One of the worst things to happen when going fishing is to have the wheel axl bearings blow out on your boat trailer. Nothing kills the mood of fishing like trailer maintenance on the side of the highway. Having this happen to me one trip to the beach, dragging my 25′ boat and the passenger side, front axle bearing was glowing red like a sunset. Had pull over, unhitch the trailer and drive 50+ miles to get new bearing for the axles. (I just happen to have a jack that was strong enough to pick up the trailer) Come to find out, 2 other hubs were loose and had to tighten them up as well. This could all be avoided if we had taken the time to keep up with the maintenance. You wouldn’t go out fishing without gas or oil, why should you drag the trailer without some trailer maintenance to do.
When keeping up with the expense of a boat and trailer, keeping the costs down is a must for me. Also having the parts or store
near you, can also be a challenge. Some thought to this little problem is to do some homework on your trailer for what parts you need, order it off the Internet, and install when needed. My bearing problem not only cost me some money, but valuable time not fishing. Used up the whole first day on a 5 day fishing trip repairing that trailer and it only cost me $30 in parts. Fortunately for me, I have a NorthernTool 4 miles from my house. They usually have the parts or Northern can order them for me.
Boat trailer maintenance can be broken down in to a few steps to help you prevent problems. The first time you look at the wheels, jack the trailer up so the axle tire you are looking at is off the ground. Grab the tire and try to rock the wheel in a side to side motion. If loose, this will tell you that the bearing need to be tightened or replacement. If replacement, take off the hub and examine the bearings. Spin the inner of the bearing so see if it feels like sandpaper rubbing. If so, get a hold of your local store and find your particular bearing set up. Your assembly may look something similar to this kit: 
There are probably 2 different size bearings on your wheel hub and both will probably need to be replaced. Measure the inside diameter of both bearings, the inside diameter of the hub itself where the bearing come from. (I highly recommend you measure and document everything when taking this assembly a part.) Now you have your axle size and hub size. Pay attention to how the wheel, bearing and nut came off. You will need to replace the same way. Once all replaced and tightened, do the same test with the wheel to make sure the hub it on tight enough. Also make sure you test the wheel spin and make sure the bearing are not to tight. You will see the happy medium after a few of these test. Insert the grease into the grease fitting and give it plenty of grease to where the grease looks like it is coming out. Other products that I use in keeping water and dirt out of the bearing instead of the traditional cap like the one in the picture above, is the Red Eye Bearing Protector. There is a spring-loaded piston constantly packs grease into wheel bearings. Two O-ring seals and a durable one-piece housing keeping the wheel bearing free of dirt and moisture, even when submerged in lake water. The "Red Eye" show system is grease-filled and helps prevent overfilling with a guarantee not to leak grease! (Water and dirt is the enemy here. It breaks down the grease resulting in overheating the bearings)
Once you have got your bearing fixed or have been tested good, I always check the heat in the hub when traveling. If we have to stop for bait or fuel, I just walk around the trailer feeling all the hubs. If any of the hubs are to hot for touch, something may be wrong. Best of luck.
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on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 9:23 am and is filed under Boat repair and Maintanence. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed.
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