wheel temperatures while driving

[bobby_badger]

Hi all

I fear this is a daft question but I have to ask it. Is it normal for the wheels to be hot after driving for a while? I have normal non-alloy wheels and I mean the main metal bit that gets bolted to the car, not the detachable trims. I'll call these the wheel rims - please correct me if this is not the correct name.

I normally check our tyres at the local supermarket garage 2 minutes from home. That was out of order on Saturday so I stopped at a garage about 7 miles away to check our tyres and put a little air into them. I noticed the wheel rims were warm. I have never noticed this before but I've usually only driven 2 minutes when checking my tyres. We drove onto our destination, another 8 or so miles up and down hills, and I checked them again and they were hot. Both front ones, not the rears. I know brakes work via friction and I imagine the front brakes take most of the load but is it normal for the wheels to get hot? It's a 2.5L 4WD.

Thanks,
Iain

[g8dhe]

If the brake is binding then yes they will get hot, is it just one side at the front ?

[bobby_badger]

Both sides. By binding you mean sticking? We haven't used the van very much over the winter but we have used it every 2 or 3 weeks, for journeys of of 30 minutes or so.

[Tessie]

The act of braking will create heat because of the friction of the pads against the disc. It depends how often and for how long the brakes are applied as to how much heat will be created. You say that the wheels were warm but then hot so unless you have been braking excessively you wouldn't expect the wheels to be really hot in a short distance covered.

It is a fairly easy job to check if the brakes are binding by jacking the wheels off the ground and spinning them by hand, applying the brakes and then releasing to see if the wheels turn fairly easily. It is quite possible that the brakes are binding if the calipers or pistons are sticking.

If you are not confident about checking it out yourself get the vehicle to a trusted garage and have the brakes examined to make sure they are working as they should. There is nothing particularly out of the ordinary with Bongo braking systems so any competent garage should be able to sort them out for you.

[Bob]

The wheels likely won’t spin by hand on a 4wd.

[bobby_badger]

Thanks all - sounds like I'd better get them checked out Better to have it happen now than when we're away in it I guess

[Tessie]

The wheels likely won’t spin by hand on a 4wd.

Ah! missed that bit , probably because mine is a 2wd and I can spin the wheels.........when the brakes aren't binding

[nth]

Get yourself a contactless thermometer. Great piece of kit for checking for binding brakes. immediately after a run with lots of braking measure the temp of the wheels (or ideally on the brake discs). The front wheels will always be a good bit hotter than the rears but you are looking for a big difference between each wheel on the same axle. Wouldn't really want to see more than 5°C difference between each brake.

[teenmal]

The wheels likely won’t spin by hand on a 4wd.

If they don't , you need to have them checked out.