Burning Wheel?!

[adkinsadam1]

SO, sometimes when I drive the truck and park it and get out, I smell a strong burning/hot smell from by back right wheel. The brake has not been on and the tire has not skidded (or at least it shouldn't have). It has done this twice before only on that one wheel and it is a VERY strong smell. I can't tell if it is burning brakes or rubber, but whatever it is, it's not good. I would love to have some insight on this issue! Thanks!

 

[toto]

It's probably brakes. Ensure that the parking brake is fully off. If that's not it, then it could also be a stuck caliper that's applying brake pressure even though you're not. To check that out, you'd have to remove the wheel and inspect the brake caliper and brake pads. If it is a stuck caliper then you need to fix it ASAP, as it's wearing the pads prematurely and could also overheat the rotor to the point where it warps and needs to be replaced.

 

[toto]

Another thought... the exhaust is on that side of the truck, so also take a look underneath to make sure there isn't any garabge or anything caught in that area.

 

[paraordnance]

SO, sometimes when I drive the truck and park it and get out, I smell a strong burning/hot smell from by back right wheel. The brake has not been on and the tire has not skidded (or at least it shouldn't have). It has done this twice before only on that one wheel and it is a VERY strong smell. I can't tell if it is burning brakes or rubber, but whatever it is, it's not good. I would love to have some insight on this issue! Thanks!

I have exactly same problem on exact same wheel. Rear right brake disk sometimes gets so hot you can't touch it, then I have strong burning smell. But it doesn't happen all the time. My brother told me its caliper binding once in a while. Weird, pre-sale complete brakes service was performed by a dealer just 10K ago. Dont know what to do now :moping:

 

[Getsum]

SO, sometimes when I drive the truck and park it and get out, I smell a strong burning/hot smell from by back right wheel. The brake has not been on and the tire has not skidded (or at least it shouldn't have). It has done this twice before only on that one wheel and it is a VERY strong smell. I can't tell if it is burning brakes or rubber, but whatever it is, it's not good. I would love to have some insight on this issue! Thanks!

Pull the tire and drum and inspect for wear. This can catch fire and cause serious damage; don't procastinate!

At a minimum you need to rebuild the caliper...sometimes it's cheaper to just buy the entire assembly and change it out...depends on how much wear there is inside the piston bore. If rebuilding, insure you cross-hatch the walls. If it were me I would inspect both rear sides and do them both as you're going to need to bleed all the brakes.

 

[kimboy]

Please bleed the brake. There's bound to be air bubbles in the line if your rotor severely overheats. Do not wait for this to be done.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

If the wheel feels the same as the other one in terms of heat then consider the following: The driveshaft is right next to the muffler. If you've greased it recently or worked the truck hard (heating the exhaust) it may be nothing.


I agree with the others though, a thorough brake inspection never hurts.

 

[adkinsadam1]

See, the problem is this. Less than a week ago I brought it in for an oil change and had them inspect all the brakes to see if they needed to be replaced. They said the brakes were fine just 1 week ago. Also, I just got done driving from Denver to Seattle. It smelled hot during the trip, but then it smelled hot a few days later on just a 5 minute trip. And then I went out again for the first time this morning for about two minutes and it smelled hot. I felt all the brakes and they seemed to feel equally hot. It almost smells like rubber burning. But my deal is that I have to drive all the way to Montana and then back to Colorado and I can not have anything inspected on the trip.

 

[TechWrench]

See, the problem is this. Less than a week ago I brought it in for an oil change and had them inspect all the brakes to see if they needed to be replaced. They said the brakes were fine just 1 week ago. Also, I just got done driving from Denver to Seattle. It smelled hot during the trip, but then it smelled hot a few days later on just a 5 minute trip. And then I went out again for the first time this morning for about two minutes and it smelled hot. I felt all the brakes and they seemed to feel equally hot. It almost smells like rubber burning. But my deal is that I have to drive all the way to Montana and then back to Colorado and I can not have anything inspected on the trip.

Get yourself one of those cheap infrared temperature sensors, and use it to check both the wheel temp, and the rotor and caliper temps when you smell the problem. If you have a caliper'pad problem, this should indicate it right away. If you see no substantial difference between it and the rest of the wheels, then I would look at the exhaust system, you may have something rubbing against the exhaust, or a bad rubber mount/hanger. Also, you may be having a fuel rich problem, and the cat is getting too hot trying to handle the extra raw fuel in the exhaust. I have seen some cats get 'red' hot under this type of condition, and it doesn't take that long for it to happen.