Trailer Bearings
 

Got to where I was going and discovered one axle on the trailer had thrown off the buddy bearings and spit the bearings out. (both sides)
Strange thing was, I had no idea. Pulled just fine, next day moved it from the wash station to the shed and I could hear some grinding with the window down but with the A/C on in the truck and windows up, nothing.

Q. These axles are not the posi-lube type. Are buddy bearings the best/only way to go?

Plan on seeing what the carnage is tonight. Axle is prob ok, hub got hot enough to burn the paint off. The price of a half gallon of scallops just went up.

The axle is usually harder steel than the hubs. One or both surely got scored up pretty good. Hopefully just the hub. Replace the hub with new bearings, new Bearing Buddies and all should be okay.

TA MAHONEY in TAMPA has good prices on bearings and seals as well as hubs, and if you need one he has the stub shafts that you can weld in to repair the axle as well.

I had such an aweful experience trying to get bearing buddies to stay on I finally just put grease caps on the hubs. I bought brand new bearing buddies 3 different times. Each time, I would get up to about 65 mph on the highway or interstate and see them rocketing down the road toward oncoming traffic. There goes another $40++! Grease caps are just a touch over $2 each so I just regrease the bearings & install new grease caps once every year to 2 years and good to go. If somebody knows a secret to make buddies stay on I'm all ears. I thought about gluing or 5200 the darn things in place.

I had a similar problem once.. kept throwing the bearing buddy, but only on the one side. As it turns out, it was my fault. I had changed the bearings, and when I put the hub back on I didn't tighten the wheel nut tight enough... it felt tight, it just wasn't.. so as I went down the road the wheel would move on the axel and the bearing race would press against the inside edge of bearing buddy with enough force to actually drive it out of the hub... there goes another one down the road..... When I finally figured out what was happening the fix was to tighten the nut.....who knew.. <sigh>
I like the bearing protecters you get in Wally World... they only cost $27 for a pair if I recall correctly, and they do the same job as bearing buddies... plus, they stay in the hub (as long as you tighten the wheel nut properly)..You have to pound them in with a mallet, so I figure they are there for the duration..

Thanks guys. I am very familiar with TA Mahoney's Ferm. They have about $5K of my $$$ already on the Wellcraft build, electronics, wire and rigging stuff. They also have the PGAC (Pretty Girl At the Counter). She knows more than most men do about boats and she loves to fish. :love:But I digress.
This trailer only has about 3000 miles on it in the past year and a half. I will be the first to admit I ain't been too good about greasing the bearings. Twice to be exact. I have not had a bearing failure in a long time so I got lax. I think water got in there to cause the bearings to fail, then the castle nut pushed the bearing buddy off like Destroyer and Blue pointed out. I have lost dust caps without bearing failure before but never the other way around.
Time to rip into it. I will let you know shortly.

The spindles are junk. Both sides fried. The carnage.
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No sign of any bearings only the races left on the hubs. Grabbed the tires on the good axle and there is no preload on the bearings, too loose. On the bright side, the tire/wheel/hub assembly was easy to remove, no tools required... I was lucky not to lose a wheel. Fuzzy pic nearly captures the deep groove where the inner race was working on it.

Removed the axle, measured and cut the spindles off at the weld. No rust on the inside of the galvanized tubular axle. Need parts. To be continued>>

RR, when you replace the spindles. see if you can get the kind that has a lube system that delivers the grease through the spindle to the rear between the seal & the bearing. all buddy bearings do is put grease on top of the castle nut. i believe it's called Acculube System. you can actually change grease and not take the hub assy apart.

I like that type also PD. Just need to find two with matching hubs. I screwed up when I purchased a new set of hubs for a different trailer. It has the grease fitting on the end of the spindle like you said but the hubs are not long enough on the inboard side for the seal to cover the hole where the grease comes out. :head: Ask me how I discovered that. The axle was made by Tie Down Engineering and I believe they call their system "Posi Lube." Looking thru a couple of catalogs West wants a pretty penny for the galvanized hubs that Tie Down makes. That repair will need to wait for another day.
I know of a trailer manufacturer that I am hoping will ease the blowon the parts I need today.

The trick I've always used with Bearing Buddies;
Before installing the BB, take a pointed punch tool and just inside the hub where the BB will be seated, give it a whack in a couple of spots to create a burr. Now when you tap the BB into the hub, the burrs will grab and keep it in place.

RR thanks for the pics. Always wondered what that might look like. Thankfully I've never seen it in person.

