warm locking hubs

[stickerbuoy]

Red sidekick, specs in my signature...

I cannot believe how many issues are coming up on this car. Ever since I decided to build another one it's been nothing but trouble. I swear it knows that it's about to be replaced.

I just came back from a trip to town, and the right manual locking hub is quite warm. I haven't had time to do a thorough check-up yet. It did seem like I had less power coming home.

The knob turns easily enough. I rebuilt them a couple of months ago and they've worked fine till now.

Any ideas off the top of your head for things to check?

[fixkick]

not pulling to right, ? or braking pull?

its either the rotor hot, or bearings.
but using the brakes will get them all very hot.
if not using brakes and only one hot, that is rotor drag or bearings (wheel)
the caliper slider pins can seize on this car and cause full time drag.
my real jeep has SST pins with teflon guides, by comparison.

use an IR pyro gun to the rotor then to see if its hot, then hub. see who is more hot.
if the rotor is way hotter it is , and is dragging some way, even a rusty sticky caliper pistons.

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if the locking hub:
stick open ,it slips
if it stick closed car will want to pull funny to one side. (stuck) and is a bad act that. im sure yours unlocks. if not sure you can remove them and drive.
or jack one side at a time and attempt to spin the tire, you will see the CV's spin with a locked hub.

[stickerbuoy]

Took off the wheel today. The brake calipers move smoothly. The inside brake pad is worn almost to the wear groove. The outside pad is still fine. When the wheel is on and it's jacked up, the hub locks and unlocks properly. The wheel also spins freely.

When I did a test drive, it was the rotor that got hot first. The hub is not the source of the heat as far as I can tell. There is no sounds coming from the bearing that I can hear though.

Braking does not pull the car to one side.

Could it still be the bearing?

I have also noticed that sometimes in the deep cold (-20C or lower) that at the end of a long trip the brake pedal is hard to press down. Could the brake booster be causing any of this?

[fixkick]

i dont think its bad bearings.
not the booster, but the brakepedal top rod to booster must have play or the MC can clock up brakes. easy.
that uneven pad wear is wrong.
if the caliper sliders are good. slide easy id say the piston in the caliper is sticking.
for sure braking turns forward energy to heat, that is the brakes job. and some dust.
but that hot rotor is a clue. the other is not hot. so it should not be hot. if its hottest then it is pad drag for some reason.

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the black rubber flex line to the calipers can crack inside and block or get 99% restricted, on old lines this old.

the MC not retracting locks all brakes.

i think is caliper or hose to it.

[stickerbuoy]

There was a fair amount of rust on the inside of the cylinder. The cylinder itself was gold colored, so I thought it was from a pin or clip and I didn't check much further. Can the cylinder be taken out and cleaned?

Another drive today of about 10 miles made the rotor hot but the hub just barely warm, so either the brake pad has finally worn enough to compensate, or the problem has gone away...

[fixkick]

cylinder/?

[stickerbuoy]

piston

[fixkick]

caliper piston removed?

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caliper kits? or a new rebuilt caliper from raybestos, is $37 on rockauto.com
rock has new piston the seal kit and even new guide pin kits. all very cheap. and many choices..

id get the raybestos.rebuild.
if doing your own rebuilds.
the piston must be 100% rust free on the outside ! no pitting allowed.
and the caliper bore seal groove same, no pitting.
a new seal , allows the seal to help the piston retract ,called stiction.. there are 3 forces that help this. stiction, rotor natural wobble and natural wheel bearing play .002" and pad springs.
some cars (MPG mod) installs stronger springs on pad to make them retract better. i dont think they are necessary, good brakes do not drag, moving.