Trailer Help needed - Bearings
 

Well the last scheduled trip of the year started off well.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...ps36f6aef7.jpg

Great time on the water! :)

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...ps69d88abb.jpg

Then on the way back I blew out a bearing...:(

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...pse91ecf69.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...ps0f299aa4.jpg


So I hiked the axle up and secured it and successfully limped on home... and so the "repairs" start

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...pscc2f19ba.jpg

Here are some pictures of the axle spindle after I got the hub assembly off.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...ps439a4582.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...psb74398f4.jpg


The spindle has some scratches and small gouges in it, but nothing too severe.

So, can I just buy some new bearings and put the hub back on this spindle?

Yikes. Is that an unintentional welded ridge?

What size bearings? I have 4 new sets looking for a home...complete w/seals.

Not sure yet, but I'll keep you in mind! Thanks.

After closer inspection, it appears the larger inner bearing and race seem to be intact.

BUT, the outer bearing and race are a different story. the outer race is chipped, gouged, and cracked. The outer bearing is in hundreds of little pieces, totally discentigrated.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...psc5cfb198.jpg

You may want to get yourself some speedy sleeves. They will provide the new bearings a smooth surface to ride on.

I don't know the cost factor...but my mind set is always get rid the old part and start new. In the long run (for me) I have found this to be the cheapest way out.

I'm with Island Trader. You might get away with a fix, but that looks to me like trouble down the road. The ugly question is "Can you change spindles without changing the axle?"

I'd say you need a new axle. I doubt replacing a stub axle would be cost effective, if you could do it. Looks like some wear on the seal area which might have contributed?

Entire axles are heavy but not that hard to do- you are a third of the way to disassembly anyway.

Good luck. I hate trailer trouble.

Jim a new axle with flanges is about $175, http://www.sturdybuiltonline.com/Tra...c_146-1-1.html , your spindle looks good enough to save. Your SS inner seal ring looks perfect. Had the same thing happen to me on Alligator Alley and the hub wore down the outside bearing's mounting surface about 1/16". Took some emory cloth and worked on the outside bearing surface until the inner race would slide on smoothly, put on a new hub, with new bearings and used it for another five years.

To answer Conner's question, yes it can, I've done it, however I can't remember if it was on an axle with a brake flange! The weld can be cut with a metal cut off wheel, the old spindle removed and a new spindle slid back in and welded in place. However the welding will burn off about 1" to 2" of galvanizing on the axle and we know what will happen in the saltwater world the trailer is dunked in.