Left out of charlotte with the wife and dog, camping stuff packed, saltwater licenses bought, fishing coolers and rods, and campsite rented. Weather was looking good for saturday – on the road Friday by 6:30. Thought everything was going our way.
About 45 minutes into the 3 hour trip, I look in the mirror and notice the drivers side rear tire on the trailer (tandem) is sitting out about 4 inches of the front tire.
Not good – did you forget grease? Lug nuts? Nope, checked both before we left.
Pull off the interstate, jack up the rear axle, and the whole hub and wheel fall off. Hmm, glad that didnt happen going down the road.
Lowered jack, limped home. 192 Grady White was a little heavy to try to gimp down to Charleston on three wheels. Spent the weekend chasing down a new hub and installing bearing buddies all the way around. Appears what I thought were bearing buddies were only lubing the inside bearing (zerk on the spindle) and cooked the outer bearing. Lesson learned. Amazed that I didnt kill the spindle.
All buttoned up and ready to try again this weekend – just watching the weather now…
2006 model trailer too – saltwater works fast I guess!
CALLING AN ILLEGAL ALIEN AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT IS LIKE CALLING A DRUG DEALER AN UNLICENSED PHARMACIST.
■■■■ sorry to hear.
Your story makes me appreciate living 3 miles from Wappoo cut. I don’t remember the last time my trailer made it over 45 mph. Even dry, my bearings will last a long time
I’m going to check to see if what also I believe to be bearing buddies are greasing both inner & outer bearings. I’ll look for the zerk on the spindle.
Thanks for the post…it might\could save a fishing trip.
I agree, used to live 2 minutes from Wapoo landing. Never worried about the trailer. Truck would practically drive itself home. Now I live in the upstate, it’s an hour one way to get to the water. I have to worry more about the trailer than the boat itself. Still getting used to that.
Mine went out two weeks ago also. Both sides at once. The ride to the landing is about a mile, so I figured I’d do it when it failed. It did take about 5 trips to the boat store, and ultimately Beaufort Boat and Dock Supply to get all the right parts. All the premade up hub kits had the wrong seal i.d. for my axles. $80 and about three hours of work, but I figure I’ll just let them rot and do it again in 3-4 years. I’m lazy what can I say?
As important as grease/lube is…be sure the outer nut is as tight as you can get it, and the wheel will turn. You shuold have to ‘push’ the wheel some to get it to turn on a freshly re-done bearing kit, as it will loosen up almost immediately thereafter. Good to recheck it every once in a while too.
Your wheel/hub should have MINIMAL play/wiggle room.
Better luck, and there are NO HOUSES left to buy in Mt. P. LOL!!
Don’t believe you can pump enough grease to inner and outer from a bearing buddy. However I have seen hubs with grease fittings at front and rear of hub so you can lube both bearings. Also saw a hub system that takes oil instead of grease.
The type of hub and spindle you have with the Zerk fitting on the spindle is the superlube type and I don’t think is compatible with bearing buddys. Check out their website and download the manual. Soulds like you have same as I do which is the superlube spindle and hub. The website is http://www.tiedown.com/index.html
The point of the fitting on the spindle is it shoots grease to the back of the hub and forces the old grease out the front. When I grease my hubs, I first jack up the axle to get the tire where I can spin it, then I start pumping grease into the spindle with the hub spinning at the same time. I pump grease until I force out all the old grease and have new grease coming out. Then I clean up the old grease and am done. You might not realize how much grease you can shoot into these. I don’t think you have to worry about blowing out seals by overpumping the grease since it just forces it out the front. If you don’t pump in enough then you might not be keeping good grease on the outer bearing, or it may have never had enough in it to start with.
You might check into getting an e-axle http://www.airtighthubs.com/products-e-axle.php This is a nice thing to have that would have kept you going that day instead of going home. If you wreck the spindle this is an option.
Also you might want to carry a spare hub kit already assembled with bearings and seals and all the tools and grease you would need to do a roadside replacement of a hub in the event the spindle is not torn up. I keep one in a small bucket and also keep a toolkit with all I need anytime I take a longer trailer trip.
I personally would stay away from the oil bath hubs. The superlube system that you have is the best system, and is what the top trailer manufactuers use.
Lack of grease is not usually the cause of failed bearings.
Once the bearings are installed and the correct amount of grease has been added there is really no need to add more grease unless some has been lost.
The main problem is the water that seeped into the hub. A few drops is all it takes. Once the water starts to attack a roller, it is only a matter of a short time till the bearing fails. Adding more grease when there is a pitted roller will not save the bearing or add life.
There are some greases that will “emulsify” better than others. I found Lubriplate 1242 will hold onto the water better than most other greases and thus reduces the effect of water inside the hub. It is no miracle cure, but I have had pretty good success since I replaced my old bearing grease with the Lubriplate 1242.
OBTW, I trailer from Saluda to the Coast. (180+ miles each trip)
we trailer to the keys every year
I always change my hubs and bearings before I go
last year I didnt, I thought “I just did it last year”
I blew out 2 bearings. the second one was just before getting to the 2 lane at homestead. I cooked the spindle. went to home depot and bought a cordless grinder to clean up the spindle enough to get teh new bearings on. I drove 45 the last hour or so, and when I splashed the boat, I carried the trailer over to teh repair shop, and had them put a new spindle on, and I replaced the other hubs and bearing before we left. trip home was uneventful.
a good tip
if you carry an extra pre greased hub, and have a flat tire, I change the hub and tire. its easier. you only have teh one nut in the middle, and its geased, so you dont have to deal with rusted lug nuts.
Another thing to think about…
By just pumping more grease into the hubs, you are essientially filling the hub to capacity with grease which will in turn build up more heat in the hub because the rollers are having to force their way through the packed grease. Now this shouldn’t be an issue with the guys that don’t trailer their boats very far, but it is big trouble to those of us who pull for an hour or 4 at the time.
True story,
I was at Steamboat ramp on Edisto in March and helped two guys load their boat onto the trailer since they were having trouble. When they pulled the trailer out of the water it was making an awful grinding noise. I suggested they may want to replace the bearings on the trailer since the bearings were apparently shot. One of the gentlemen looked at me and said, “Thanks, I’ll shoot a little grease in it when we get home.”
