2004 Yukon Denali front driver's wheel getting hot

[loulblades]

To all,

I haven't been here in awhile (too much work and too little time) but I am hoping someone might help me out.

About 4 months ago I was driving along and started getting some funnyness from the front end. I pulled over to find my front driver's wheel very hot. The funnyness was similar to what I felt when the passenger side wheel bearing went out. My sister was able to bring me a new hub assembly which I changed out along the road (thanks to my DeWalt 18v impact wrench and the socket I had in my tool box from the last change).

About a month later I stopped to get gas (I had only put about 150 miles on since the change) and noticed the wheel was hot again.

Figuring I got a bad part, I took it off and NAPA exchanged it. After another ride I found the wheel getting hot again.

So I'm beginning to think my original assumption of a wheel bearing may have been faulty based on 1) the wheel is still getting hot and 2) thinking back I don't remember getting ABS faults like I did when the passenger side bearing went out.

In my mind that leaves the brakes and the CV joint. I took it for a 10 mile ride this AM and did the usual brake tests: hands off the wheel with and without brakes applied. Hit the brakes hard then leave off to see if there is any dragging. When I returned the wheel was pretty hot. I felt the axle thinking if the CV was causing the heat it would be hot (it wasn't). The closer I got to the wheel, the more heat (the backing plate was almost too hot too touch).

I also compared thinkness of the pads and rotors of both wheels.

So at this point I am thinking the brakes are somewhile causing the excess heat but I hate to throw a caliper at this before I get some other opinions.

Any help would be appreciated.
TIA

Lou

 

[Sasquatch]

The only thing it can be is the brakes.

It`s probably the caliper not releasing all the way. I would take off the front tires and manually spin the rotors and see if there is any abnormal drag.

 

[CTown LTZ]

I had the same issue on my '05. Changed the bearing which was bad but realized the caliber mounting bracket had warped. The pads would not move freely causing the excess heat. It wasn't terrible at first but did get way worse. Actually went through 3 brackets from AutoCrap and O'Reillys. Fortunately, Advanced had one that was good but the shims were not and had to grab a set from a rebuild kit and voila. This happened on a Sunday and they were the only option.

 

[loulblades]

I will look at that later today.

Was it obvious the bracket was warped (visual inspection) or were there other indicators (other than the heat)?

Also you mentioned the brakes dragging. Were you able to "feel" that when driving?

Thanks for the reply.
Lou

 

[CTown LTZ]

Didn't feel the drag in the beginning but did later, the drivers side pads were worn a little more (believe outside pad only). The drag came on slowly but definitely was noticeable after the fix. No real visual inspection, was really hard to remove the pads from bracket an the new pads had to be forced on. That's when I realized the bracket was bad (after trying 3 sets of pads). The pads should be able to move slightly when brakes aren't engaged.

 

[loulblades]

I changed the bracket and the pads (not that they needed it but I figured what the heck).

After putting it together I jacked up the passenger side so I could spin the wheel to check for a warped rotor but at that point the caliper had not released enough to spin the wheel.

I removed the caliper and new bracket returning the bracket and getting a new caliper and bracket (came in a set).

So now all seems to be okay. I guess the caliper was hanging enough to cause it to heat up but not enough to pull.

Thanks for the help.

Lou