Yes, almost exactly a year later our enclosed trailer has an axle problem again. We had an entire drum with wheel attached fall off going down I80. The trailer has a torsion axle and the spindle is bent.
Does anyone know a shop in Lovelock or Winnemucca, Nevada that could fix or replace the spindle?
Please note that I am not looking for any actual physical help with this issue. I just need the name of a place we can take the trailer for repair. The hub was repacked just over a year ago when the brake assembly and brake drum was replaced.
Would a place like Axle Surgeons be able to replace a spindle on a trailer like this?
I came up with an idea to limp home with one axle just like last year. It involves finding a mechanic to unbolt the rear axle and then move the front axle to the rear position. I'm hoping finding a mechanic to do this in Lovelock will be easy.
Place out by the winnemucca airport that makes cargo trailers, they might be able to help you out, probably have any kind of axle part you might need.
Matt
Quote from: saddleup on October 03, 2011, 04:04:45 AM
Place out by the winnemucca airport that makes cargo trailers, they might be able to help you out, probably have any kind of axle part you might need.
Someone we know who lives in Winnemucca mentioned the Carry-On plant. We will try calling once it gets a little later.
What brand of axle does yout trailer have? You may be able to search for area dealers by going to the axle maker's web page.
Quote from: AndyG on October 03, 2011, 06:50:15 AM
What brand of axle does yout trailer have? You may be able to search for area dealers by going to the axle maker's web page.
Dexter torsion axles. We know from losing an axle last year that nobody carries torsion axles in stock. They have to be custom ordered from the factory as there are too many combinations of options.
Quote from: belfert on October 03, 2011, 07:05:44 AM
Dexter torsion axles. We know from losing an axle last year that nobody carries torsion axles in stock. They have to be custom ordered from the factory as there are too many combinations of options.
Then drop something else in there. Put a spring axle in. Whatever it takes. Trailer is metal frame. You can do whatever you want with metal.
FWIW
I'm curious as to what broke that allowed the hub to come off. Did the big nut back off, or did the stub axle break somewhere? Any thoughts on what caused it? Trailer loads, etc? One thing about torsion axles is they don't load balance between axles as well as spring axles with load levers do, so the trailer has to be set up very level.
Brian
Brian,
Sorry to hear of troubles again, but something tells me that there was a reason that trailer was "such a deal" !
Let's see you bought the trailer, rebuilt the out side of it, then repaired or replaced the same axle a yr ago?
I'd go with the suggestion of the trailer place Matt suggests.
But at the very least, any shop should be able to swap the axle locations.
When you get it home this time, you need to have someone find out what the problem is and get it fixed. (or better yet sell that trailer and get a NEW one, so you'll know what ya got from now on!)
;D BK ;D
Either that or keep it away from Nevada...Cable
This is now fixed. I apologize for not updating earlier.
We got the broken axle removed and the front axle moved to the rear position at a tire shop in Lovelock. We moved a bunch of weight into the bus and a friend who lives in Winnemucca took some stuff home to store until next year. We weighed the trailer axle at a scale and it was under the axle weight rating. The nut was still on the spindle after the drum came off.
The plan for the future is to redo the suspension with spring axles before next year's trip.
You need to check stuff a little closer that hub had to red hot when you lost the outer bearing and it let the hub fly off
good luck
Cliff's right. Even a spring axle wouldn't have survived what sounds like a bearing going bad. If you change to drop spring axles you basically will be in the same boat if one lets go. I would look for heavier rated axles regardless and if you go the spring route make sure you get slipper springs and not shackle types.
I had a bearing fail and the complete hub fly off a trailer once; in retrospect, it was entirely my fault - I was 17 or 18 at the time and didn't have a clue about cars or trailers. Truth is that bearings don't fail without warning - in fact they usually give lots of warning. I do a lot of towing and always get the jack out for a quick check of the bearings before starting a long journey, or if the trailer hasn't been used in a while. Then a touch to the hubs to check the temperature each time I stop for fuel.
Trailer bearings are not 'fit and forget' items, and responsibility for them isn't something that can be devolved to others - unlike car wheel bearings for instance, which, for whatever reason (better engineered I assume) don't need ongoing maintenance.
