!@#$%&^* trailer bearings

U

UncleRichie

New member
Made it almost 8 miles today before the bearings went south on one side off the trailer, fixed it along side of the road then drug it home and checked the other side. Same problem, rats fixed that side to. So every March replace wheel bearings. Maby tomorow I can get down to the Columbia and try to catch a springer. Hope Larry leaves me some at Cathulmat. Does anybody know if champion axle stubs are stainless?
am going to try there axle and see if it works better then easy riders, can"t be any worse.
Richard
 
You don't have to wait until March to change your bearings. I have found that any month with days ending in the letter "Y" are suitable.
The best time to chenge the bearings are right before the perfect tide, on your way up or down a hill, during the "Perfect Storm", after a long hard weekend at sea, or my personal favorite, halfway to where you have reservations on the coast, just before the parts stores all close, on a Friday evening on Highway 101. Yea, that was my favorite. Ever try to find a place to stay on the coast in the middle of summeron a weekend after hours? Almost as much fun as finding parts and a welder.

Sorry. I hate trailer problems. I really do. Yes I do... really. No, I am not kidding... I REALLY DO!
 
Oh yea, and for clarification.... I repack my bearings every Spring, and I grease them every launch, and I carry spare parts, jack, three jaw puller, brass punch, grease, more grease, and other associated crap to to this far too regular maintenance on my trailer. I am just blessed with an apparent overabundance of trailer failure bounty goodness.

This and I found out today that the tax refund I was planning to spend on the boat turned in to a debit instead of a credit. I am so happy.... :roll:

Have I mentioned that I really hate trailer problems?
 
With all the advancements in technology , Automotive, Medical, Space, Ect. I don't think trailers have advanced , in fact I'm thinking they they are getting worse. Newer trailers are pretty chinsy. Plastic fenders poorly placed lights. Maybe a conspiracy to sell more parts ..... Imagine a maintenance free trailer.........A feller can only dream.
 
Yeah, they can put a man on the moon (a long time ago at that) but they can't (finish this list):

1. Make a light bulb that doesn't break off in the socket
2. Make windshield wipers with blades you can change easily
3. [Trailer bearings go here I guess...]




Chris Bulovsky":2r8uay70 said:
With all the advancements in technology , Automotive, Medical, Space, Ect. I don't think trailers have advanced , in fact I'm thinking they they are getting worse.
Click to expand...
 
Funny how some people have so much trouble when they are so careful to do all the maintenance and are well prepared. And then there guys like me who forget to grease the bearings all year :disgust , drive countless miles and experienced no trouble, go figure. The only thing I forgot to do as far as maintenance was the darn bearings, but then again my previous boat was alot shorter and lighter than a CD 22. My new trailer (ezloader) Has these enclosed bearings, they have a plastic see through cap and you can see the grease or oil inside. They look well sealed. Has anyone tried these?

Sark
 
Since this is a "Pub" and all... (I'm sittin back in a lonely corner with girl trouble again :cry ) but I hear the topic and think to myself: I have not touched the wheel bearings on RedFox's trailer since the late 90's sometime :xseek
My lil' trick is: When it's time to pull-over, I simply touch the hubs, to see if their getting too warm :idea: (I hate workin on them dang-gum greasy basterds like hell :crook ) Saves a lot of work :D
A round of brew fer yas... :beer :beer :beer :beer :beer :beer :beer :beer

out... :bat poof :bat
 
Greg,
I'm with you! I have been pulling my boat around quite a few years and have always pulled over after about five miles and felt the hubs. Usually if your going to have a problem its going to happen fairly soon. Every time I stop its a walk around for a feel. In the spring I jack my trailer up and spin the wheels to see how the brakes are riding and adjust them if necessary and of course bearing buddies are a must. Problems I have had are with the cheap backing plates the trailer factory installs. I guy can buy the galvanized ones with stainless springs and they last a long time. I carry a spare tire, backing plate, grease gun, and spare set of bearings when on the road. Nothing worse than working on the side of a freeway in the rain working on a trailer wheel.
Jim, Work Release
 
Hi Greg & Jim,
my bearings on my trailer have been a sourse of problems since I bought it. I have tried everthing I could think of including running a tube up from the over flow vent for grease to the top of the fender to keep any water out, also tried running ep 90 like in a rear end, it just through it out all over everthing. Seems that the seal surface is quite a bit under size so that the seal does not seal right they are almost a 64 th of an inch under size. Today I ordered a new axle I hope that it takes care of the problem. I am going to mic the seal surface and make sure its the right size this time.
Richard
 
Wow, I see. :? Sounds fishy, to be sure! I bet your axle is defective, as in; not done right :!: (or done all the way :lol: ) You know... a batch that is not to the right specks :(
Can also be, the right seals were never in it from the start. Have you tried miking the axle and the hub, and going to a bearing place and getting a seal that way? compare it with your old one :idea: Hard to believe an axle can be that far out of spec :!:
Maybe it's true, a lot of stuff is getting chinsier these days. Well it is true, but I won't say it's that. My trailer however is an oldie...)
 
