When you use a digital infrared temperature sensor what are the acceptable temperatures for tires and wheel bearing in the summer? Basically when it is in the 90's outside.

For tire temps; At 90 outside and on the sunny side your going to see temps from 110 to about 120. I find the shade side is 10~15 degrees cooler.

Check all wheels.. including the tow vehicle and trailer tires/bearings. If you find one higher than the corresponding wheel/bearing or tire that's the one that requires a closer look i.e. tire pressure or bearing. Keep in mind that hard braking will also show up on the wheel close to the bearing(s). Any serious issue will show up with a considerably higher reading.

There are a few variables involved not to mention how much braking has occurred prior to measurements being taken. I did take lots of hub and tire temps in the past and was more concerned with measurements that were not in line with the rest of wheels more than actual temps themselves. Now that I clean and repack my own bearings and make sure tires are filled to their proper psi and not overloaded, I find myself not checking temps as often (maybe 2-3 times a year) anymore.

My son and I just experienced an issue with bearings, brakes and heat. I purchased an infrared temperature guage so we could get a more scientific conclusion on his problem. It's on a boat trailer with surge drum brakes but I will comment here on our issues and results. Hopefully this info will shed some light on your issues with your RV.He had experienced massive bearing failure last season and to make a long story short we replaced spindles, bearings and seals. Of course after being stranded along the road he was terribly nervous about heat issues and it did seem to both of us that his axle with the brakes would have considerably more heat than the axle without brakes. I tried to convince him this was probably normal since brakes work by creating friction and friction is heat! After buying the infrared temp sensor we determined that the brake drum would reach 160 after coming to a stop. The bearing hub of the drum would soon heat up to 145 and I'm sure if we continuously made stops and down hill driving the hubs and drum would have gone higher in temperature. The rim would somewhat follow this rise in temp but probably not get as hot as the drum. We decided that the bearing grease we were using (Lucas Red and Tacky) had a drop temperature of 475 degrees so it should not be an issue with drums getting up to nearly 200. Drop temperature is where the grease turns to a liquid I believe.My boat trailer has disc surge brakes and as we all know run much cooler with less fading than drum brakes. I checked the temperature on my rotors after pulling my boat home and coming down a small hill. The rotors were 135/140 but the callipers were 160. These numbers seemed very similar to his so we determined that everything should be ok. Just to ease our mind though I measured the rotor temp on my 2500 Dodge Cummins to see what the tow vehicle brakes ran at. I read neary 200 on the front rotors!!!!! So in summary I believe axles without brakes will run around 115/120 degrees and axles with brakes will, depending on how much stopping you do, can run up to 160+ degrees with no apparent issue with bearings. My truck runs much hotter than this and there are no issues with bearings! Harbor Freight has small infrared temp sensors for $20 right now and it is a great tool and apparently accurate. I have measured everything around the house such as the thermometer on the patio. They compare very close.We did not measure any tire temperatures since bearing failure has been his problem and constant worry. I will measure tires on the next trip. I have pulled my 5th wheel in the mountains of WV and have at times generated some significant heat I'm sure. With good seals and proper bearing maintenance I have never experienced a bearing failure. I will carry my new infrared temp sensor on the road and monitor what my 5th wheel temperatures are. I'm sure I'm going to seee temps of 180+. I think the main issue you need to concern yourself with is that do you have one wheel running hotter thatn the others. This is a red flag and you need to find out why!!I hope find this information and our experiences helpful.

Funny you should ask....I just checked mine this afternoon after 3 hours in low to mid 90s.....and at 60-63 MPH in highway driving....the rubber was 140-143 all four tires, and the hubs were in the low 120s....one was slightly higher, but that tire carries more weight and usually runs 2-3 PSI higher....

wheel bearing and tire temperatures | Good Sam Community

sk734
Explorer
Jun 28, 2013
With an infrared I usually see 125 to 140 in the heat of summer. I do not ride my brakes and that is stopping at a rest stop without hard braking. I would think over 200 I might start to watch a little closer. I am speaking to hub temps only. How tight you adjust your brakes shoes can also affect temps.
ksbowman
Explorer II
Jun 27, 2013
Dogwood, thanks that's what I was looking for. I have always used the touch method before, but was going to buy an infrared gun and wanted a guide.
partsman01
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
I had always used the hand method, but I like gadgets and bought an infrared one and use it also, the biggest thing is to find we will call it a base temperature and go from there, my tires did what others said as far as the shaded side was cooler, the heavier the load the higher you will see, plus braking comes into it too as far as generation of heat, so I try to check as soon as I stop, and try to stop slow and easy to keep from generating so much heat.
You will see a slight difference, but if things are not right, you will see a bigger difference that you will notice.
pcm1959
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
I use an infrared thermometer gun on my tire/wheel assemblies at stops. Its a super fast way to get a reading and comparison of the temps on each assembly from the tire tread right to the hub. Fast, easy, and clean. Phillip

http://www.raytek.com/Raytek/en-r0/ProductsAndAccessories/PortableThermometers/PortableThermometersSeries/AutoProST25-AutomotiveHandheld/Default.htm
DavinD
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
Sorry for the slight hijack....Do you guys remove your hub caps and just leave them off?
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Jun 27, 2013
Granted were looking for a hotter tire/hub when checking temps.
Keep in mind the tires on the lee side of the trailer in a strong side wind have lots of weight transferred to them causing them to run hotter than the wind ward side.

Its close to 520 miles from my place going straight west to NM/CO. I've seen as much as 25-35 degree temps different side to side in my 5ers tires with the usual strong south wind. Then on the return trip the other side runs hotter.
LOL, much of that country the trees grow with a permanent bow with the top of trees pointing north.
dogwood36322
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
According to TST a tire failure begins from temp around 197 degrees F. It was stated in my tire pressure/temp monitor setup.
markandkim
Explorer II
Jun 27, 2013
up2nogood wrote:
Veebyes wrote:
A simple walk around with a tire touch should tell if one is significantly warmer than the rest.

Works for me

X3 Exactly what I do.
wilber1
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
Veebyes wrote:
A simple walk around with a tire touch should tell if one is significantly warmer than the rest.

It's the Sesame Street technique. Which one of these is not the same as the others?
cummins2014
Explorer
Jun 27, 2013
Veebyes wrote:
A simple walk around with a tire touch should tell if one is significantly warmer than the rest.

Works for me

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