Tragedy narrowly averted....

[AltheaToldMe]

So the GF and I am returning from the local boating location and a guy pulls up to us in a Mustang....he gestures to the rear of the rig and mumbles something. We pull over right away and are shocked to find the following scene. (Pictures below) Luckily, we were only a 1/2 mile from the boat lot. It was a SLOW trip.

Bearing buddies give a false sense of security, at most they hide real damage. I should have been on the situation, but we only got the boat recently and I was waiting on the bearings till fall put down. Silly me.

My question is this. It appears that my spindles are welded to the axle. If I have toasted a spindle (and it looks like I have,) am I looking at buying a new axel? If so, where is a good place to go to get a kit axel with the hubs and bearings installed or is that not an option. I have no trouble putting the business together if I have to get it all separate, but I would prefer to get a kit.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

You may be able to get the races off with a cutoff wheel. I have done that on one occasion. If not you can remove the axle and purchase a new weld on spindle and have a welding shop install it. Or you can buy a new axle with hubs.
Ther you have three options, from least to most expensive.
If you try to cut the races off, use a dremmel tool with a cutoff wheel to cut through the race length wise and use a cold chisle to open up the race to remove it. You may have to dress up the spindle so that the new bearings fit, depends on how damaged the spindle is.

 

[AltheaToldMe]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

Thanks for the reply!

I have since done some more reading here and found a great place to buy an axel. I have contacted the manufacturer of the trailer (Venture) to get specs from them. I have yet to pull the wheel, so I am not 100% sure of what I am in to on this messup, but I can tell you that it will not happen again. Whatever route I take, a new hub and bearings will be vacuum packed and with me any time the trailer is moving.

This place is unbelievable when it comes to information. Thanks to all!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

Tashasdaddy got a complete axel, hub, AND spring assmebly from here cheap http://www.trailerpart.com/ I'll be getting one from there when the season's over. Nothing like replacing just about every failure-prone part of the trailer in one shot.

 

[xxxflhrci]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

Before I went spending money on a new axle, I'd pull it apart and access the damage. I drove mine several miles with the bearings blown out....just trying to get it home. When I got it apart, the inner race was stuck tight to the spindle. I used a 9 buck air hammer to drive it off. The spindle wasn't damaged at all where the races seat. I put in a new bearing kit and went on my way.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

I had the same thing happen to me on a beater car back in High school. I chipped the bearing pieces off and use emery cloth to clean it back up. new bearings and a rotor and it lasted me 5 years.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

If you need to have an axle made check out Champion Trailers, they made me one with both Spindle Lube (super lube) hubs and brake flanges for a great price and very good quality.
If the axle spindle is still OK, I would install the super lube hubs made by Tie Down where there is a grease zerk in the hub, you can get rid if the bearing buddies the Tie Down system allows you to grease the inner bearing, outer bearing and all the old grease comes out the hole in the dust cover. Then you replace the rubber plug. Looks like you don't have brakes on that hub so the super lube hub will work for you. Spindle lube has to be built into the axle spindle, so that's a good plan if you need new axle, but the super lube can be retrofitted to a non brake axle.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

i'm will doing the same thing on a project boat i bought for $400. think that's on todays list.

 

[AltheaToldMe]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

Well, I pulled the wheels and it didn't look near as bad as I thought. I got all of the races off/out. Nothing was a pain thankfully. The spindle has a couple of rough spots, but emory cloth took care of them. I will have to watch the bad one closely as I don't think I will ever get a good seal with the grease seal again.

The good wheel gave me the numbers I needed off of the bearings and I backed them up with caliper readings of the IDs. Off to the auto parts store tomorrow to get the replacements. She'll be back on her own two feet tomorrow night.

One a pleasant note, I realized that what I thought were bearing buddies turned out to be Spindle-Lube spindles. I get to see if they work as advertised.

Thanks for the help all!

 

[INJUN]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

The same happened to me last weekend. I was pulling as usual and began hearing some strange noises. I pulled over and felt both hubs and one was hot. I slowly drove about 1 mile while watching the wheel wobble, to a place where I could work on it. Pulled the hub off and the inside bearings were missing and the rear seal was missing the rubber insert.
I used a dremel to grind off the rear race and replaced both the inside and outside bearings. What a mess it is with the packing grease (be sure you use bearing grease - any other grease will burn out), especially since I was on a sandy parking lot . All is well now.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

I bought a boat and noticed one of the bearings getting unusually warm on the way home. Took it easy, and replaced the slightly rusted and noisy bearings on both sides. Installed bearing buddies.

It only takes a couple of minutes to jack up each wheel and give it a spin every now and then, maybe every 5 to 10 short trips, or before a planned long trip. If it's smooth, and you have kept it loaded with grease, it's good for a while.

