Re: odd ball spindles, sell trailer or machine new hubs?
It sounds to me like the OP did the right thing here, a new off the shelf axle wouldn't do him much good on that trailer, the axle on that has a knuckle joint attachment lug at each end. Many of those were either welded on or part of an end casting or forging that includes the spindle.
Chances of removing any of that for reuse is slim. You would have to fabricate a complete new assembly to fit that suspension. No doubt the cost or plain hassle of doing that would far surpass just buying a newer trailer.
In most cases, those older trailers are best suited as show pieces under vintage restorations. A modern trailer is much easier to launch and load from as well.
Personally, I prefer my trailers to be as low as possible, the lower the boat sits on the trailer, the shallower I can launch. With some of the ill designed ramps I see being built these days, every inch counts. On some of those older trailers you can back all the way down the ramp and the boat will still not get wet. I had an old Gator trailer that sat too high until I modified it.
