Trailer Hub/Axle Guidance

Well, We had the unfortunate adventure 40 miles from home this evening coming back from a long weekend up north. It happened right across from one of our favorite boat launches too    Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic and there was a good distance from the trailing car to avoid the tire as it was rolling down the highway (which, funny, came to rest about 10 feet behind the trailer after we stopped. It's a good thing i have a patient wife and 1 year old...the dog, not so much.





The interesting part, we had stopped at a rest area about 10 miles prior and the hubs were not hot at all (i checked both sides up and back every time we stopped).

Well, thinking i would just need to replace the hubs and breaks, I had it towed back to the house. Once home I got a shot of the spindle.



So that looks fried. This is my first experience with this particular job, so off to search and found these threads. 85 ski... and Tim's Thread.

Being unfamiliar, I just wanted to see what you thought would be my best options. I've never figured out what trailer I have, but you can see for yourself from my bunk issue .thread

Hx: New breaks and bearings when we purchased the boat in fall 2013. The work was done by a shop.

I'll be able to get more pics tomorrow morning if needed or provide any info that's needed. Thanks for any feedback.

I replaced just my spindle once on an older trailer I had. It was not a nautique trailer. A much crappier one and there was no way I was buying a fresh axle for it. it would have cost more than the whole boat.
My local trailer builder sold me a weld in spindle at the time. So i got that, I cut the welds off the old one and popped it out. threw the new one in and was on my way.
It wasn't exactly a off the shelf part though. stuff like that falls into the category, "is this guy going to sue me because his welds break?" So depends how your local shop is.

Welch hitch in MA is who I go it from, however i just looked at their website and they don't have online parts catalog. They are also a custom trailer and metal work shop. so maybe find someplace that does similar work near you and contact them. In the worst case, your probably in the right place to order a whole new axle if they can't help you there.

I'm going with Marks idea that a complete axle assembly is the way to go. By the time you factor in the labor of cutting out the old spindle and welding the new one in, the complete axle will be less. They can be found very inexpensively.

Since alot of you don't list your location it is hard to help much since a cheap item in Michigan is not so cheap in California or Australia
.
You are listed as: Joe Schmo and live in United States

If you are somewhere close to the place listed below then they may be able to help you at a reasonable price. They also carry hydraulic brake units as well as the electric ones listed. Closed on Mondays so I could not get a price for you. They have an excellent page on measuring your axle

TrailerRVparts.com
12195 US 12
White Pigeon, MI. 49099
US
Phone: 269-483-2814

spiralhelix wrote: ......... change the leaf springs? Change to disc brakes?

I like the discs on my '91 and '04 trailers.... but you will have to change the actuator for a drum to disc setup swap. Leave the springs alone as long as they weren't damaged and still work as leaf springs should.

Air206 wrote: Duane in Indy wrote: You are listed as: Joe Schmo and live in United States That's Mr. Schmo to the Newbies on the site..... .............................................Signed Captain Obvious.........

May well be, but there seems to be numerous people on this site with a multitude of spare parts laying around. They are more that willing to help if they thought that it was geographically feasible.      Duane in Indy

I couldn't find anyone willing to replace a spindle within a 2 hr radius... Just pony up for a new axle. That's a Dexter EZ lube, may not be cheap to replace with the high quality oem. It's a 5200lb axle btw. The 2 dimensions you'll need to spec it out are hub face to hub face distance and spring seat to spring seat distance. Nothing cc ever did with trailers was "standard" so this will be a custom one.

I've broken more springs than tire or bearing failures... I'd give strong consideration to replacing them while its apart if you trailer often and/or far. I wouldn't spend the $$ to upgrade to disks, the drums work well and are much more reasonable in cost.

Seems like most of the Prestige and newer Ram-Lins are torsion with ez-lube.

That 200V trailer just posted looks maxed out though.... weird.

spiralhelix wrote: Some people just like their internet presence private. The less personal information out there, the less identities can be stolen. I'm fine with being referred to as Spiral, this is the only forum where people like to use RL names. And newbies is sooooo 1990s, we are "noobs" now, and we get "pwned" by the experts.

This is one of the few forums where people actually meet, hangout and get to know each other - which why it is so great. And as far as the 90's comments - look at the boats I have, I'm livin' in the past! Later, Joe.................

+1 on the axle change-out. If you are already doing the work, you may want to consider a change to disk brakes. As stated above, you will need to change the actuator. Not a big deal and they typically run $120 to $150.

Edit - As Tim mentions below, you would be well served to go with a heavier 6 lug axle. I originally mentioned the #84 spindle as I assumed that your trailer was a dual-axle. I see now that you have a single axle unit.

You can do the job yourself. Just do a good job on blocking and bracing the trailer once it is up on jacks. Unless you messed up your springs, you should be able to re-use those.

JQ

Well, got home from work later than expected, but made progress on the removal. I am one jack stand shy of feeling comfortable removing the axle, so I'm gonna hit up a buddy for his set. Today got the brake assemblies off. Tomorrow the brake lines then the axle. Does it matter if I remove it with the springs (ie detach the springs from the frame) or just remove the axle leaving the springs attached? Also, at one point, a guy said i should mount the springs under the axle to lower the boat as he thought it "bounced a lot" during trailering. Yay or nay? I would think dropping it would increase the chance of the fins to hit the axle during loading/unloading.

Also talked with a trailer shop that happens to be along my commute and he said ordering a 5200# v bent is easy enough and he'll get the measurements from the old one.

Left side


right side

Ride height is your call on clearances, but don't see how position of the spring/axle/ ride height will change the bounce any.

Many trailers have drop axles, somewhat equivalent to you changing under/over, but your configuration may run skinny on upward travel available.

Ordering a drop axle, if you are getting one, may be a solution, if its a problem at all. But fender clearance has to be considered as well as axle/frame.

Micht be best to just stick with what the maker designed.



If YOU think bouncing is a problem, there are clever shock kits that replace the backing plate then you mount the other end to the frame.

GottaSki wrote: Micht be best to just stick with what the maker designed.

That was what I was thinking. I didn't notice the "bounce" that he made it seem like. I will say though, there is a stretch of road (US-151) from Madison, WI to Fond du Lac, WI where they didn't do a good job smoothing the surface, so that hour of the drive is nauseating. If different springs or adding shocks took care of that, i would consider changing. But, now that I'm getting a grasp of the work, that might just be an addition later, we only make that drive with the boat 2 (maybe 3) times a year.

Earlier in the week i went ahead and ordered the replacement axle. 2 weeks out for straight, 3 weeks for the v bend. I opted for the v bend. Ended up getting it from Redneck Trailer but it was ordered through a local guy. So hopefully it will arrive just in time for labor day weekend. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday, I did load up the old axle and took it to the local Axle Surgeons franchise and the minute he saw it he said, "We can't repair that. It's a square and we only do round" then                                             proceeded to say that it would be cheaper to just get a new axle as their minimum price to work on them is $750 (the complete, fully assembled, custom dropped came to $586).

Thanks again for all the guidance. It certainly helped wrap my head around what it was I needed so I could make an informed purchase. I'll follow up with the rest of the install once it arrives.

well, i guess I never actually "verified" that they were balanced. I probably make an incorrect assumption that when new tires are put on, they are balanced at the same time. The tires on the trailer (prior to the incident) had less than 300 miles on them. I just replaced the blown tire so it will be ready for the new axle, I'll go home an check to see if they have any balancing wts on them.