubber sliding pin seal also melted. Just replace the calipers. Always do them as a set.

 

[08Exploder]

Going down hill is a very stressful on front which means low traction on the rear if you have advance trac the truck applies the brake to the slipping wheel since it's a rear wheel drive vehicle which in auto then drives the front its first power is on the rear so I would first drive truck normally for a while and see if you notice it getting hot in back if not then your truck was doing what it was designed to do. I wouldn't replace anything until you know what's wrong cause I have went through so many calipers over the years they don't last as well as the originals cause they are remanufactured. If the shop checked to make sure pistion and slides were good I would be surprised if it's bad then.

Tom

 

[edwx]

Same issue with left rear wheel on mine. I made the mistake of touching the rotor, #second degree burn. I only replaced one caliper though.