Almost ready for the water, then found problem with trailer bearings

[elkhunter338]

some of you may remember my winter project was new axles, springs and disc brakes. Well that all seemed to go well but this weekend I took the trailer for 5 mile test pull and found metal in my new oil lube hubs.
What it was from was the Kodiak oil lube hub kits. The alum hub hit the washer behind the wheel bearing nut. The washer is slightly larger than the nut and slightly larger than the inside of the alum. hub. So when I drove the alum. oil lube hub onto the trailer axle hub it pushed into the washer by maybe 1/16 of an inch. Well now I have alum flakes all through my bearings. To replace all the bearings and seals will not be cheap.
I am contacting the place where I bought the axles and oil lube hub kits and hopefully they will send me new bearings and oil lube hub kits (include the seals which are not your run of the mill seal for when you use grease).
To fix the issue all I have to do is grind the washer down alittle bit, then there will be clearance.

Since alum is softer than steel I think the bearings might be ok. In the past I had alot of alum get into a motorcycle engine from a timingchain issue. I fixed the problem and ran the motor cycle for along time until I sold it. All that alum when through the engine bearings, oil pump and such with no failure.
I will see if southwest wheels will send me new bearings and seals.

My outdrive went on alright so I should be ready for the water in that aspect.
Hope others are having better luck getting their rig ready for the summer fishing season.

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: Almost ready for the water, then found problem with trailer bearings

To all who read this posting I did some more investigation and the problem I described above only applied to the idler hubs.
Kodiak was very helpful. The silver/cad coated disc brake hubs had flakes of cad coating off the bearing races from when they coated the whole hub. This is normal and causes no problems per Kodiak.
The idler hubs did have alum in them, but I pulled a outer bearing out of the hub tonight and there is no damage to the bearing. So I flushed the hub out with outdrive oil, made the washer slightly smaller so it will no longer hit the alum housing and plan to be back on the road with minimal cost. I will let everyone know how I like my oil lube hubs at the end of the summer.

 

[dozerII]

Re: Almost ready for the water, then found problem with trailer bearings

Thanks for the info Elkhunter, I am considering oil bath hubs for my fifth wheel, but have read alot of mixed reviews, so I'm still on the fence.
Glen

 

[KellyC]

Re: Almost ready for the water, then found problem with trailer bearings

Yea Elk, I am looking forward to seeing how things go for you. I was looking at them as well for the Islander trailer and almost bought them and then started seeing the mixed reviews and thought I would see if anyone else has them and how they liked them.

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: Almost ready for the water, then found problem with trailer bearings

The kodiak oil lube hub kits are quality products, nice seal (does not seal on the axle spindle, but seals internally), nice alum housing and poly carb cap.
The only problem is getting the alum housing off if you need to without dinging up the housing.
I was going to make puller tool, but used a hammer instead. No damage other than visual.
I will give a report of my first trip to the coast in July (400 miles).
I went to oil lube hubs because I was tired of the bearing buddy and grease issues.
In salt water the spindle rusts where the seal rides and you never get long life out of the seals until a little water gets in the grease. Worst case I will pump grease into the hubs since the axles are drilled and tapped for grease fittings if the oil does not work out well.