Hi- Have 2005 exiss gooseneck with 7200 # axles. April this year I heard squecking from wheels that seemed to vary along with trailer speed and most noted going very slowly and around corners. Thought it might be brakes, took to my dealer- they turned the drums and repacked wheel bearings. Noise got better for awhile then past 6 weeks it was howling so loud when I made turns that people were pulling me over!! Did this whether or not I used brakes . Took back to dealer this week, they could not find anything wrong, so spoke to axle manufacturer( Dexter) who told them to replace the brak shoes because the older ones were made of some different compound than the new ones and that would cause the noise. They did- still made noise like in April- so did take it from extremely loud howl on turns to sqeek. Then Dexter said replace the drums- so they did. Sounded good pulling away from dealer but 1 hour later, back to sqeeking on turns Any ideas out there?? Someone has suggested axles may need to be aligned??
Posted 2012-10-07 11:50 PM (#147497 - in reply to #147489) Subject: RE: Trailer wheels screeching/howling
Expert
Posts: 3853 Location: Vermont
How worn are the tires? Are the wear patterns irregular?Did they actually look at the bearings?When you apply just the trailer brakes does the sound diminish?
Posted 2012-10-08 11:08 AM (#147511 - in reply to #147497) Subject: RE: Trailer wheels screeching/howling
New User
Posts: 3
Location: Nevada
Hi- Tires are new abt 1000 miles on them- had old tires when first started, changing tires did not change problem.Last set of tires did wear unevenly- sorry do not remember how they wore-but I seem to remember 1 axle worse than the other and almost a scalloping or cupping initially-but I admit I was remiss in rotating tires. The tire guys at Les Schwab said the type of wear wouild indicate an axle alignment problem but my dealer says these axles are fixed and cannot be aligned.Have not tried using brakes to see if goes away-will do that this week and report back.Are you saying use brake controller only to apply tailer brakes? thanks for your response They say bearings looked good
Posted 2012-10-08 1:12 PM (#147518 - in reply to #147489) Subject: RE: Trailer wheels screeching/howling
Elite Veteran
Posts: 807 Location: Tenn/Ala.
The 7200# Dexter axles are notorious for brake noises when driving. There have been several things done, including a different shoe material, along with a different design of backing plate which is supposed to support the show better. When one hears brake noises like that, it is caused by an unwanted vibration. In this case, the larger shoes are not getting enough support to hold them still. No harm is being done- just very annoying. On newer axles, I have had Dexter furnish superceeded backing plates, that helped but didn't completely cure the problem.
Posted 2012-10-10 8:43 PM (#147573 - in reply to #147489) Subject: RE: Trailer wheels screeching/howling
New User
Posts: 3
Location: Nevada
Thanks for the info. Replaced shoes with new ones and replaced drums-now have squeeking around corners and after applying brakes when restart but the horrible constant loud screeching is gone- so this may be the best we can do? At least it does not sound like a safety isue- ie wheels falling off while driving down the road- thanks for the input
Trailer wheels screeching/howling
