Trailer ...... Spindle Damage

[bluewaterpirate]

I have a 2002 22' Loadrite aluminum I-Beam trailer. I've been using it going on 8 years.

Last week I was pulling my Whaler to Hatteras for a week of fishing and fun. As usual I stop every 30 miles to check the hub temps and dust covers. I stopped in Kitty Hawk to get gas and everything was fine hubs were cold and dust covers tight as drums. In the 8 years I've been pulling this trailer I've never lost a dust cover.

Arriving in Avon I backed the trailer into the driveway and got out of my truck. As I did a quick inspection of the boat and trailer I discovered I had lost my right front hub dust cover somewhere between Kitty Hawk and Avon (30 mile trip). I could see I had some interesting issues to overcome. I carry spare bearings, dust covers, castle nuts, washers, and grease but not a spare spindle.

After getting the tire off I found one hellva mess to say the least. Because I lost all the grease both bearings (front/back) ate themselves along with the rear bearing seal. The destruction caused by the bearings and bearing seal made one hellva mess on the spindle. Lucky for me I didn't damage the disc brakes. I took everything off and removed the spindle. The Napa Auto Parts store in Buxton graciously let me use their vice and file to work on the damaged spindle. I was able to repair it and install a new set of bearings front/rear and a rear bearing seal. After getting it all together I pulled the boat to Teaches Lair in Hatteras Village where I had a slip for the week. I ordered a new spindle from Eastern Marine and had it overnighted to Avon.

Lessons learned .....

I now carry an extra spindle ..... along with the items I carry all the time.

I've always carried my floor jack that has a 7000 lb capacity ... it came in very handy.

I rebuilt my trailer last year ... I did all the work myself. That in itself made a huge difference because I learned everything about my trailer during the rebuild.

Here are some pictures of the damaged spindle.

[finadict]

So what happened to the cotter pin on the castle nut?. I've never seen a spindle get that clobbered in such a short time, what failed first?

[bluewaterpirate]

So what happened to the cotter pin on the castle nut?. I've never seen a spindle get that clobbered in such a short time, what failed first?

Fin .....

This spindle setup does not use a cotter pin to secure the castle nut.

There is a flat surface on the top of the spindle. This surface provides the method for securing the castle nut using a tang washer. Once the hub is seated on the spindle an ID washer is placed on the spindle to secure the front beaings. Once the ID washer is in place a tang washer is intalled and finally the castle nut is tighted over the ID and tang washers. Once the castle nut is tightened you align one of the castle nut notches with one of the tabs on the tang washer. Once aligned you use a screw driver and bend the tang washer tab to the 90 degree position. The flat side of the spindle along with the tang washer tab locks the castle nut in place.

Here are some pictures.

1" D washer .....

Tang washer .....

Spindle design ......

[triumphrick]

From what I have discovered over the years, the damage begins as an inside job...the first failure is the grease seal. After water breaks down and deteriorates the grease then the bearings go. It was interesting to read how quickly yours went south. You can usually hear that damage by elevating and spinning the tire/wheel. At least you were prepared to fix what you could. Good job!

[bluewaterpirate]

From what I have discovered over the years, the damage begins as an inside job...the first failure is the grease seal. After water breaks down and deteriorates the grease then the bearings go. It was interesting to read how quickly yours went south. You can usually hear that damage by elevating and spinning the tire/wheel. At least you were prepared to fix what you could. Good job!

I'm sure alot of the damage came from the hub itself after the front/rear bearings failed. When I knocked the bearing races out they were pretty beat up.

[north coast]

I hate trailering any distance.3 wheel bearings in 2 years. and I keep up with the maintenance. last one, last fall,doing 55 on rt.1 in Mass.

God awfull noise ,then look in the rearview to see flames! shooting in the air, my trailer dragging the leaf springs ,spindle etc. at 55mph. interesting mess and quite an interesting day. flat bed, new axle etc. boat down for 2 weeks.

I should start carrying all the stuff you do. probably wouldn't have made a difference. good luck with yours.

[Tolman24]

Last year when fixing to leave the parking lot to head home (110 miles) after loading I noticed that I had a hub that was busted. I am not sure what happened. Bearings and seal shot. Either I hit a curb and busted the hub, or the bearings went and busted the hub. I lean toward hitting a hole and dropping on the edge of the hub. Of course this is Sunday night at 9 pm. After some head scratching I jacked up the axle, pulled the tire and used a tie down strap to strap the axle to the frame in the basic position as the other axle. I have a dual axle trailer and in order to get it long enough for my light boat it has approximately twice the load capacity as needed. I pulled it home on three legs with no problems, albeit at 55 instead of 65. I replaced 2 hubs and bearing all around. I now have a spare hub and bearing setup that I can carry in the truck. If I don't bugger up a spindle I can change them in the field. My spindles are welded and not bolted on so that will be a pain at some point. i also get out and check the axles for heat 3 times on the 110 mile trip. They never got hot on the trip down. Like your axles these have the grease zerk at the front and pushes grease from the rear through the bearing to the front. I found that I wasn't pushing enough grease through there and letting the bearing get dry. I now pump the grease through with more vigor.

[Capt Rick Hiott]

As you might know,,,It only takes one grain of sand or some type of grit to start the process. All of my parts are clean enough to eat off of before I start packing my bearings and injecting the grease in the hub. If the wind is blowing sand around in your work area,,,dont even think about it!

Make sure you wipe off the grease gun and your fitting before you grease the unit too.

Another thing you should think about is when you "Seat" the nut by tightening it down, spin the wheel and get the nut good and tight while it spins. (This also helps seat the races in the hub if you installed new ones). Then back it off "about" a 1/4-1/2 turn to allow for heat expansion. Its got to have some clearance in there.

Knock on wood,,,,,I have never had a problem with a bearing going bad. (Thank God!)