Brake Trouble?

[Rolind]

We arrived at Ft Lauderdale on the way to the Keys today and noted a severe flat spot on one tire worn into the steel plys. We have a TST tire monitor and never had a high temp warning and fortunately the tire is still holding pressure. Brakes didn’t feel hot and tire at arrival was same temp as all the others. 
Changed the tire, and brakes seem to work fine and no obvious bearing issues with hand rotation. We are getting a new tire in Marathon tomorrow and a mobile service tv tech is coming to look over the brakes on Wednesday.  
Trailer has about 27k miles on it. 
Any other suggestions on what happened and what to do next. 

 

[jd1923]

7 minutes ago, Rolind said:

Any other suggestions on what happened and what to do next?

Odd that's it's rolling fine now, after you jacked it up. Obviously at some point it was stuck in that one position. Brakes locking up must be it if the bearings are good, but why are they no longer locked up?

Hope things work out for you quickly without anything major! Best wishes, JD

[topgun2]

The only thing that I can think of is that something got jammed in the brakes which either made that single brake lock in the "on" position or that something was like a stone that jammed the brake very tight to the drum on that one brake.  Then as you backed up the trailer - probably into the camping spot - whatever was jammed became released thus causing everything to return to normal.

I assume that your mobile tech will check the brake wiring, the magnet and all other parts of the brake (at least on that wheel) plus the bearings, etc..

What pressure do you run in your tires?  I ask because the worn spot is directly in the center of the tire as opposed to being spread out.  This might indicate that your pressures are too high.  Also, can you tell us what TPMS system you are using and what your "high" temperature limit is set at?  I would have thought that the temps should have reached a high enough level to trigger the TPMS unless (of course) the wheel wasn't really "locked up" all that long.

Bill

p.s.  glad that other than the cost of the tire and the mobile tech that everyone is OK.

[Rolind]

Thanks all for the input. My tire monitor is a TST 507. Tire pressures are a little more difficult as the tires were inflated to 65 psi when the temp at home was 60ºF in anticipation of colder weather. When we left Louisville, the temp was thirty and pressures were down to about 57 psi. Last night on the way from a several day stopover in Charleston the ambient temp was 22ºF and pressure was down to 55 psi. Temp upper limit is the factory default of 158º.

i also wonder how many miles it took to wear down the tire to that extent. They trailer had been sitting for several months before we left and maybe the brake mechanicals were rusted and stuck. The trailer has about 24k miles on it with some salt air exposure in Anastasia in St Augustine and Bahia Honda. I will be interested to see what the brakes look like when the mobile tech removes the drum.  Hopefully the trip tomorrow to the keys goes smoothly!. 
We absolutely feel like we dodged a bullet today and have said our thanks.