It also gives you a chance to observe the tire. If the tread seems to wander, it's beginning to seperate, and the tire needs to be replaced. usually it'll give you lots of warning if you inspect once in awhile.

hope it helps
John

 

[AltheaToldMe]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

I just picked up the parts. I am replaceing the old China Brand bearings with Timken. Set 17 (Inner) and Set 14 (Outer) plus the double lip seals. The whole thing got me out of the store for about 50 dollars including high-temp grease to pack them with. I wont be taking pictures of the repair as it will be messy, but I will post towing results after this weekend (Hopefully!)

To John,

I plan to have them apart twice each season whether they need it or not, and once more during winter put up and summer open. It's easy and cheap and I never want to have to drive 3 MPH again. I have also ordered a spare hub (complete with bearings, seals, thrust washer and castle nut) for emergencies. I will vaccum pack this and keep it with the boat travel kit.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

I just picked up the parts. I am replaceing the old China Brand bearings with Timken. Set 17 (Inner) and Set 14 (Outer) plus the double lip seals. The whole thing got me out of the store for about 50 dollars including high-temp grease to pack them with. I wont be taking pictures of the repair as it will be messy, but I will post towing results after this weekend (Hopefully!)

To John,

I plan to have them apart twice each season whether they need it or not, and once more during winter put up and summer open. It's easy and cheap and I never want to have to drive 3 MPH again. I have also ordered a spare hub (complete with bearings, seals, thrust washer and castle nut) for emergencies. I will vaccum pack this and keep it with the boat travel kit.

With reasonable maintenance I wouldn't think a spare hub is worth the effort to preserve it and transport it. It might be if you're immersing the wheels in salt water all the time.

I use marine grease in the hubs, even though theoretically no water should be able to enter with the spring loaded bearing buddies keeping it out. I did have a tire go bad and shake off a bearing buddy one time. I dumped the boat in and pulled it out before I noticed it. I let it dry in the sun for a bit, hammered on a new bearing buddy that the tackle store out in the sticks keeps on the shelf for just such an event, and ran it 200 miles home. There was no damage, and very little water in the hub when I serviced it. The full pack of marine grease had kept the water out.

Marine grease is rated for wheel bearing use, so there's no issure with compatibility except all ordinary grease has to be washed out before you put marine grease in. If you have to use standard lithium grease in a pinch, you need to clean and repack the bearings at the earliest oportunity. I just keep a small grease gun loaded with marine grease for the outboard and the wheel bearings.

High temp grease is not needed for trailer wheels unless you have disk brakes on them that put a lot of heat into the hub.

You don't really have to tear down more than once per year either. If the seal is holding the grease, ie the back of the wheel isn't all full of grease, maybe just a little bit, and the spring plate in the greaser stays up, indicating there's a light pressure on the grease, and you spin it and it's tight but smooth and free. It does not need service. The whole inspection routine, including jacking up both sides one at a time shouldn't take over ten minutes.

hope it helps
John

 

[CharlieB]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

That area in the axle that the seal rides on can be saved/repaired with a Speedy-Sleeve, a very thin stainless wedding band once installed is a perfectly NEW surface for the seal to ride on.. Can cost in the area of 30 each depending on size and your location.

Call your local bearing supply house and ask for a speedy-sleeve to fit your seal and/or mic the landing.

The trick is finding just the right dia pipe to use as an installer. Carefully wrap a turn or two of standard black plastic electrical tape around the outside of the sleeve to protect it from the piece of pipe. Ensure that your existing land is polished clean and wipe a thin smear of av-perm or an equivalent sealer to keep moisture from wicking in under the sleeve, rusting the axle and deforming the sleeve in the foreseeable future. Slip the sleeve into the pipe so that the flared flange end pulls the sleeve into position as you drive the pipe with a suitable BFH. Fracture the flange from the sleeve with a pointy object and a smaller BFH, grip securely with needle nose pliers, twist/break and remove the flange.

Install original size seal and forget worrying about how long it will last. Years and years.

 

[AltheaToldMe]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

CharlieB, what an excellent tip!! I never would have though of something like that.

I have since been able to polish the surfaces to my satisfaction. I used double lip seals, but will keep a close eye on them for a while. I have the new complete hub packed in storage. It's vacuum packed and attached to my spare tire bracket so it's out of the way and it's always with me.

For those who care, it was set 17 (rear) and set *4* for the fronts. I got the wrong ones originaly. Always double check the ID!!

Thanks for all the advice folks!!!

Happy boating.

 

[cgrooves]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

For those who care, it was set 17 (rear) and set *4* for the fronts. I got the wrong ones originaly. Always double check the ID!

Happy boating.

I was just about to tell you that you got the wrong outer set. I just went through this myself: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=268749

Another thing that I ran into.....
A single lip seal (17144) came out of my hub, but I was going to install a double lip seal replacement (17146) until I noticed that the additional thickness on the double lip seal would have covered up the grease passage on my easy lube hub making them unusable. Since you have the easy lube spindle, it's not really an issue for you.

 

[john from md]

Re: Tragedy narrowly averted....

"I just picked up the parts. I am replaceing the old China Brand bearings with Timken."

The last time I had to replace the bearings in my grinder I too thought I would go with American made Timken. Guess what? They were made in Europe somewhere.

Do we make anything in this country anymore?