Destroyer, I'd throw all 4 eventually. It sucked when I'd get to the beach and have to go to Wally World just so I'd be able to put the boat in the water without soaking the bearings in saltwater. Then after I'd pull the boat out of the water I'd have to tap them back out as to not throw them out while towing. Made a mess with the grease slinging out the hubs too. I think it was a combination of my hubs being a bit wallowed out and the weight of BB's themselves. Oh and probably the tires not being balanced exactly right too. Doesn't really matter. I gave up and love the grease caps. It forces me to take everything apart to re-grease periodically and I get to see how things look. I'm happy. CB - like that idea! Where were you with that suggestion 2 - 3 years ago!?!? :head:

DAMN THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!! Saves a ton of money and frustration I'm sure. I've actually been tempted to tack weld them in place with a TIG unit, but then I figured out that if I ever had to change the bearings it would create a whole new set of problems...I like that idea and will start doing it from now on. Thanks!!! :clap:

If you have a drill press and a tap and die set it's easy enough to just measure where you want the greese to come out of the spindle and drill a 1/16" center hole and a side hole. Enlarge and tap the end of the center hole, screw a zerk fitting in and you're good to go. You'll still have to remove the greese cap to add greese, but when you do it will be through the zerk fitting into the center void between the inner and outer races. When you see the greese coming through the front bearing you know that it's filled.

Another fine idea! Too bad my capabilities are not that technologically advanced. I'm just going to get an air rachet instead. :hi::beer:

I never thought of making my own, Great idea, but using the drill press with the spindles still welded onto the axle might be tricky. I found some spindles called EZLube and they have that arrangement. Wish I could do that with the good axle so the two match. I may be too anal, which is not always a bad thing when welding on an axle. What is the best way to line up the spindles, v-block or string it out using the hub face and axle as a reference? Stick with 7018 rod is what I was planning on using, waiting on parts. Any suggestions?

Hope this helps a little...

You are a life saver, Destroyer. I wasn't trying to deminish your excellent idea, I was just poking at you about drilling the axle with the drill press.

The substrate is clean like new. I have Square 2" OD Galvanized Tubing with stubs that fit inside and get welded in place. Thankfully I will be doing the welding on a heavy duty worktable at a comfortable height (ie no vertical welding because it always looks like a$$ when I am done, I need some serious schooling/practice on uphand vertical, thanks for the tip). If I knew in advance I would be welding vertical I would use the mig next door. Actually I still might use the mig, depends on when the parts arrive. Any drawbacks? You sound like the man to ask.

The more I think about spindle alignment the more I think a straight edge and a micrometer may be the ticket. In any case it will be close enough. Worst case scenario, a little extra tire wear, I can live with that since the tires tend to dry rot before the tread is gone anyway.:beer:

(And don't worry if your trailer is next to you as you go down the road... that way you can keep a better eye on it.):hide:

Update
 

Still waiting on parts. Meanwhile I took the hubs off the otherwise good axle, now I see why they went bad. Bearing and races on left side looked good but the right side inboard bearing was junk. Several missing pieces off the rollers and rusted. Not as much grease in either side IMO. Water got by the seal and was working on the innermost bearings. Replaced races, cone bearings and seals but it looks like the three day weekend will be spent without the Wellcraft. My stupidity, I will just have to deal with it by using one of the others;-)
I knew this boat sickness that I have would come in handy, sometime.

The parts arrived. I got the spindles welded back on the axle tube and they are as straight as I can make them. Used a straight edge and a micrometer off the straight axle tube A better picture of the bad spindle and the axle bolted back under. Sprayed Corrosion X all over the 2 yr old rusty springs.
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Nice job Ridge, Grease, never install brakes and you good for many years. Nice job on the welding ..

You are too generous NYMack. It don't look good but it will work. Destroyer had me worried about penetration so I turned it up. I made two passes with the 7018 rod after tacking the spindle in place. The spindles came in slightly different than what was there. The weldable end had been turned down with a lathe to fit inside the square tubing but the turned down portion was 3/4" longer than original so instead of just placing the spindle into the square tube until it stopped at the part of the spindle that wasn't cut down (like a flange) I had to pull the spindle out 3/4" on each side and was welding to the part that was turned down. I pinned the spindle into a corner of the axle tube which made the opposite side a sloppy fit so two passes. BTW- boat shoes should never be worn while welding. :beer:

Don't ya just loooooove those tiny little holes in your socks and skin?:love:


It looks good Ridge.. nice job. Well done!! :clap::clap:

Actually, unless he takes off the hubs and welds on the square flange where you attach the brake backing plate he cannot install brakes. I think brakes are necessary. I know others have other opinions. Lets just agree to disagree. :beer: