Trailer Axles

How many members have experienced or know of instances where a boat trailer's wheel bearings have failed, or the wheel /tyre overtakes you on the road
I am not talking about a badly maintained and neglected trailer, but one that is either almost new, or gets looked after like it should be.
I have recently experienced this myself, but also within a space of a month, seen two other rigs stuck on the road with the same *(&*(^ T.
 I have my own theories about this, but will reserve them for a later post ( want to see reactions first).

yip it happened to me at a slip once, we had just done a tow of around 120km and we got to the slip, backed the boat down launched and then came out the water with only three wheels on the trailer.

I presume there must have been an issue with the bearing and it got very hot and then the cold water just caused it to crack and the disintegrate, also lost the back wheel on my cruiser once!!

Damn this scares the crap out of me now that my trailer has to be towd 1000km to pe!

Damn this scares the crap out of me now that my trailer has to be towd 1000km to pe!

There are a few things that play a role

1) The axles setup has to be correct with regards to weightbearing, speed etc

2) When you service the bearing the tightening process has to be right. Too tight it heats up like a fireball, too loose it grinds like a sandmill.

3) When you have completed the tightnig just right, your locking mechanism on the nut must be so that it can't move at all. This part is where most guys loose there wheels!!!

It has happened to brand new trailers coming straight out of the shop. If you have a boat on the heavier side I would suggest you replace the bearings once a year. Its not expensive and will save you a lot of heartache in the long run  

Hi Guys

I tow my boat long distances. One of the secrets is that you must make sure that the bearings are greased well. I had crap many years ago with wheelbearing failure but have sorted it out. Firstly I stopped running the trailer into the water until the axle is covered with water. This took 90% of the hazzles away.I do the same with my jetski trailer and have towed it down to Shelly about five times and everything is still as good as new. Keep the water away if you can.  As Shag is saying the other big mistake is to tow the boat and drop it of as quickly as possible in the water as we want to get on the water to fish a.s.a.p. This causes that the bearings crack.

Best is still to fit a LA Oil filled axle. It cost you about R11000 but your problems are gone. The bearing size on this axle is also about double the size of the normal bearings that result in lower friction temperatures. The hydraulic brake system is very good and also enhances the safety for towing.

Cheers mates I am not a rep for LA Axles but they work.

just make sure you put the split pin in

Also a major contributor to bearing failure is overloading.

A trailer's carrying mass is direct calculated to the boats mass.

1st scenario

Now new boat and new trailer: Come the add ons, T-Top, fishing equipment, extra cool boxes, electronics, life well, etc etc. All not on the boat with first purchase.

Going to the coast apart from the extras on the boat we add, umbrellas, kids bicycle's, gazebo, etc, etc. The boat now also becomes a trailer.

2nd scenario:

Lets say you do nine of the above. Only add ones and fishing gear, nothing else.

The day you go fishing or maybe the day before.

Fill up with fuel, add all the bait, crews personal items, and whatever goes with on a days fishing.

Again the boat is overloaded, even if it is just for 5 km, but the weight is indirectly the killer.

The killer is the extra friction on the bearings. Extra friction= extra heat. get to the water in goes the trailer in the water, heat and water= cracks.

Always good to try and stick to the weight and let bearing cool down before submerging

 

Simen hence my first point

Safest option is to way over spec your axle, springs and bearings. Most boat trailers are spec'd too close to the limit. Spec it for 50% overload, if possible.

You guys are all correct in what you have suggested so far. I nevertheless have something to add from experience. Went through two boats with the same trailer, axel and bearings. (12 years plus fishing at least ten times a month with travelling distance of at least 180 kilo's a shot)

Two things are important. You have to get rid of the sea water out of the bearings at the end of a day out. The salt rusts a thin layer on the balls which quickly wares off when in motion. Continuation over time means that the balls are getting smaller and smaller and the wheel gets looser and looser and very much hotter. Secondly you must use good waterproof grease and NEVER mix different types of grease. This forms acids that messes the viscosity up completely.

To prevent this happening. Silver solder grease nipples onto the bearing cups. Carry a decent grease gun with you in the tow vehicle. Pump grease in before going home EVERY TIME. This pushes the sea water out. You may get a couple of grease splatters on the bottom of your boat. Easier to clean this than changing a bearing along the road. Do not pump too fast or else the rear seal will pop out. This will not happen if the seals already have a little wear on them. Pump until the grease just starts escaping out the rear "O ring" seal. If the seal does tend to pop out, then remove the drum and reverse the seal. Sound ridiculous but it works perfectly. Regularly towed our boat with a ton sometimes more of fish on a single axel.

As you have correctly mentioned, the right bearing tension is as important as having to go fishing to catch a fish. Tension should be checked regularly depending obviously on how often you use the rig and distances travelled. What is the correct tension? I jack the axel up, spin the wheel and slowly tighten. When the wheel tends to slow down a little quicker then loosen a quarter to a half turn. If the bearing has just been greased, you could experience false tension as the grease prevents the wheel from turning freely. In this case you will need to tow the trailer for a Kilo or so then recheck.

Hope this works for you

Mavers wrote:

Safest option is to way over spec your axle, springs and bearings. Most boat trailers are spec'd too close to the limit. Spec it for 50% overload, if possible.

Click to expand...

Having said this, on light boats be careful of having too stiff springs.

Your normal load needs to be well into the flex of the springs, and not right at the beginning of the flex, else when going over a bump, and the axle unloads slightly, it will unload completely, and slam. One often hears that bouncing / slamming effect, especially when trailers are towed without the boat on....ie when taken from the slip to the trailer park. Its that effect you want to avoid with your boat loaded, and too stiff springs will / can do that.

Check and/or Change your bearings before every big trip they are pretty cheap compared to your boat and fishing kit

if this is to mush a good idea is to carry spare bearings vacuum packed in grease so they are ready to go then all you have to do is fetch your wheel out somebodies BMW windscreen! LOL