Trailer Bearing Mystery.

[capt. meares]

Seeking suggestions for my predicament.... I have a single axle EZ Loader trailer. It carrys a c-dory 22 cruiser, loaded light. Schwabs packed inner and outer bearings with seals, complete service for 225$. Each time they do the service I get about 5 launches into the salt before both wheels bearings are toast. Three times this year they have replaced everything, under warranty. Has anybody else had this problem? What are they doing wrong?

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

Launching too soon after coming off the highway with hot bearings can cause the hubs to suck in sea water as they quickly cool. I use bearing buddy's - the trick is to pump enough grease in so that the spring is under "slight" pressure. This helps combat the above problem, but don't keep pumping grease in after the spring bottoms out or you can blow the seals out of your hubs.

Regards, Rob

PS. Do you notice any grease being flung out of the hub? If the seal surface has any nics in it - that could be tearing the seals up.

[Hunkydory]

Before switching to a double axle ez loader trailer, we had over 20,000 miles on a 3750# ez loader single axle with no bearing problems during those miles. It had the outside grease zert, that pressured grease completely through the bearings. Like Rob said, we never launched until the bearings were cooled off & with that system always greased before & after launching. Also careful not to over use the brakes preventing the grease from overheating in the bearings causing liquefying & draining from the bearing while on the road. Only changed out the bearings once for preventive maintenance during the 20,000 miles over a 8 years period, but checked tolerances often. Better slightly loose than to tight.

Did you have any previous bearing problems before Schabs did their original work?

Jay

[Salmon Fisher]

My bad experience, too.
The axle spindle gets corroded and therefore, pitted. That's what chewed up the seals on my double axle trailer.
EZ loader sells stainless steel spindle collars that friction fit over the spindle surface, therefore providing a new wear surface for the seal surface to ride on.

Your spindles may have:
1) Worn out spindle collars or
2) Spindle collars were taken off and not replaced and now you have a pitted spindle.

The ONLY way to find out is remove both hubs, clean spindles and inspect.
Then you can contact EZ Loader with your trailer VIN and they can tell you what spindle collar is specified. Or you can do what I did, replace both axles.
The only reason I did so was because one of the axles has oversized spindles by a few thousandths and would not accept the EZ Loader spindle collar nor a Speedi Sleeve.

It cost a lot, but cheaper than a new trailer and I also had SS Kodiak brakes installed, too. I also have bearing buddies. I tow with confidence now and check the inner seal visually after launching and washdown the wheels and brakes with a Salt Away in a garden sprayer.

When those spindle collars are installed, make sure whoever does it puts them on with RED locktite and lots of it. This will prevent saltwater from going under the collar and getting in to the bearing.

Good luck, there is nothing worse than not trusting your bearings and seals!

[journey on]

Here are a few general comments gathered from rebuilding the hubs and brakes on my E-Z Loader.

First, normal hub seals are metal and rubber, just like on your car. Rubber where they run on the spindle as seals and an outer metal ring, pressed into the hub to seal off the grease. What one needs for a boat launched into salt water (or any water) is a seal that is completely covered with rubber. E-Z Loader is the only place I can get those for the 25 trailer. If your seals have a metal ring they will rust and let in water which will ruin the bearings.

Bearing Buddy Trailer Hubs will keep a positive pressure inside the hub. Try a set. They're cheap and I've has success with them on other boat trailers.

Speaking of bearings, the trailer came with bearings made in China. Those lasted a couple of years and when they went, I replaced them with Timken, made in the USA. They haven't given out for the last 10 year. Obviously, you haven't got that far.

Good luck, Boris

[Salmon Fisher]

Good call on the rubber coated seals Boris. I have those installed on the new hubs and have sourced them to get extras.

[Almas Only]

EZ manufactured some trailers with a slightly undersized axle shaft. The standard grease seal fits loose over these axles, allowing water to enter the bearings. Suggest you get a seal from whomever is doing your work, pull one of the wheels and hub, and see how the seal fits onto the axle shaft. The fit should be very snug. If not, try a 2051.02m seal, available from EZ.

Or, you could just call EZ customer service with your trailer serial number, and ask them which seals you should be using.

Let us know if this solves your problem.

[capt. meares]

Great advice here as always. I will be researching and upgrading soon.

[SEA3PO]

1957 Chevrolets had this problem back in the day....they used to just eat wheel bearings.....it turned out that they did not have a good ground system between the engine and the body of the vehicle... and the ground was attached to the body .... it turned out that when the ground wire was attached to the generator and a ground strap was installed to the firewall the problem with wheel bearings went away...

What I am saying is...your trailer may not have a good ground to the truck...
Easy way to check...turn on the lights...and using a Volt meter on really low scale...test between the coupler and the rear bumper of the truck...if it shows any amount of voltage it is a bad ground in the trailer... it's called the Insulated Circuit Test.

Joel
SEA3PO

[SEA3PO]

Look at the rollers in the bearings..that will tell you what is happening..

.1. If they are tight they will be discolored...from the heat.....

2. If they are loose you will see an uneven surface on the bearings..the carrier will look worn and loose...and the race will have contact wear...

3. If there is metal failure you will see tiny bits of metal smeared over the surface of the rollers. .

4. If it is a bad ground problem there will be pits in the rollers and race..and the pits will look black inside...

The grease you should be using is blue...if it is any other color it is not marine grease...

Wheel bearing adjustment is a bit of an art...and you would be amazed at the terrible packing jobs I have seen... A properly adjusted bearing should have NO play at all...I use Volkswagen king pin shims to adjust clearance so the cotter pin lines up perfectly...do not back it off..or worse tighten it up..
Yes...it that important to get it spot on..

Joel
SEA3PO

[capt. meares]

Bearing Mystery.
UPDATE.... Schwabs attempted to re-do the job again this evening. They called and told me they found the "culprit". They claimed there was too much pitting and rust on the spindle, and could not get a good seal. I then went down to take a closer look. I saw almost no rust, zero pitting, and the spindle felt overall pretty smooth to the touch, maybe a 7 out of 10. The gentleman then continued to insist I will either need a new axle or weld on new spindles. I continued to disagree and point out there was nearly zero rust. I then asked him to show me the seals he was using. I then took the seal out to the trailer and placed it on the spindle. To my amazement there was an 1/8" gap from the rubber to the spindle all the way around!!!! I then went in to explain this to him. His response was "ya thats because its rusted down smaller"(exact quote). Feeling like my inteligence was terribly insulted, I cakmly asked him to go see for himself. He then brought a micrometer out and measured the spindle. To his credit, at that point admitted his error and said he will go make some calls. He then ordered the correct sized seals and admitted he was unaware of seals in this size, but only the standard sizes they carry. After 3 trys I think we got it figured out. Mystery solved. Thank you all for the tips that helped me figure this out.

[colbysmith]

[journey on]

I'm certainly glad you solved the probles and sorry you went through the rebuilds.

For future reference, spindle seal wear can be repaired by SKF Speedi-Sleeves . I use them on Journey On's E-Z Loader trailer because they are a lot cheaper then replacing the axles.

You don't need them now but in the future someone may.

Boris

[SEA3PO]

If you want to polish the metal and not remove metal, then use crocus cloth..it is what we use to polish stains off crankshafts...to remove small imperfections you use 800 grit of 1600 grit wet and dry paper..that is what is used to polish paint to an even surface..it takes some time using such fine paper but works really well.

Joel
SEA3PO

[tsturm]