Hugged your trailer lately?

[cowboy]

Just a thought.
Sometimes those trailers are the last thing we think about spending effort or money on.

It had been a while since I jacked mine up, and checked the bearings. They were starting to get just a little raspy, so I smacked some new bearings in there weekend before last. Figured I'd get it done before the metal hit the pavement.

With my luck, it would happen at 2:30 a.m.

Check your trailer out when you get a chance.
There's alot riding on it.

 

[cntry141iq]

Dadgumit Cowboy you are trying to take all the fun out of this. I mean geez who hasn't had to replace a whole hub on the side of the road IN THE SANDSPURS AND FIRE ANTS AND IT IS ALWAYS THE DRIVERS SIDE SO DODGING SEMI'S GET YOU EXTRA POINTS.

Naw seriously that is a good point there we never think of them till the steel hits the road.

 

[SwampMatt]

I'll second that thought! Last week, we pulled up the ramp and the winch lock broke and the boat went sliding off the trailer. If it had broken on an interstate ramp, or hill or pothole we'd have lost our boat. It was not a steep ramp, in fact, since we need to ramp launch our old boat, we are sensitive to the pitch of the area ramps, and that one is the longest, least steep we've ever seen. We stopped at Tractor supply 10 minutes later and bought a new winch, which was welded on before the next outing.

Bearings are not the only thing on a trailer that needs hugging! A frayed winch strap (or cable), a safety chain what is not welded on very good (or not having one at all), lights, of course the bearings, the hitch ball clamp and hitch safety chains and even the hitch as it relates to the vehicle are all important.

While on the subject of trailer lights, Having a black boat, black trailer, and very few lights on the trailer have me paranoid when pulling the boat in traffic at night. Around city driving, in medium to heavy traffic, idiots dart in and out of the lanes trying to climb the traffic ladder. I'm so afraid one of those morons (yapping on a cell phone and not paying much attention) is going to see the bumper of my truck, and change lanes right into the side of the trailer! So, at the earliest convienience, I'm adding AT LEAST REFLECTORS to the side of the trailer and maybe even the boat. And my ultimate goal is to have some LED lights NOT JUST LOW ON THE TRAILER, but higher up.... on the side of the boat. There's just too many idiots on the road.

Thanks cowboy for bringing this up.

matt.

 

[AirboatRN]

Not only that, Matt.... but when we went to hug the trailer last month, found that the bottom of the hull was history. If it weren't for checking out the trailer, we never would have known about the hull. That could have been a real tragedy out there in the sticks!

Thanks for the wise words.

I also am a whole-hearted trailer-hugger!

 

[Anonymous]

I sell trailer bearings on a nearly daily basis. Usually, it is to people who have NOT hugged their trailer.

It's a lot of fun trying to figure out what the hell a bearing is with only a broken piece of an inner race and a mangled seal to go by.

I strongly recommend taking your whole hub off for routine maintanence, (clean the grease out for the parts guy PLEASE) and taking it to the parts store to buy a whole set. Inner and outer bearings AND races and a seal.

When you tear it up at 7:30 PM and the only parts store open is Advance or Autozone, your chances of getting the correct stuff with only a broken piece to go by are pretty slim at best!

Red

 

[Airboatcapt2]

You trailer can be more important than your boat. I know of several stories of people who forget to hook up the boat or rotten strap breaks.
I have two locks on the front and two safety straps on the rear. It's just not worth losing your boat.

 

[basketcase0302]

Cowboy,

Good post!

Any of ya'll use the "bearing buddies"? Do they work well?

Basketcase

 

[marshmaster pat]

Basket - They work really well and it seems that about 80% of the bigger boats down here use them (not just airboats, but fishing boats as well). They are well worth the $20.00 or so bucks for a set.

But still, I agree with Red and try to pull the hub of once a year, clean everything out and regrease it all, replacing bearings as needed.

A tip: got this one from a Georgia friend on buddy bearings. Since the stick out alittle from the hub and sometimes will come off for no reason here is trick. Take a cold punch and but 2 or 3 dimples in the inside of the hub where the buddy bearing or grease cap slides in. These dimples will hold it in place.

Some of the new axles have a grease fitting in the end of each side of the axle. It moves grease into the center of the hub between the bearings. These are really nice and are on some of the torsion axles as well.

Cntry - Destroyed an axle long time ago, now that was fun on the road side. Just no shoulder on the road to pull over on and had to pull the trailer about 3 miles with a bad hub to find a place to get out of traffic.

Another neat idea is for about $45.00 you can buy a spare tire holder that actually is a spare hub as well. That can be really nice at times. I was out with the only fellow I knew that had one on his trailer and on the way home, we had to borrow it.

Faron - Yep, Rear tie downs. I had watched airboats bounce behind trucks for years until we went by ya'lls shop and saw each boat was equiped with rear tie downs. What an great idea - DUH - WHY HAD WE NOT THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE. So now I use a ratchet strap in the back and I don't worry about dirt roads bounce the boat around as much.

 

[Airboatcapt2]

Hey Pat,
Something else we use is Acculube Axles. No Buddy Bearings. No changing your bearing, no being broke down on the side of the road missing a bearing.

The acculube is a sealed bearing where the shaft is drilled so when you grease it, it goes to the inner and outer bearing at the same time.
(we love them) Never had a problem with them. I have traveled thousands of miles on them.
You might want to check them out.

 

[jim]

I have a trailer here with about 50,000 miles on it using the Reliable Tool Sure Lube system in the picture. The bearings have been apart twice during that time to do the brakes with no failures.

This is NOT a bearing buddy system. The hub is repacked and the bearings get fresh grease with a grease gun.

The old grease is expelled through the drilled spindle.

Faron:

Note that there is no rubber plug and the hub cannot pressurize. They are cheap and good.