Message Forums

I wondered if anyone an offer any advice.

I got my caravan from the storage site today which is about 7 miles from my house. When I got back I noticed the alloy wheels were really hot, so hot that I couldn't hold my hand on the wheel. I have a AL-KO secure wheel lock which fits in the spokes, so I often notice that the wheels are hot, but never as hot as today. Both wheels were as hot as each other. I checked the car and they were similar tempreture? Is it just becuase the air tempreture is so hot that it effects the drum brakes slightly differently?

The van is only a year old and has just been serviced.

My concern is that I'm driving down the south of france in a couple of weeks and could do without a problem!!

Any advice or anyone else notice this today?

If it's just been serviced I'd ask the dealer/workshop if the might have overadjusted the brakes. Make certain your handbrake is off & see if you can push the van without undue resistance.

Some years  ago a friend of mine arrived on site & asked me to put my hand on his car hubs. They were red hot, his caravan hubs were stone cold. On investigation, it was discovered that his caravan brakes weren't assembled correctly & his car had been doing all the braking on his 200+ miles journey. This was the first trip out for his brand new caravan after just being through its PDI. He was not happy!!

I'd ask the workshop about the adjustment on yours before heading off to France if I were you.

BB

It may just be because of the heat, the other year on the med I was amazed at how hot the van tyres were and the wheels, the road heat transfers from the tyre through to the rim. All the years over here worrying about slightly warm tyres!!!, over there i couldn't touch the damn things they were so hot!!!

You could always bring it up to the North West where although we have a hosepipe ban it has been raining and today is very cool !!!

For peace of mind jack up the wheel on the van and give it a spin, then ask someone to apply the handbrake on/off, see if its binding.

Quote: Originally posted by cunsworth on 11/7/2010

---

I know this may be an old chestnut, but one of the main causes of drums overheating is leaving the hand brake on while in storage. This can cause the brake pads to seize on. I always park the van, put the steadies down,chock the wheels with the clamp on,then release the hand brake.
I also do this on site if staying for more than a couple of days.
Sorry if I am stating the obvious

---