Not a great day for the trailer

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

Looked in the side view and saw one tire sticking out further than the other.
Not sure why, but it looks like the bearings disintegrated.
Plenty of grease still in the hub and on the axle.
This is a made in the USA trailer, factory new this spring.
I wonder if it's covered under warranty? LOL

dustycoal · Oct 27, 2013

Good thing you did your pre-trip. Could have turned
into a bad day on the highway! Hope spindle is ok?

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

This actually happened on the highway, at about 70MPH.
Even though I had done a pre-trip this morning.

I haven't got the spindle all cleaned up yet, so I don't know
for sure, but it was pretty darned hot. Couldn't see smoke going
down the road, but there was a small amount once I stopped.
Smoke was coming from the axle hole in the hub, brakes were
cool to the touch.
The hub is definitely shot. Here's what's left of the bearing.

rrlund · Oct 27, 2013

But do the brakes work? LOL

Looks like your adjuster's gone.

I thought I had mine licked. I had a little time on my hands the other day so I went to town and got a new plug for the truck. I cut the wires back,skinned them back and put them in the new plug. There was definitely something different right away. When I touched the brake pedal just enough for the brake lights to come on,the light on the controller came on. I hooked on yesterday to move some calves and nothing has changed. They still work,kinda,but not really.

Jon f wanted to fix them when he was here the other day,but drinking coffee and eating apple pie sounded like a better idea to me.

todd hamilton · Oct 27, 2013

well ya gonna need a can of gunk degreaser, a can of brake wash, floor jack, tools, bearings, seals, new grease and about four hours

Welding man · Oct 27, 2013

Typical 3500# axle. Bearings are too small to stand the weight of heavy loads and highway speeds. Have replaced dozens of these axles due to burned out bearings. I personally would not own a trailer with 3500# axles.

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

Well, they worked this morning.
Only about half working right now.

Gambles · Oct 27, 2013

Most of those American trailers are made on a price-point. In other words, they got plenty of Chinese material in them, including the hitch materials and the bearings.

Dr. Walt · Oct 27, 2013

Royse:

Before you buy bearings, I'd take copies of your
photos plus your purchase receipt for the trailer
and go back to the dealer, that should be covered
under warranty if it's less than a year old.

Doc

Paul from MI · Oct 27, 2013

What a mess--just glad no one got hurt out of it all.

Geo-TH,In · Oct 27, 2013

Trailer may have been made in USA, but where were the bearings made?

Neighbor recently put new rear wheel bearings on his 1 ton GMC dually. Less than 50 miles, the bearing came apart and his rear wheel fell off.
He wasn't very happy, but Auto z gave him all new parts.

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

Amen Paul! The tire never actually came off.
That first picture is what it looked like when I got it stopped.
I pulled it the rest of the way off with my hands and threw it
in the back of the truck. No tools required obviously.
That's as close as I want to come to a flying wheel though!

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

You can bet I'm going to ask them Doc.
Not sure they'll do anything about it, but it won't hurt to ask.

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

If I have to replace axles, I may go heavier.
Trailer was empty when this happened.
That's a whole 'nother story. :evil:

donjr · Oct 27, 2013

Check with rusted nutz. He may buy that one from
you for his trailer....

Roger in Iowa · Oct 27, 2013

Sure looks dirty for something that was new this spring. How many miles have you pulled it, since you got it?

Old Bob · Oct 27, 2013

Bought a new trailer last year. Hadn't put 150 miles on. Wheel bearing went out no grease ruint hub and axle. Folks I bought it from made it good. Said it was warrantied for 1 year.

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

Dirty? Where? Other than inside that hub that blew apart the
only dirt on it is the speckles from the horse farm this morning.
Not even any rust on the shackles.
Trailer was built 3/13 according to the tag.
I bought it new off the dealer lot in April or May.
Trailer might have 500 miles on it and has never been loaded
even close to rated weight.
If it weren't for the high deck height, (and the legal issues) I'm
thinking I'd go back to my deckover built from house trailer axles.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 27, 2013

I had an axle snap, in october, American made trailer, had bosnian
bearings that lasted 18 years. The snap had nothing to do with
bearings. I would get a set of new bearings, and check to see if
they fit the axle good, if not it's axle replacement time. First, you'll
have to grind that race off of the inner bearing, though.

ss55 · Oct 27, 2013

Did the threaded retaining nut back off the axle(no cotter pin?) or did something else fail?

Royse · Oct 27, 2013

Can't tell you for sure about the cotter pin yet, but for sure there
was no nut left on the axle shaft when I got stopped.
I just pulled the whole hub/brake/wheel assembly off by hand.

Ted in NE-OH · Oct 27, 2013

Looks like it got real hot.

jon f mn · Oct 27, 2013

You have had some serious bad experience. I've built and serviced hundreds of trailer for some 30 years now, and in all that time I've only had to replace a handful of axles for all reasons combined. I wonder if you use a good quality grease?

RusselAZ · Oct 27, 2013

New trailer axles never have enough grease in them. The people who build the axles only put in enough to keep the bearing from rusting and the trailer manufacturers don't add any. They don't set them up or balance the wheels either.

See this all the time here on the cross roads. People buy new stuff and get about this far from home.

dbNga · Oct 28, 2013

Oct.'02. pulled out of campground after a frog strangler rain during the night. As I was easing thru camp, noticed brakes were very grabby. Eased back on controller and proceeded to entrance ramp less than .5 mile away. Never reached 30-35 mph during this short drive. As I was going down ramp, looked in rear view and saw left rear tire wider than left front under my 30' fifth wheel. Hit the shoulder and discovered the rear axle is bent in the middle. How did the rear axle get bent to angle the tires toe out about 1 inch or so from the front? The camper is a '91 model, never had any issues before, had the axle replaced with a 5200# one and after got home replaced the front axle as well. I also had been advised back in the '90s to repack/inspect bearings from factory due to little being put in when new.

Not a great day for the trailer

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