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I hate trailers.
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=56350		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  dorienc [ Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:00 pm ]
Post subject:  I hate trailers.
Why do trailers need more frikkin' work than the boats?

Just redid the hubs, what a pain in the neck. And it raised the question:
I drive my cars about 200,000 miles. Change oil, do maintenance. Never ever think about wheel bearings. My trailer wheel bearings need to be cleaned, adjusted, repacked, replaced, fiddled with, frikked with and generally babied every couple of years. They howl and grab.
Why can't they put car wheel bearings on trailers so I don't have to mess with them. Ever?

And don't even get me started on trailer wiring and lights!
Author:  MBounds [ Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I hate trailers.
How often do you put your car's wheel bearings completely underwater? When they're hot and the water's cold?

Get Bearing Buddies, or even better - never put the trailer in the water. That's what beach wheels are for.

Do you have the 8" rims and tires on your trailer? You know they spin two or three times as fast as your car's wheels at the same speed - and they're not balanced. Get 12" rims and tires if they'll fit.

We expect trailers to sit around for half the year and then yank them out of the weeds to go down the interstate at 80 mph with no prep - you're asking for trouble.

I've owned six trailers in the 40 years I've been doing this, and I think I've repacked bearings maybe three times? (Once was on a used trailer that was 40 years old - it got all new everything below the frame.) If you're doing it every couple of years, something's wrong.
Author:  dorienc [ Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I hate trailers.
Well, I repack when they start making noise. I found that my trailer was poorly set up by the dealer - one spring shackle bolt didn't have a nut on it (not relevant to this discussion), and the bearings were WAY loose and not very well greased, which destroyed the original bearings.
But "they" always say you should repack yearly.

And I thought about that underwater business, but I drive my car in driving rain and slush, and put it through car washes with under chassis spray. And in 48 years of driving cars have never had a car wheel bearing fail. I have had trailer wheel bearings fail. Twice.

Yes, I have 12" wheels. Yes, I have bearing buddies. I think the big problem is, I never knew there are 2 kinds of grease. One is chassis lube (type L), the other is wheel bearing grease (type G). And there are different quality grades within those types. "Multi-purpose" doesn't necessarily mean it's ok for wheels. I'm now using specific marine grade wheel bearing grease.
Author:  cpnsoo [ Sun Nov 01, 2015 8:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I hate trailers.
When you replace the bearings, I would hope you are replacing the cups also. If they start to make noise it's too late for repacking. Best to inspect every spring and load up the bearing buddies. I usually start out with a marine grade grease. With newer cars and their sealed bearings you are lucky to get 150,000 miles out of them.
Author:  turbofan [ Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I hate trailers.
Even with bearing buddies, it's a good idea to pull 'em apart every few years, clean and lube. Often, bearing buddies don't grease the inner bearing very well, even when you're pushing grease out the seal! Best is to keep the thing out of the water! I don't trailer as much as I used to, but I'm pulling a 34 year old Long trailer. Over that time, I've replaced bearings only once, springs once and the mast support twice. The only lighting work I've had to do was replacing connectors and adding some clearance lights (the configuration of the lights didn't meet the laws in MD where I lived at the time). I don't see any real problem with trailers. Like wives- treat them good and they usually last awhile :D
Dave
Author:  sxrracer [ Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I hate trailers.
dorienc wrote:
Well, I repack when they start making noise. I found that my trailer was poorly set up by the dealer - one spring shackle bolt didn't have a nut on it (not relevant to this discussion), and the bearings were WAY loose and not very well greased, which destroyed the original bearings.
But "they" always say you should repack yearly.

And I thought about that underwater business, but I drive my car in driving rain and slush, and put it through car washes with under chassis spray. And in 48 years of driving cars have never had a car wheel bearing fail. I have had trailer wheel bearings fail. Twice.

Yes, I have 12" wheels. Yes, I have bearing buddies. I think the big problem is, I never knew there are 2 kinds of grease. One is chassis lube (type L), the other is wheel bearing grease (type G). And there are different quality grades within those types. "Multi-purpose" doesn't necessarily mean it's ok for wheels. I'm now using specific marine grade wheel bearing grease.


Go buy a Chevy Avalanche. Had to replace bearings in the Rear in 2004, Then the front a year later. Then a few months later the rear went out again. When they pulled the hubs, they found metal shavings, pulled the axles and found more shavings. Redid the rear end completely. Good thing I bought an extended warranty.
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