torsion axles problem
 

launched the boat saturday, went out for 3-4 hours, came back to ramp and loaded boat. while pulling up i heard some scraping. first thought a wheel bearing had cut loose. got out and had wife pull forward while i walked by trailer. it was the fenders hitting the tires. limped home & pulled the fenders off. found the brackets that hold the axles had rotted off on on both sides.
i guess for 30-40 launches a year for 12 years in salt, not too bad.


http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps8b15b9e7.jpg




http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps2db7bb58.jpg
i love boating, but hate trailers

Ugh. Ugly for sure, but like you said...12 years isn't all that bad.

Damn Phat, I'm surprised they look as good as they do.

Put new axles on mine a couple years ago, they were about 11 years old. The weld holding the spindle in the axle rotted away and my wheel and tire just fell out. Thankfully not while riding down the road. My trailer guy built new ones for $150 each.

bradford, is that a straight axle for $150. if it's a torsion , that is a smoking deal. this is the second set on this trailer. the first set lasted 6 years ( i bought the trailer in '96) and cost $550 a set. these are going to be $700 a set. life span for springs is about 3 years. but they only cost about $200 to replace.

side note, what do you guys think about painting them with some kind of lining system, rino, gator ,etc. the trailer guy said the galvanizing is not as good as it was in the past.

Mine are regular axles with springs. He's done two trailers for me so far, about to take him another one as soon as I can get the Chaparral off it. Yes, I have to replace the springs more often. I take my wheels off and hit everything with a wire brush then spray everything down with grease once or twice a year. Seems to help some, could just be in my head. Plus I throughly hose everything off with freshwater when I get home from the ramp. I've heard of people cool sealing them before. Sometimes I wonder if putting extra coating on top might seal in moisture when the get dunked. Kinda like those rubber coated anchor chains they sell at walmart. Spraying them with the zinc in a can galv cote stuff can't hurt any I would think.

I recently did new springs and hardware on my trailer,well more like two years now. I used a coat of marine primer(zinc chromate) and a heavy coat of the cold galvanizing spray. So far no rust, and I like that spray to do touch ups on hardware, even on stainless steel.

The arms and hubs look pretty good...any way to just replace the axles?...I wonder if a good welding shop could do that?...Once the welder's done, paint
them like mentioned above...that stuff actually works pretty good...

reel, there are rubber bushings on the interior of the axles that any welding would melt. those hubs are about 6 years old. i will probably pull them off the axels and keep for back ups if we ever go tothe keys again.

Idid mine last two with a zinc paint, first one was older and it helped some, next was a new trailer never in the water and after 10 years now my friend that has it said i screwed him cause he has had it for 7 years now and it is starting to show rust now lol

How are the axles attached to the arms?...pressed on?