64osby
Admiral
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
- Messages
- 6,826
We took the Mariner up north for a little vacation fun last week.
On the trip up, Saturday, there was a wobble or shimmy that occurred at about 63mph and above, also noticed a wobble at slow speed in a construction zone. Kept stopping to check hub temps and everything felt normal. We made the 200 mile trek with no issues by keeping the speed down to about 60mph.
After launching the boat the right side of the trailer was jacked up and the wheel was a little loose. The next morning the tire and drum were popped off and this is what I discovered.
Looks a few years worth of grease packed in there ya think.
Here you can see what was left of the seal. The metal part of the seal was warped and bent.
The bearings and seal were pulled and cleaned up. We spent the day on the lake relaxing.
First thing Monday morning a trip was made to the local auto parts store, picked up 2 sets of bearings and seals, 2 rolls of towels and 3 cans of break cleaner. I also picked up a bottle of dawn dishwashing soap and a dishwashing pan.
Proceeded to scrape off as much grease as possible and wiped off a bunch more. All the parts were then dropped in the dishpan with about a half bottle of Dawn and they soaked overnight. We had another great day on the water.
Tuesday morning the reassembly work started. Cleaned up all the parts in the tub and then sprayed them with break cleaner. The break plate and the spindle were then cleaned up.
It was here that I discovered the seal rest of the spindle had weld spatter on it. I don't know if the spindle had been replaced or if this was a factory original issue, who ever did it did **** pour work. The spatter was knocked off, the spindle was gently filed, then wire wheeled, and then steel wool was used to make it smooth. We spent yet another wonderful day on the lake.
That night everything went back together and the spindle and bearings were packed with Marine grease. The rim was scraped and wire wheeled until all the old hard grease was removed. The surge breaks have never functioned on this trailer, imagine that:facepalm:, so my only concern at this time was getting the bearings sealed and together properly. The breaks will be a fall or spring project maybe.
I jacked up the other side of the trailer and the bearing felt good.
On Tuesday afternoon we heading off to a river float. On this side trip it was discovered that the wobble or shimmy wasn?t in the boat trailer; it was in the wagon. I had put new front rotors and breaks and greased the bearing about two weeks before vacation, so I was thinking that might be the issue.
Wednesday after having a fantastic morning fishing in the rain, the car was jacked up and the front wheels were double checked. The passenger side was a touch loose, it was tightened up. Double checked all the lugs and all seemed fine.
The left side wheel of the trailer was pulled and this side had even more grease packed in the drum. Pulled it all apart, scraped and wiped it before letting it soak for a day. It was raining again so we went into town to shop and eat.
Thursday morning the spatter that was on this spindle was removed, everything was cleaned and put back together. We spent the day on the lake; it was chilly and cloudy but still had a great time.
Friday morning my daughter and I had a great time fishing in the rain, and then we went to town again because it was pouring. Took an evening cruise on the boat and started to pack up. Saturday we finished packing and took another quick cruise on the boat before loading it up to leave.
The trip home was once again plagued by wobbles and shimmies above 63mph. Still don?t know the cause of the shake but I was glad to make it home safe, and it was good to see that the trailer bearings did not leak on the way home.
About 10 hours was spent over the time on vacation reworking the bearings with a cost of about $90.00 for all the supplies. I was also very fortunate, lucky:redface:, that a major problem didn't happen in any of my travels.
I?ve owned this boat and trailer for just over one year and I thought that maybe someone else here could learn from my errors. If you buy a boat pull the drums apart and check everything out before you start towing your boat on vacation or to the local launch.
Sorry for the long post, and Happy Trailering.
On the trip up, Saturday, there was a wobble or shimmy that occurred at about 63mph and above, also noticed a wobble at slow speed in a construction zone. Kept stopping to check hub temps and everything felt normal. We made the 200 mile trek with no issues by keeping the speed down to about 60mph.
After launching the boat the right side of the trailer was jacked up and the wheel was a little loose. The next morning the tire and drum were popped off and this is what I discovered.
Looks a few years worth of grease packed in there ya think.
Here you can see what was left of the seal. The metal part of the seal was warped and bent.
The bearings and seal were pulled and cleaned up. We spent the day on the lake relaxing.
First thing Monday morning a trip was made to the local auto parts store, picked up 2 sets of bearings and seals, 2 rolls of towels and 3 cans of break cleaner. I also picked up a bottle of dawn dishwashing soap and a dishwashing pan.
Proceeded to scrape off as much grease as possible and wiped off a bunch more. All the parts were then dropped in the dishpan with about a half bottle of Dawn and they soaked overnight. We had another great day on the water.
Tuesday morning the reassembly work started. Cleaned up all the parts in the tub and then sprayed them with break cleaner. The break plate and the spindle were then cleaned up.
It was here that I discovered the seal rest of the spindle had weld spatter on it. I don't know if the spindle had been replaced or if this was a factory original issue, who ever did it did **** pour work. The spatter was knocked off, the spindle was gently filed, then wire wheeled, and then steel wool was used to make it smooth. We spent yet another wonderful day on the lake.
That night everything went back together and the spindle and bearings were packed with Marine grease. The rim was scraped and wire wheeled until all the old hard grease was removed. The surge breaks have never functioned on this trailer, imagine that:facepalm:, so my only concern at this time was getting the bearings sealed and together properly. The breaks will be a fall or spring project maybe.
I jacked up the other side of the trailer and the bearing felt good.
On Tuesday afternoon we heading off to a river float. On this side trip it was discovered that the wobble or shimmy wasn?t in the boat trailer; it was in the wagon. I had put new front rotors and breaks and greased the bearing about two weeks before vacation, so I was thinking that might be the issue.
Wednesday after having a fantastic morning fishing in the rain, the car was jacked up and the front wheels were double checked. The passenger side was a touch loose, it was tightened up. Double checked all the lugs and all seemed fine.
The left side wheel of the trailer was pulled and this side had even more grease packed in the drum. Pulled it all apart, scraped and wiped it before letting it soak for a day. It was raining again so we went into town to shop and eat.
Thursday morning the spatter that was on this spindle was removed, everything was cleaned and put back together. We spent the day on the lake; it was chilly and cloudy but still had a great time.
Friday morning my daughter and I had a great time fishing in the rain, and then we went to town again because it was pouring. Took an evening cruise on the boat and started to pack up. Saturday we finished packing and took another quick cruise on the boat before loading it up to leave.
The trip home was once again plagued by wobbles and shimmies above 63mph. Still don?t know the cause of the shake but I was glad to make it home safe, and it was good to see that the trailer bearings did not leak on the way home.
About 10 hours was spent over the time on vacation reworking the bearings with a cost of about $90.00 for all the supplies. I was also very fortunate, lucky:redface:, that a major problem didn't happen in any of my travels.
I?ve owned this boat and trailer for just over one year and I thought that maybe someone else here could learn from my errors. If you buy a boat pull the drums apart and check everything out before you start towing your boat on vacation or to the local launch.
Sorry for the long post, and Happy Trailering.