Reminder Check and grease your trailer wheel bearings

[CFM]

I bet many of us have lost a wheel or damn close. I actually carry a temp gun with me and shoot each hub when  just stopped for each break.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by CFM

[Zambroski]

Yep.  But most of the used trailers have their wheels “welded” to the hubs now so…GOOD LUCK!

Never fails, always a couple of wheel-less trailers on the side of the road up here.

[irv]

18 minutes ago, CFM said:

I bet many of us have lost a wheel or damn close. I actually carry a temp gun with me and shoot each hub when  just stopped for each break.

 

That's overkill unless you are trailering for hours on end? Too much grease is not a good thing either as you can pop the seals depending on the type of bearings you have? Just feeling them with your hand is also good enough. They should just be barely warm. If hot, they are due for a replacement as you've damaged them.

1 minute ago, Zambroski said:

Yep.  But most of the used trailers have their wheels “welded” to the hubs now so…GOOD LUCK!

Never fails, always a couple of wheel-less trailers on the side of the road up here.

Yep, always a good idea to remove the wheels once a year and apply some never seize on the back side of the rim/wheel or hub. Don't apply any, however, to the studs. 

[CFM]

7 minutes ago, irv said:

That's overkill unless you are trailering for hours on end? Too much grease is not a good thing either as you can pop the seals depending on the type of bearings you have? Just feeling them with your hand is also good enough. They should just be barely warm. If hot, they are due for a replacement as you've damaged them.

Yep, always a good idea to remove the wheels once a year and apply some never seize on the back side of the rim/wheel or hub. Don't apply any, however, to the studs. 

I shoot each hub with the Temp gun each stop. Not grease gun. And if you take breaks several times within a few hrs you need to see a doc. Lolol :wink

Edited December 10, 2021 by CFM

[Angry ginger]

i ended up giving a trailer away,  blew the hub off ion my way to go wheeling and rather than making a few roundtrips with the uhaul trailer i just signed it over to the uhaul guy.  first time i had it happen but CKF and our buddy Barry blew one off my trailer when they were using it.  

[Legend]

A few years back we lost a wheel in South Dakota or Wyoming somewhere. Didnt notice it until we stopped for breakfast. Found a trailer store in Billings Montana and fixed er up. Its my buds trailer and he is very meticulous, the wheel bearing was lubed properly. 

The following year same damn thing happened, same side same axle. 

Did some looking and measuring and found out the axle was bent. Replaced the entire axle and haven't had an issue since. 

Dexter axles, but to be fair, he loaned it out to someone moving and they may have overloaded it. The trailer does have a shit ton of miles on it. I would estimate over 100,000 miles. It goes all over the Rockies from Wisconsin at least 3 times a winter, sometimes 5 times a winter, for the last 12 years. 

[800renegaderider]

Definitely a good reminder I’m sure many don’t even think about it or do it. Driving from LA to Vegas few years ago some guys trailer blew off a wheel tried to swerve outta the way but thing skidded down the side of the rental. Guy didn’t have a clue kept driving along like nothing happened. I had to use tooth paste to “buff” the rubber scuffs off the rental. Got away with it no charges 👌

[Crnr2Crnr]

And, broken corroded axles.  Hwy 51 N/S here is littered with fucked up trailers all the time.  Even power sports People are lazy, and ignorant.

[mtnloverxtreme2]

put a grease  zerk on the hub and the seals in backwards. grease her, and no chance of overgreasing, will squirt out of the seal. also seal backwards helps with keeping crap out

[steve from amherst]

Pulled my wheels last week. They were so bad I just said fuck it and bought 2 new mounted tires. WAs so bad if I had to change a tire roadside they would have never come off.

[CFM]

If in NH, trailer outlet in Tilton is the bomb. Most parts and  things in stock. Bought boat and sled  trailer there. So have many family and friends. Just my exoerience. 

[Jerry 976]

3 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

And, broken corroded axles.  Hwy 51 N/S here is littered with fucked up trailers all the time.  Even power sports People are lazy, and ignorant.

@can-amsledder  Chris has a really good thread on HCS aka DooTalk 2.0 about galvanic corrosion and what he found on his Clam shell trailer a couple years back.

As much as i hate sending anyone over to HCS this is a good thread and needs to be share with others.

https://www.hardcoresledder.com/threads/galvanic-corrosion.1735194/

[Ez ryder]

If you just depreciate them for 3 yrs and get a new one yr 4 no need to worry .

[1jkw]

8 hours ago, irv said:

That's overkill unless you are trailering for hours on end? Too much grease is not a good thing either as you can pop the seals depending on the type of bearings you have? Just feeling them with your hand is also good enough. They should just be barely warm. If hot, they are due for a replacement as you've damaged them.

