lowkee
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2008
- Messages
- 1,890
This is a story of my recent move, 600 miles away.
To begin, it should be known I haven't towed anything for a number of years, and never a boat of this size (20' bowrider I/O), so to say I was nervous about the trip is calling a lion a kitty cat. I, even owning my boat 2 years, have never towed it anywhere outside my small back yard and had no idea what axle bearings even looked like. Even though I used to tow a large utility trailer all over creation, I have never maintained a trailer before this.
One afternoon, I set out to examine my axle bearings and repack as needed. I did some prior reading as to how to repack bearings, so if worse came to worse, I could do it in a pinch. After removing the trailer tire, I pulled the corroded cotter pin and used my largest wrench to undo the stuck-on axle nut. The axle hub pulled right off and exposed two bearing sets and a pretty banged up axle shaft.
It appears the previous owner used a hammer to get the last bearing race into place (or loosen it?) and wasn't a very good aim. There were hammer nicks all over the axle shaft, which unfortunately is welded to the axle itself, not bolted on like most replacements. So, it appears the axle shaft, from lack of options, is "good enough", since I didn't have time (or the energy, after packing a loading truck) to replace the entire axle. I instead concentrated on the bearing sets.
When I tested the bearings in a professional manner (trying to spin them with my fingers) I couldn't get either bearing to move, or come out of the race for that matter. I also could smell the distinct odor of burnt oil (grease, in this case). The bearings were completely frozen, which means the races were turning on the shaft directly. Not good. It appeared new axle bearings were in order, for both sides as it turned out.
Now, if you have ever priced bearings before, you know they are pretty cheap. At $20 per set, buying new ones is cheap prevention of a breakdown miles from anywhere. But, as it turns out, all new axle hubs, complete with new bearings already pressed into place are only $30! Yay for those Chinese guys! So far we have a tally of $60 for all new parts.
Now that I had new hubs, I moved to the tires. They were actual trailer tires with decent tread, but an unknown age (at least 2 years, since I bought it that long ago) and were looking pretty grey and the rims they were on were a little rusted. I decided to replace them.
I can hear it now, "Why replace decent tires with good tread?! Are you trying to waste money?". My reasoning was this, they were of unknown age, holding a boat I spent a good 200 or so hours restoring (so far!), on rims I would have to sand and paint and were about to be towed 600 miles. I understand most people reading this won't be towing their boats 600 miles in one whack, so feel free to ignore the last reason. Either way, I opted to buy three $99 (on sale) 15" rim trailer tires, rims included, at Northern Tool. Two for the trailer, one as a spare. I had also bought a spare hub, for those keeping score.
So, for those who are keeping score, let's total this trailer maintenance up:
2 new hubs: $60
2 new wheels: $200
Spare hub and wheel: $130
Total: $390
Whoa! So much for just repacking the bearings with new $3 grease!
All of the purchases I made and all of the decisions to get spares and all new came down to one self-answerable question, really.
I'm sure nearly everyone has been in a position where you are just helpless and know it could have been easily avoided. How much would you have paid to avoid that situation? How much did you pay because of getting into it at all?
$390 for 6000+ miles of complete peace of mind.
In the end, I towed the boat weighed down with 400+lbs of lumber, fencing, chairs, a few boxes of garage stuff, a hose enclosure, plants, a few 6x6 beams (150lbs each!) and other tidbits, stuff I couldn't move any other way. I towed all of that 600 miles, through the Blue Ridge mountain range, and the bearings never got more than luke warm, in 90F heat. By the end of the trip I kept forgetting I was even towing a trailer behind me.
How would you answer this question:
"If I was broken down on the side of the road, deciding whether to leave my boat sitting there unprotected or sit around for hours waiting for help to arrive with new parts (which I would pay for anyway), how much would I be willing to spend to avoid being in that situation altogether?"
End of story.
To begin, it should be known I haven't towed anything for a number of years, and never a boat of this size (20' bowrider I/O), so to say I was nervous about the trip is calling a lion a kitty cat. I, even owning my boat 2 years, have never towed it anywhere outside my small back yard and had no idea what axle bearings even looked like. Even though I used to tow a large utility trailer all over creation, I have never maintained a trailer before this.
One afternoon, I set out to examine my axle bearings and repack as needed. I did some prior reading as to how to repack bearings, so if worse came to worse, I could do it in a pinch. After removing the trailer tire, I pulled the corroded cotter pin and used my largest wrench to undo the stuck-on axle nut. The axle hub pulled right off and exposed two bearing sets and a pretty banged up axle shaft.
It appears the previous owner used a hammer to get the last bearing race into place (or loosen it?) and wasn't a very good aim. There were hammer nicks all over the axle shaft, which unfortunately is welded to the axle itself, not bolted on like most replacements. So, it appears the axle shaft, from lack of options, is "good enough", since I didn't have time (or the energy, after packing a loading truck) to replace the entire axle. I instead concentrated on the bearing sets.
When I tested the bearings in a professional manner (trying to spin them with my fingers) I couldn't get either bearing to move, or come out of the race for that matter. I also could smell the distinct odor of burnt oil (grease, in this case). The bearings were completely frozen, which means the races were turning on the shaft directly. Not good. It appeared new axle bearings were in order, for both sides as it turned out.
Now, if you have ever priced bearings before, you know they are pretty cheap. At $20 per set, buying new ones is cheap prevention of a breakdown miles from anywhere. But, as it turns out, all new axle hubs, complete with new bearings already pressed into place are only $30! Yay for those Chinese guys! So far we have a tally of $60 for all new parts.
Now that I had new hubs, I moved to the tires. They were actual trailer tires with decent tread, but an unknown age (at least 2 years, since I bought it that long ago) and were looking pretty grey and the rims they were on were a little rusted. I decided to replace them.
I can hear it now, "Why replace decent tires with good tread?! Are you trying to waste money?". My reasoning was this, they were of unknown age, holding a boat I spent a good 200 or so hours restoring (so far!), on rims I would have to sand and paint and were about to be towed 600 miles. I understand most people reading this won't be towing their boats 600 miles in one whack, so feel free to ignore the last reason. Either way, I opted to buy three $99 (on sale) 15" rim trailer tires, rims included, at Northern Tool. Two for the trailer, one as a spare. I had also bought a spare hub, for those keeping score.
So, for those who are keeping score, let's total this trailer maintenance up:
2 new hubs: $60
2 new wheels: $200
Spare hub and wheel: $130
Total: $390
Whoa! So much for just repacking the bearings with new $3 grease!
All of the purchases I made and all of the decisions to get spares and all new came down to one self-answerable question, really.
I'm sure nearly everyone has been in a position where you are just helpless and know it could have been easily avoided. How much would you have paid to avoid that situation? How much did you pay because of getting into it at all?
$390 for 6000+ miles of complete peace of mind.
In the end, I towed the boat weighed down with 400+lbs of lumber, fencing, chairs, a few boxes of garage stuff, a hose enclosure, plants, a few 6x6 beams (150lbs each!) and other tidbits, stuff I couldn't move any other way. I towed all of that 600 miles, through the Blue Ridge mountain range, and the bearings never got more than luke warm, in 90F heat. By the end of the trip I kept forgetting I was even towing a trailer behind me.
How would you answer this question:
"If I was broken down on the side of the road, deciding whether to leave my boat sitting there unprotected or sit around for hours waiting for help to arrive with new parts (which I would pay for anyway), how much would I be willing to spend to avoid being in that situation altogether?"
End of story.
