Trailer Wheel Bearings

Zagato

Zagato

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I have a Bramber trailer dated probably late 80's. The last time I put my Drascombe in, I completely submerged the trailer wheels into the sea :eek: The hubs would have been hot after a 1 hour drive presumably sucking all the water in. :(

How long do bearings last for such treatment? I have towed it for 120 miles since! How good are these sealed bearings? I noticed everyone was submerging their wheels on the same day so wonder if they had them!

Where can I get new bearings, Bramber could not identify the type of bearings needed.

Thanks Chris
 
I think submereging boat trailer wheels is a fact of life, as is regular maintenance of the bearings and brakes.

I read an article on how to launch a boat from a trailer, and the reccomendation was to wait an hour for the bearings to cool down before submerging them. In my case I have to raise the mast and prepare the boat for launching so that will take at least half an hour, plus I only have a short journey so the bearings shouldn't be too hot anyway.

I do however need to overhaul my brakes, and since the boat lives on the trailer I have to jack up the trailer with the boat on it to do this.
 
Yes brakes are another issue "ProDave" since the dunking my brakes seized on but luckily a thump with a hammer on the hub did the trick and freed them off :rolleyes:
 
explores said:
When you get back home,pump grease in the bearing untill fresh grease comes out.all the salt will come out with it.
Click to expand...
Wishful thinking. It might get some out of the outer bearing but that's all.
The only 100% sure way of getting all the salt out is to strip the hubs clean out all the old grease, repack with fresh and reassemble, remembering not to over-pack the hub.


Zagato,

Strip the hubs and clean out all the old grease, washing in paraffin.
Shake out the paraffin and allow to dry then examine the tracks for signs of pitting and the balls or rollers for signs of damage. Be sure that they will rotate without any roughness. If all appears OK repack with fresh grease. Work it well into the balls or rollers, no more than half fill the space in the hub and the cap. Reassemble.
Tapered roller bearings generally are tightened so that there is a just perceptible amount of play then the nut is pinned or secured with its locking device. Ball races are generally tightened fully onto a spacer between them.

If all is not well get the numbers off the bearings and search for replacements on internet bearing stockists sites for best value, trailer specialist sites or take them to your local bearing stockist.
 
Might be worth checking whether you could fit Bearing Savers to your hubs. These maintain a slight positive pressure in the grease packing, thus keeping water out. About £25 a pair.
 
Mixed reports on them.
I always have fitted non-sealed bearings, The are easy to strip and repack (you shouldn't put that much grease in, just enough to fill the cage).
Measure the old bearings Inner diameter, Outer diameter and track width. Any bearing supplier should be able to supply a match. Some older trailers are tricky but lots used mini or 1100 hubs and you can get replacements from MiniSpares and other classic car suppliers.
If you have a local bearing supplier take the bearing in, complete, and let them measure them.
 
You basically either forget about them until they collapse, or else you take the bearings apart after every immersion and clean and regrease as Vic describes.
 
cliffordpope said:
You basically either forget about them until they collapse, or else you take the bearings apart after every immersion and clean and regrease as Vic describes.
Click to expand...

YIKES, leaving them until they collapse doesn't sound safe or satisfactory! Could one way of telling the state of the bearings be if the hub gets hot. How many miles or how long do people think bearings last after a dunking. I suppose I could change mine each year and hope for the best.
 
Each time you get home whip the hubs off (you don't have to remove the wheels), dry the tracks and put new grease in. It's the standing without moving with water in that corrodes them.
It only takes 15 minutes

Collapse is the best outcome. Worst is the bearing overheats and welds to the stub axle which, being very hot, is twisted off.
 
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Trailer bearings

Yes frequent removal, cleaning check is the best maintenance. I confess I don't always clean out the grease but you can tell immediately the hub is off if rust has set in. It is also worth checking the sound of the wheel rotating when jacked up and the general free turning of the wheel. Although by the time you jack the wheel you might as well dismantle the bearing.
In the case of my tapered roller bearings. Prise off the cap, remove the split pin. I don't bend it very much to make removal easier. In fact it stands vertical and is not bent held in by gravity and the cap. Remove the large nut and lift the wheel and hub off. The small outer bearing race falls out while the larger inner race remains in place. Usually push a bit more grease into the races providing there are no signs of rust. Reassemble tighten the nut up fairly tight then loosen until there is freedom of turning of the wheel and looser by perhaps 15 degrees. Pin back in cap on, jack out. 15 mins or even much less. it gives a lot of confidence to be able to do it quickly and often.

Yes years back my father was towing a caravan supposedly travelled only a few kilometres but some years old. The bearing got hot melted off the stub axle ,wheel went off into the bush starting a small fire and of course caravan dropped onto the road. a little maintenance would have saved a lot of trouble.

good luck olewill
 
Durahub

Before any one complains...I don't supply these but I have used them, I thought about supplying but they don't fit well with the other products I supply.

However I did look at all of the competition and options in this market at the time and they are in my opinion the best solution if you insist on dunking your road bearings.

Other systems use presurised bearings (a big spring/diaphragm) but as these are pressurised with a grease gun many users over do it and pop the rear seals, some have flushing points so you connect a hose after the dunking.

The durahub is a sealed unit that has 1. a clear viewing window, 2. a diaphragm to allow for pressure changes 3. is designed to run with oil rather than grease.

Oil lubricates seals far better than grease and it also shows up any water in the oil very quickly. A quick check of the window before a trip lets you know there is no water in them and that the seals are intact, bearings also run with much less friction on oil so there is reported fuel savings.

They are very simply a nice well made piece of kit from Oz, there may be re sellers in Europe now I havn't looked recently.
 
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I am a bit "over the top" when I get my boat to the slipway, no waiting around for me, I go round with the grease gun immediatly before I put the boat in the water, launch the boat, then go round again with the grease gun before driving off. Grease is cheap
 
Quite a lot of modern trailers (around here, at least) have double ball races with simple seals. No chance of lubing. And worse, the exterior seal runs on a steel ridge which rusts. So having replaced the bearings (at €60 odd a pop) we are faced with new seals running on rough lands. The only ideas I can give the friend in question is to a: do not put the bearings in the water, which is practical if not choppy. or b: smear grease around the seal before launch.
These bearings are very similar to the back wheels on Renault cars, and prob several other marques.
A
BTW, it is ROCA, not a small player.
 
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Can't you prise the seals out?
You should be able to source the same bearing without seals, and slightly cheaper too.

Beaten to it!
 
Not sure if that is practical. The bearing is a single unit, pressed into the hube, with a circlip. Prising the seals out of the unit might work, which then leaves us with the problem of the exterior seal on the corroded lip. The torque for the nut is something like 220ft/lb.
Converting to ball races and spacers is worth looking into, for cost alone. With winter coming, there is time for a look. A very thin s.s. sleeve might work for the seal land.Thanks for giving the brain cells a nudge.
A
 
I've converted one-piece wheel/hub/bearing trailers to separate wheel, hub and bearing units.
You need to measure the stub axle diameters where each bearing sits and the length of the stub axle from the face at the inboard end to the thread.
Most good trailer parts suppliers will be able to supply the correct hub units complete with bearings fitted using that information. It only costs a few quid and thereafter bearing replacement is a doddle and cheap.
Look at these prices for hubs including bearings
For bearings alone I've found East Anglia Bearings to be very good
 
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