while towing a 24 ft trailer in tow mode w/distributing hitch the truck smoked the rear axle. no fluid was ever lost. it was on a 175 mile trip. we have now replacind all the bearings in the rear axle and has a slight whine. i did go to royal purple oil 75w syn. anybody had similar issues and what can i do to stop it in future other than monitor temps?? shop said didnt know cause but possibly a pinion bearing going bad.. never any indication of a problem until i smelled 90 w oil on trip. haven't towed anything yet but temps seem to staedy around 140-180deg

 

which bearings did you replace and how do you know it was "smoked" if no fluid was lost?

 

Replaced axle and pinion bearings--the rear axle was so hot you couldn't touch it for awhile, and the 90 w oil smell was so bad you could smell it from 15-20 ft away from the vehicle. The tech says it was full of fluid but very burnt. NEVER GAVE US ANY WARNING SIGNS OF A PROBLEM(NOISES,SMELLS,LEAKS). CHEVY DECLINED ANY ASSISTANCE BECAUSE IT WAS 21 DAYS OUT OF WARRANTY WITH 74 K ON VEHICLE. VERY DISAPPOINTED..

 

you had a bearing failure; bad bearings run hot.

As long as its set up properly and the fluid is changed when required; you should be ok. You just got a bad part.

...and the weight of your trailer is?

 

Trailer weight is 3900 lbs. I would have thought it would have made some noise beforehand? Should i be concerned if when towing it reaches temps of 200 or close ? I have a infared temp gun i'm using to check it periodically.