Well my axel is on the way too. Slightly upsized and with a totally sealed bearing set. Oil bath hubs, new brakes, backing plates, brake lines, the works and I am getting an extra set of hubs, bearings and seals.
Should be able to tell if there is a water problem by looking at them.

I always put my hand on the bearings every trip. I am so tired of this crap.

The new axel arrives on the 12th. None too soon.
 
Hi Greg,
I have checked everthing out and tried three different brands of seals changed from drums to disks first set of disks were ruined from ep 90 on them picked alot of sand and ate the disks and calipers. have been more carefull with the second set. the seal dia is sposed to be 2.125 its the same on all three seals. My axle measures 15 thousants under on one side and 18 on the other. Only thing i can think of is just a bad axle hope the new one is closer. With everthing being made in mexico or china I guess the quality is going to suffer got my fingers crossed on this one. Thouse snow thingys sure are getting fancy was looking at one a Yamaha I think whooie 100 hp, all you need is wings . With that much horse power you just touch the high spots I guess. What I think is realy something is that they will run across open water, read somewhere that the record was over 60 miles non stop across open water.Hummm think you could mount one of them on the back of Red Fox woun't mater if the water was frozen or not. :wink:
Richard
 
UncleRichie":1uc6dhbq said:
With everthing being made in mexico or china I guess the quality is going to suffer
Click to expand...

I agree, but its a shock to see something so simple as an axle get all screwed up like that :!: I ain't kiddin when I said there's been no maintainance on my bearings :) even more so... one of the Bearing Buddies came off around 2000 :x (stupid thing) All I did was scroung an old grease cap (from a car axle) :) and never gave it a shot of grease since then :!: when they seal that good... one hates to mess with success. It's cool to see someone else does old-injun-trick, on-the-trail to 8) :thup (checkin the hub-temp :idea: ) Also works for the tires :idea: if your tires are degraded enough, they will sometimes build excessive-heat, as you travel :crook . Then again, even my new ones are runnin pretty warm most the time on the hot sunny days and 60-70 miles per hour :D
 
Its interesting how some people have no axle bearing trouble and others have nothing but trouble.

My Pacific Trailer is 15 years old and I have replaced the bearings twice, the second time being this year. Both times I replaced bearings was preventive, they showed some pitting but never had a failure. I use Bearing Buddies and try to check the plunger every tow. I also check tire temp and bearing temp at every rest stop. I use the hand-on-tire test. If you can't put your hand on the tire or hub, its too hot. When its over 100 degrees on I 5 checking temps is vital. Most of my towing is long range from SoCal to the Pacific Northwest.

I just sprung for the high priced spread in trailer tires. I bought ST 205R14 C Goodyear Marathons. Came to about $400, including a road hazard warranty. I am hoping that going to radials will improve my gas milage.
 
Mr. Fisherman,
I have always had good luck with my trailers over the years. I would guess it is just a matter of luck if you get just the right size seal surface to give a good seal with the size of grease/oil seal for your model. I do think there are both good and much better grease seals, i.e. some of them have a double lip seal with two springs. It will be interesting to see if the new EZ-Loader oil bath hubs have a better long term track record than the old type. Personally I don't see how it could make any difference since both types depend on the same seal at the back? Any one have any thoughts on the quality of the rear seal?
 
I had trouble with the bearings on my North River's trailer a couple years ago causing me to replace the axle. Since then I have had to replace the bearings once more. My thought is that the trailer is loaded to the max weight and the bearings are simply being over worked. I will never again use a single axle trailer on a boat over 18'.

When I replaced the axle I talked with Gary Estes in Issaquah about the bearings and seals when I purchased the axle from him. He told me that there definitely are different seal qualities for our trailers. You have to make sure to get the higher quality double lipped seal because if you don't the adding of grease by use of the bearing buddy will cause the seals to fail from the high pressure of the grease on the seal.

BTW: If you need good quality repair work on your trailer in the Seattle Area I would highly recommend Gary (http://www.garyestes.com/). He does good work and his rates are fair. Plus he will come to you so you don't have to take your ailing trailer to Issaquah.
 
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