|
|
Posts: 77
| After a fishing trip I was unhooking the trailer and noticed that the trailer hub was smoking and smelled like it was burning. I obviously needed to grease up the hub and it ran out of grease. It is def past the point of just applying more grease, you can tell the hub is ruined. I was planning on doing it after that trip but turns out I miscalculated when it needed to be done. So what now? Can I fix this myself or do I need to take it somewhere? Its a Tuff trailer. thanks in advance. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32901
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Take off the hub and check the spindle, hopefully that will be OK. If so, you need to replace all the bearings and seals and regrease, and assemble. Messy job, but not awful tough. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 3488
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | +1
Depending on cost, you may find it beneficial to just buy a whole new hub. Usually when bearings are replaced, so are the races (what the bearing rides on inside the hub), as they are matched to each other. Races can be a bit of a pain to get out and reinstall.
If you purchase a new hub, get an extra set of bearings as well. Then, keep the burned hub as a back up with the new bearings, just in case you run into trouble on a trip. In my D$%$-it box, I keep a container of grease, extra bearings and an extra seal, and would like to have an extra hub assembly ready to go. Then, if a hub goes bad, I remove the one, install the other, and am back on my way in under 20 minutes
Steve |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1142
Location: NorthCentral WI | Lol. That's never good.
Yea, be sure to inspect the axle and threads. If the hub assembly looks okay you can just buy a new bearing/race set. Be sure to pack the new bearings well with grease and replace the races inside the hub assembly (tap old out, tap new in).
Otherwise you can pickup a new hub assembly with the new bearings greased and loaded ready to just slide on.
Not very technical at all and I'd suggest anyone that owns a boat (or any trailer for that matter) should learn how to check and repack your bearings. If you're not sure what to do have a friend help you that has done it before. As good preventitive maintenance, I pull mine apart and regrease every spring and sometimes more often if I notice a seal has been blown. It's a greasy but simple job. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 77
| does anyone have a link where it describes some good directions? thanks for the help so far |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1142
Location: NorthCentral WI | Steve beat me to it, I was sidetracked during my reply...
Good idea of carrying an extra trailer hub though. I could definitely see that saving the day sometime.
Personally, I check my trailer probably more often than most. It gives me a sense of security when I am towing. We've all seen the guys on the side of the road after thier wheel fell off or the like - not gonna happen to me (I hope). |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1142
Location: NorthCentral WI | Where are you located?
I just did a quick google search and saw quite a few videos on Youtube. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 781
Location: Ames, Iowa | There are videos and websites to help but make sure you check those spindles as stated earlier. I had to replace two of them on a trailer I bought- got a good deal but spent just under $80 getting the local welder to remove then add two new spindles I'd bought at Theisen's. I'd also get bearing buddies or get great bearing covers that keep that water out. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 3488
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
Bearing buddies (or equivalent) work to help equalize hub pressure, but water still can get in. I rip my hubs apart every fall as do many people, and more often than not, I have beads of water inside the hub. Every trip, I check the outside spring-loaded seal for movement (ample grease to push the spring out). Just adding grease to the zerk and making sure the hub is full does not guarantee water will not get in. With a quick decrease in temperature (especially in the early and late parts of the open water seasons) by dunking your trailer, water can get pulled in via the rear seal and along side the bearing buddy. This is exacerbated if the hubs are on too tight as well. Tight increases heat.
have to remember...that seal on the back of the hub is always turning as well, which is why a hub should always be checked and repacked after a season of open water use. Rust (or worse...ice) and pitting on the bearings in a hub is a bad thing... Roadside repairs due to water intrusion and/or improper maintenance are not fun...
Steve
Edited by VMS 3/20/2013 8:22 AM
|
|
| |
|
Location: 31 | VMS - 3/20/2013 8:21 AM
Hiya,
Bearing buddies (or equivalent) work to help equalize hub pressure, but water still can get in. I rip my hubs apart every fall as do many people, and more often than not, I have beads of water inside the hub. Every trip, I check the outside spring-loaded seal for movement (ample grease to push the spring out). Just adding grease to the zerk and making sure the hub is full does not guarantee water will not get in. With a quick decrease in temperature (especially in the early and late parts of the open water seasons) by dunking your trailer, water can get pulled in via the rear seal and along side the bearing buddy. This is exacerbated if the hubs are on too tight as well. Tight increases heat.
have to remember...that seal on the back of the hub is always turning as well, which is why a hub should always be checked and repacked after a season of open water use. Rust (or worse...ice) and pitting on the bearings in a hub is a bad thing... Roadside repairs due to water intrusion and/or improper maintenance are not fun...
Steve
x2 Steve gives great advise! |
|
| |
Trailer hub smoking