BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

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booger
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BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby booger » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:00 pm

RANT RANT RANT............... Boat trailer axles. Why is something that appears so simple such a complex pain in the booty. Every failure that I’ve had has been catastrophic. There has never been some minor issue that just needed a little tightening or a blob of grease. No, just the opposite, shattered? missing? destroyed bearings, races, hubs, & spindles. I check them before season, occasionally add little grease, feel the hubs after a long drive. Give them plenty of attention, they seem fine, then the next thing you know hub/rim/tire is laying cockeyed on the spindle the bearings have been spit out or chewed up, who knows?

The current axle/hub/bearing failure was a #3500, six year old axle, given routine maintenance, and only used during duck season. Admittedly used hard, different states, bad roads, etc. but dang c'mon. I bought some replacement hubs ready to go, but even after measuring and double checking the bastards won't go on. I had to use a bearing puller to get the last piece of the fried inner race off the spindle, so I figure the spindle is just too far gone, don't even know for sure why the new hub won't fit, put a block of wood against it and hit it hard, then angry hard, then crazy man I don't......care.......any........more hard. Still no go. Yes, already tried various abrasive material on the spindle to smooth it, clean it, measured everything again, etc. HATE FURY ANGER FORGET IT!!!!

This is the third complete catastrophic failure that I’ve had. As with the others, a roadside fix is not so simple. Rebuilding the same hub with a package of bearings after everything has been fried is not going to happen, you may need a bearing puller to remove leftovers on the spindle, then as I found out a complete replacement hub somehow doesn't fit, now every tool you own and all your clothes are covered in grease. I am so pissed I just ordered a whole new #3500 axle with hubs pre-greased with Timken bearings, made in any length needed, ready to go. $179.07 delivered to my door, southwestwheel.com

After this gets installed I'm going to order another one and just travel with a whole new axle/hub set up. Forget spare bearing & hubs, that's not necessarily going to work, farking waste of money. Just bolt in a new axle and keep hunting, I can't afford missing a day of good hunting, nor do I want to leave the rig on the side of the road or in the tow yard. I can replace the entire axle in about the same time as changing a flat and be back in the game, not even miss dinner.

I HATE TRAILER AXLES!!!!!!!!!

RANT RANT RANT
Them ducks is wary. We now resume our regularly scheduled forum melee in progress.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby Wildfowler » Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:15 pm

Spare axle!! Brilliant!!!

I swore if I had another failure I was going to replace my axle with the next larger size and it was going to be the spindle lube variety.
driven every kind of rig that's ever been made, driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed. - Lowell George
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby booger » Sun Feb 05, 2017 7:43 pm

When hunting is this good, failure is not an option. $179.07 is chump change to keep the log stacked.







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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby DuckBoat » Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:30 pm

I know what you mean , I use all my stuff hard and a lot. This is what I have found that works best for me: spindle lube axle greased and adjusted periodically through the season, start with quality bearings not Chinese junk, carry a spare hub that fits. Also I quit using trailers with leaf springs, I use torsional or a custom coil spring system.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby jdbuckshot » Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:02 am

Chances are is that your axle is not properly lined up with your trailer, causing friction and wear prematurely in the bearings.

the narrower the trailer - the easier it is to get it lined up.

Also larger tires and lower air pressure helps with the rough roads.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby JLT » Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:48 am

What about bearing buddys.....we have them on our boat trailer and keep them packed with grease. Never had an issue.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby mfalkner » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:36 am

I feel you; there's nothing standard or uniform in the world of trailer hubs/bearings. Just went through this on a dinky jon boat trailer. Almost took the motor off the boat and left it beside the highway just to be shed of it....
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby greenheadgrimreaper » Mon Feb 06, 2017 2:23 pm

In Proverbs, King Solomon said something along the lines of, "It's better to live on the corner of a roof, than to live with a nagging woman."

I agree. And I also think this applies to boat trailers.

The only thing more worrisome, more pesky, more miserable than a boat trailer, is a piece of crap boat trailer.
"The middle of the road is where the white line is -- and that's the worst place to drive." Robert Frost

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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby Denduke » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:17 pm

Touching the hubs periodically after running aways is easy check if they are getting real warm change bearing running until failure WTF!
Pardon me but seems outa character for the Booger....
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby booger » Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:29 pm

Denduke, oh no, I do check them before the season, pull the hub, check them, add some good marine grease, put it back together, back off the castle nut just a quarter turn, check it again, give it a spin, check for wobble, give them all the love that you can imagine and they still betray me. I even put the dust cap back on with a thin layer of black Permatex "form a gasket" on the cap rim to help keep water out. And yes, I'm so paranoid that I feel my hubs every time that I stop, always ice cold, then I look for grease slinging out on the rim, no indication of a problem whatsoever, then out of nowhere 90 miles later at 60MPH Kablammo. Not the first time either.

