Grease slung on inside of rim.

[lmannyr]

Noticed grease slung on the inside of rim today. With the tire in the air and spinning, it's noisy. So, the tire/wheel came off. The hub cap came off and noticed brown (water mixed?) grease, not the color when pumped in more grease via zerk fitting.

Took of the hub and after cleaning everything up....noticed this...

What do you think is the problem was and what do ya think I need to do to get back on the water.

PS The other side also has slung grease. The other axle is fine. These axles were purchased NEW from Trailerparts About 8 months ago.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

I hate to say this but that spindle is toast. The area where the seal rides is pitted and took out the seal. That also accounts for the watery mess in the hub. You can install a new seal but it will be junk just a few miles. The seal surface is just behind the rear bearing area on the spindle.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

I sent an email to trailerpart.com letting them know about this. Hopefully they will send me replacement spindles at no cost. The other axles is fine. This axle for some reason has slung grease on both wheels. I don't know what they will say.

 

[nlain]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

You say the other axle is fine, do you say that because you see no grease or have you pulled the hubs and checked, if you have not I would do it now in view of the problem you currently have. This is the time to check and if the axle folks are willing to help get it all in one shot as they may not help at all next time or any warranty will be expired completely. Just some friendly advice.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

This is a torsion axle so just the swing arm needs replacement. Mark the location of the swing arm clamp in relation to the axle so you can install the new swing arm at the same angle.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

I'm off after wednesday for about a week so I'll remove the other 3 hubs and take a look. Trailerpart.com hasn't returned an email yet. I'll follow up with a phone call after I see all the hubs if they haven't contact me yet.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[superpop]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

That axle assembly looks shot, are you hosing the trailer off after every dip in the salt. The only thing I can think if these are only 8 months old is that the seals were wrong or bad and they let saltwater past the seals and rusted the mating surface of the seal and that caused the seals to fail. If both sides are the same that would be my first guess. Are the two that are failing equipped with brakes of any kind?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

It wasn't the lack of washing that killed them, it was the water that got past the seal. No amount of washing could have helped this. In fact, if washing was done with a pressure washer and forced water past the seal, that could have caused it.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

I wash after every trip to the water. I rinse the each wheel in and out with a light shower setting on the hose. Still bugs me since it's only on the "ONE" axle. Anyhow, I'll take the rest off on Thursday and see.

I really hope Trailertire.com lives up to their 5 year warranty.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

I guess you got a bad seal on that one. Chalk it up to the Chinese girl that made it had a bad day.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

It's been 2 days since I sent trailerpart.com an email regarding my spindle troubles and have yet to receive a response. I'm off tomorrow, so I'll remove the rest of the hubs and inspect. Then I'll call them.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

Well here are the other 3 spindles.

Good thing I took the rest off. 3 out of 4 are no good.

The other axle (front axle) did not sling any grease on the inside nor was the grease discolored in either hub/spindle. But one of the spindles were corodin. Only one spindle looks fine to me. Which was the front passenger hub.

Is it safe to say the bearing should be replaced too on the leaky sets? What about the hubs?

Calling Trailerpart.com now....lets see what they say.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

This is what I was afraid of. I'm getting the run around.

So I call the 1-800-866-3336 Trailerpart.com, and they say they don't make the axles that facility. So they give me another Trailerpart #, 1800-866-3339. I call them and they say they buy the components from UCF America and basically it's not their problem. He said he would replace the seals for me but I would be on my own for the rest (hubs, bearing, spindle arm). Trailerpart said call UCF America and see if they can help you.

I call UCF America and ask to speak with the guy that trailerpart recommend I speak with and he said, I don't put together the axle. I sell the components (bracket, torsion rubber, spindle, etc) to trailerpart. Trailer part puts their hubs, bearings, and pack. Basically, also said, "Not my problem."

So here I go calling trailerpart back.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

So I called Trailerpart.com back where they assemble the axle and the same gentleman that blew me off to call the component maker said he would replace the 3 spindle arms and seals but not the bearings or hubs.

They will ship it out today and request the old ones be sent back.

I'm not totally happy about the way this was handled but I'll take what they offer. Bearings should only be a few bucks, I just hope the hubs are fine.

Any tips on removing races?

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

One more thing... The Trailerpart dude does NOT recommend buddy bearings. He said since I had those ( he assumed, don't have em) that it over packs the seals.

I would have thought putting positive pressure with buddy bearings that it would help to keep the water out.

anyhow...

 

[nlain]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

The hubs are probably good. I would remove all of the bearings, clean and inspect them for damage, pits, flaking, rust, scores, if good repack and replace seals with new ones, double lip seals so the seal the grease in and the water out. You need a drift punch and hammer to remove the bearing races, look in the hole and you can see the edge of the race, put the punch on that edge and tap with hammer, working your way around the race, don't just hammer on one side, flip over and do the same, may need a couple pieces of 4X4 to lay the hub on.

As to the use of bearing buddys, they are fine if used correctly, do not pump grease in until the spring loaded cap is push all the way out, I pump grease in mine until the cap is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way out, that leaves room for expansion and will not hurt the seal, the spring pressure will also help keep pressure on the inside of the hubs when you dump the warm hub in the cool water, helps keep the water outside where it belongs.

Here is a link to info on trailer service that may be of interest to you and help you understand what is needed, the guy in the site does things a little different to the way I do but it works.

http://www.etrailer.com/tvc-16-Trailer-Service.html

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

nlain, that helped. The wheels with the slung grease, had brown nasty grease. Those I HAD to replace the bearing in. Those bearings had dark spots and some pitting. Same with the races. The other two, one had the rusted seal surface and the other like new. Those bearings/races were looking like new but replaced one set anyway.

After watching the above videos, it made it a sinch to get er done. One wheel is done. Just waiting on the spindle arms to install the other 3.

Sent an email to trailerpart.com asking for a tracking number but got no response. Trailerpart.com is really bad with emails. Not one email response.

Need to get back on the water to try my hand at dolphin fishing.

 

[nlain]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

Good, glad to here that. Most of the shall we say nuts and bolts side of mechanics is not that difficult if you have some guidance, videos, good service manuals and good folks to advise like here. There are some things that do get quite technical that do require knowledge and special tools.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Grease slung on inside of rim.

Make sure you use a good quality, double lipped seal. The seals that come with most bearing sets are cra$.