Jeremy
I had the same problem with our Masters of Harmony trailer this summer going to Kansas City for the International Barbershop competition. I had the bearings all repacked only 6,000 miles previously, but lost one of the bearings (left rear-almost came off the trailer). But with 3 axles, just took it off and went on down the road. Had it fixed during the competition-they found 3 other bearings about ready to go. So now, I'll have the bearings packed and inspected every year before summer.
Dexter makes a unified sealed bearing that's supposed to be the cats meow. If you're going to keep the trailer-look at the Dexter website. Since you have an air suspension bus-Dexter makes an air suspension for the trailer-would be my choice. Can't beat air suspension for its' ride. Good Luck, TomC
Quote from: TomC
Dexter makes a unified sealed bearing that's supposed to be the cats meow. If you're going to keep the trailer-look at the Dexter website. Since you have an air suspension bus-Dexter makes an air suspension for the trailer-would be my choice. Can't beat air suspension for its' ride. Good Luck, TomC
Boy now ya talking $! I like the sound of it, but really doubt Brian will spring for it! (I know the only way I could is with Tom's $! LOL)
;D BK ;D
Quote from: TomC on October 04, 2011, 08:15:38 AM
I had the bearings all repacked only 6,000 miles previously...
To me 6,000 miles is a HUGE distance to travel between re-greasings - but then then my bearings get dunked in water on every trip, and often salt water from sandy beaches. I've tried waterproof grease (like normal grease isn't waterproof? I've never understood that), supposably sealed bearings, and hubcaps with those clear plastic expansion devices. None of them replace actually getting your hands dirty and taking 5 minutes to check the bearings properly before a big trip.
Jeremy
Since checking the wheel bearings amounts to leaning on the top of the wheel with your knee and push/pulling on the top of the wheel as hard as you can, you can check the wheel bearings at every rest stop while you walk around the rig counting your wheel nuts and otherwise checking for random damage. You can detect down to around .010" of bearing looseness this way, which is enough to get you to check deeper. At the race track we do this everytime the car stops moving for more than 10 minutes. If we feel looseness, the car goes up in the air and we can do a proper check.
I personally use 10,000 miles or 6 months of regular use as the service point for trailer bearings, which amounts to annually for me. They all seem to be the ones you can lube with a grease gun these days, so if they spin OK and I'm not checking the brakes, I just take the cap off, check the nut and cotter pit, pump in a little grease and good to go.
I've seen the outer bearing fail before, and you can usually trace it to overloading or some kind of lack of maintenace, but random failures are certainly known to happen.
Brian
The brake assemblies, bearings, and drums were replaced on the axle in question in August 2010. Obviously, the bearings were repacked at that time. The other axle had been replaced this summer so it had fresh grease.
We had an issue in Salt Lake City with the trailer getting kinda hooked on a new curb that had been installed, but not backfilled. We are thinking the spindle might have gotten bent a little back then. We noticed the hub running hot at one point, but we checked it again ten miles down the road and it seemed to be fine. In retrospect we should have pulled the drum and checked things out.
The reason to put leaf springs on instead of something fancy like an Airflex suspension is so we can get parts anywhere if we have issues in the future. Airflex and Torflex axles have to be factory ordered while there are any number of places that have straight axles and associated parts in stock.
I no longer actually own this trailer as I sold it to a friend after last year's fiasco. If it was up to me I think I would just sell this trailer and get a new one.
That trailer is either really junk or is being abused something fierce. Or overloaded.
I have built multiple trailers (including 2 horse trailers) over the years and never had a problem. These include trailers with springs and those with torsion axles.A trailer is a pretty simple contraption. And truth be known, I can't remember the last time I checked the wheel bearings on the two I have now. Maybe its time.
We never had the trailer weighed with it fully loaded, but I can't imagine we had over 4,000 lbs of stuff in there. The trailer itself weighs 3,000 lbs and it has two 3,500 lb axles for a 7,000 lb total capacity. Cargo consisted of an ATV that weighs around 1,000 lbs and a 4x8 utility trailer that weighs around 500 lbs plus some tables, a rocket or two, a grill, and four propane tanks.
On the way back with the ATV and some of the stuff still in the trailer we were able to get the single axle under 3,500 lbs.
I've never had any issues with any other trailers I have owned besides this one. I had the bearings on my travel trailer repacked just about every year. I have a 5x10 enclosed trailer that gets repacked every few years with no issues to date, but I bought it new 10 years ago.