I'll bet these don't roll more than 1,000 miles a season, maybe 1,200 or thereabouts. How long should they last?

I think the current fail was due to a shattered bearing at a savage pothole sequence, at my favorite WMA. I think I was limping on just one bearing until that one failed, then everything ground down to nothing. :x

Here's what really hurts. Another member of my crew does nothing to his, absolutely nothing, zero maintenance and he never has a problem. :?

JLT - I'm going to try bearing buddies again. I tried them in the eighties and had problems. Probably pilot error of pumping too much grease and blowing the seal.

I am really looking forward to this new axle coming with brand new hubs, Timken bearings, packed with grease.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby booger » Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:39 pm

jdbuckshot - you could be right. Current failed set up was a longer axle cut in half, resized to fit, and welded back together at the center, at a premier welding shop. Supposed to be trued etc. but who knows. I felt that for simple duck boat purposes +/- a tiny fraction wouldn't matter, but I'm no engineer. It seemed to track straight and worked fine for eight years.

Why all of that? Because the one before that was a light duty axle that HAD failed during duck season, was essentially obsolete and none to be found, the heavier axle was not in my size but could be cut down. This plan of action had me hunting tomorrow, all other plans of looking for a light duty axle elsewhere, or ordering the correct one would mean not hunting tomorrow. WELD IT AND TURN ME LOOSE, HERE'S SOME HUNNERD DOLLAR BILLS, GOTTA GO KILL DUCKS NOW!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby JLT » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:10 pm

We've had some bug trailers that we had a lot of trouble with tires and I think it was due to mis aligned axles.

The bearing buddies that we have on the boat trailer have a spring that lets you know when to quit pumping grease.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby Wildfowler » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:43 pm

Instead of backing off the castle nut a 1/4 turn, tighten it down to the point where the wheel turns with difficulty by hand. (On jack stand) then loosen to next available slot.

I have gone so far as to have an assortment of washers on hand to not have to loosen the nut more than necesssry. In other words, those washers are generally not the exact same thickness and I am able to "time" the castle nut so it is as tight as possible by trial and error with various washers and not making everything too loose by backing off the castle nut any more than necessary.

I replaced my tires last fall on my utility trailer and Ill bet I've got 5000 miles in the current set which look brand new and are wearing perfectly even.

When you replace the axle, when both hubs are off, I would measure from the center of the outside of the spindle to the same spot on the coupling on both sides to see if everything is perfectly square too. If not, address this too.

I rebuilt my trailer in 2008 out of 2" square tubing re-using the axle from a lightweight trailer I was having trouble with. I bought all new hardware from there. I made certain everything was square to the end of the tongue exactly to the 1/16". One tire still wore down noticeably faster and uneven compared with the other. It was after this observation that I "tightened" that hub down by timing it with a different washer. I should re pack and inspect my bearings some time soon after reading this thread. Doing so I think will be the third time I've opened the hubs since my rebuild.
driven every kind of rig that's ever been made, driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed. - Lowell George
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby deltadukman » Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:21 am

Boog, I'm going with the misaligned/bent axle theory. I had a trailer that ate bearing for breakfast and finally noticed some odd tire wear and broke down a put a new 3500lb axle under it(they were a lot cheaper than I thought) and haven't had a issue yet. I feel your pain. I had two go out this spring. Both on Sunday nights(late) on I55 or I20 headed back from south LA fishing. Talk about miserable.
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Re: BOAT TRAILER AXLE FAILURE RANT!! ANGER & FURY

Postby Smoke68 » Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:31 am

The day before I was supposed to tow my boat down to Pascagoula for a gator hunt, me and a buddy decided to try the fishing over at Loakfoma. Hauled the boat over, backed it into the water, and when the wheels went under all I see is steam. I'm in the boat, and as the trailer pulls out the wheel is just a wobblin.

I got to know the boys over at Sureride Trailers in Maben real well over the next 24 hours. Great guys, great service, and fair pricing. Used them several times over the years now.

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