Yep, always a good idea to remove the wheels once a year and apply some never seize on the back side of the rim/wheel or hub. Don't apply any, however, to the studs. 

If you apply never seize to anything you apply it to everything you touch for days.

[Crnr2Crnr]

58 minutes ago, Jerry 976 said:

@can-amsledder  Chris has a really good thread on HCS aka DooTalk 2.0 about galvanic corrosion and what he found on his Clam shell trailer a couple years back.

As much as i hate sending anyone over to HCS this is a good thread and needs to be share with others.

https://www.hardcoresledder.com/threads/galvanic-corrosion.1735194/

it's amazing how people neglect to inspect and maintain their equipment, have seen tow vehicles with hitches and frames over the years that are held together literally by flakes of rusted metal.   around here, our county hwy departments use more salt in a 24 hour period than a pretzel factory does in a decade.  I honestly wish we had annual mandatory vehicle SAFETY inspections here, but we don't.

on a completely different topic, are you still posting the annual tekvest thread? 

[irv]

1 hour ago, Jerry 976 said:

@can-amsledder  Chris has a really good thread on HCS aka DooTalk 2.0 about galvanic corrosion and what he found on his Clam shell trailer a couple years back.

As much as i hate sending anyone over to HCS this is a good thread and needs to be share with others.

https://www.hardcoresledder.com/threads/galvanic-corrosion.1735194/

Yep, good idea to spray them down good underneath in the spring with the garden hose and once dry, break out a can of Rust Check/Krown/Fluid Film and spray everywhere under there including inside the frame where you can.

Do you guys ever see these products in hardware stores or the like? Money well spent, imo.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/rust-check-rust-inhibitor-spray-0477907p.0477908.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1c7sjLva9AIV1cPVCh3tyAjPEAQYASABEgLmavD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#store=75

https://shop.krown.com/collections/krown-rust-inhibitor-400g-aerosol-can/products/krown-aerosols-case-of-6-or-12

 

[Jerry 976]

4 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

it's amazing how people neglect to inspect and maintain their equipment, have seen tow vehicles with hitches and frames over the years that are held together literally by flakes of rusted metal.   around here, our county hwy departments use more salt in a 24 hour period than a pretzel factory does in a decade.  I honestly wish we had annual mandatory vehicle SAFETY inspections here, but we don't.

on a completely different topic, are you still posting the annual tekvest thread? 

Do you mean the "sad but true just like you and me" thread??

I   don't have and account that I can post with or bump older threads back to the top of a forum, I think I posted the sad but true thread on here somewhere.

[Doomxz600]

14k for the sled and a junk trailer that had never been serviced SMH

[Sled_Hed]

7 hours ago, Jerry 976 said:

Do you mean the "sad but true just like you and me" thread??

I   don't have and account that I can post with or bump older threads back to the top of a forum, I think I posted the sad but true thread on here somewhere.

I just bumped it up over at hcs..

[SHADOSPRIT]

16 hours ago, mtnloverxtreme2 said:

put a grease  zerk on the hub and the seals in backwards. grease her, and no chance of overgreasing, will squirt out of the seal. also seal backwards helps with keeping crap out

This is how mine is set up

 

[jdsky]

Just replace hubs once every 20 years, YMMV.

[nascarmike]

Never lost a wheel, but I have lost a tongue. And by the way Zam... the safety chains/cables do not always work.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by nascarmike

[CFM]

51 minutes ago, nascarmike said:

Never lost a wheel, but I have lost a tongue. And by the way Zam... the safety chains/cables do not always work.

 

 

 

 

Yikes !

Thanks for the heads up. Never thought about galv corrosion here but should and you proved it. 
 

 

 

[favoritos]

Grease them each season and check temps by hand while the gas is filling.  The simple stuff should cover it for most normal use.  Galvanic corrosion isn't anything new.  Just be aware of those contact points. 

One disadvantage of "cheap" snowmobile trailers is their basic design/building process.  The cheap stuff isn't really designed to be used hard and long.  Even the good stuff is built cheaper now because nobody wants to pay for premium construction.

BTW, I'm surprised no one mentioned the video.  I laughed my ass off.

[Blackstar]

On 12/10/2021 at 5:13 PM, steve from amherst said:

Pulled my wheels last week. They were so bad I just said fuck it and bought 2 new mounted tires. WAs so bad if I had to change a tire roadside they would have never come off.

Yep, that's all I do any more. I found a local guy who stocks trailer wheel assemblies. Its all made in China tires but its cheaper to buy the assemblies than it is to buy a tire and have it mounted.