trailer bearing

[jmarty10]

hello all:

Well today I was trailering my boat back to the marina and I noticed my driver side wheel on the trailer wobbling pretty badly. When I got out of the car at the marina the bearing looked like it exploded? There was smoke coming out of the bearing, grease all over the tire rim and the bearing buddy was gone and something was cracked?

My question is how hard and costly is this to fix, and can I take the boat/trailer back on the road.

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: trailer bearing

Can't say that I'm an expert on trailers, but I recently changed and packed bearings on my boat trailer for the first time this season. It wasn't too difficult. Since I've changed them, I went on vacation round trip about 700 miles, and three other fishing trips (about 120 miles round trip on each). No problems. As for cost, depends on what you plan to change, but simply changing bearings and putting bearing buddies on cost me about $70 for parts.

But the problem you are talking about seems pretty serious. Failed bearings? Cracked axle? Do you know what the damage is. Personally, I wouldn't take it back on the road unless I had it looked at by a professional.

 

[rndn]

Re: trailer bearing

It depends on if your axle shaft got damaged.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: trailer bearing

hello all:

Well today I was trailering my boat back to the marina and I noticed my driver side wheel on the trailer wobbling pretty badly. When I got out of the car at the marina the bearing looked like it exploded? There was smoke coming out of the bearing, grease all over the tire rim and the bearing buddy was gone and something was cracked?

My question is how hard and costly is this to fix, and can I take the boat/trailer back on the road.

Photos would help us all make a decision on whether you can take it back on the road.....however if you had smoke, grease and a bearing buddy missing my guess is it should stay put till it is repaired.
A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Mwp909]

Re: trailer bearing

Worst case scenario, If you damaged your axle and hub you can get a complete axle with hubs and bearings from stores like Tractor supply or a trailer store. If you?re going that far I would change your springs and hardware if they are 5 years old or older. Save your old undamaged hub if compatible with new axle and springs. They can always be used in an emergency. I changed my whole setup with new this past spring with 4000lbs axle all for under $300.00. It's not hard to do. Took me about 3 hours to do the job by myself. I would not pull it until it?s fixed.