Axle and hub Type???

[greenie.77]

I bought a second hand trailer for my little punt and for the first year or so it was great. Now any time I drive with it it scares the hell out of me. I often drive it from Brisbane to Ballina and back (well used to), but recently I have had to have the bearings changed a lot! Someone tells me it's a low speed hub set up. It doesn't have any studs as such, you take the bearing cap off and there is just one big nut in there. The main problem is you don't know what's going on with it until the wheel get's 'wobbly'....really safe!!

Is there a cheapish way to change this over to the stud type hubs? What is involved? I am not mechanical but good with tools. Any help appreciated, Thanks

[FishHunter]

I bought a second hand trailer for my little punt and for the first year or so it was great. Now any time I drive with it it scares the hell out of me. I often drive it from Brisbane to Ballina and back (well used to), but recently I have had to have the bearings changed a lot! Someone tells me it's a low speed hub set up. It doesn't have any studs as such, you take the bearing cap off and there is just one big nut in there. The main problem is you don't know what's going on with it until the wheel get's 'wobbly'....really safe!!

Is there a cheapish way to change this over to the stud type hubs? What is involved? I am not mechanical but good with tools. Any help appreciahted, Thanks

I am in the same boat and my research leads me to a low of about $400 to over 1000 depending on how I do it. And thats with me doing the work

[Noelm]

I think the axle is OK, you just need to buy some hubs and wheels (I think) but even if you need to replace the axle as well, they are not too dear, especially if you get the cheap Chinese ones, mind you, the bearings and so on are still the same.

[finga]

Are the tyres 8" or 9"??
If they are you may be able to go up in tyre size to get the bolt on wheel type hubs to fit but mudguard clearance may become an issue.
Or if you have 10" integral hub it's only a matter of getting hubs and wheels.

Have you got a set of old bearings? If so what numbers are on them as this will determine if the axle is of a standard type to fit bolt on type hubs.

Active Fabrications at Beenleigh is your best bet for parts and, if I remember right, a set of galvanised hubs is around the $50 mark.

So if you can get the bearing numbers and tyre size that will determine if it's an easy job or not.

[greenie.77]

Thanks guys....Now I'll just re-read that 20 times for it to make sense to me But I will bet it will be great advice, Thanks again.

[fisho64]

you can also try E-bay, Spinnythings store, they have a wealth of tech info there and a phone line for help also.
They could probably put together exactly what you need to change over, if you can do that part yourself.

Martins Trailer Parts also give pretty good advice over the phone, even though they are WA.

[oldboot]

Point one.
I investigated this low speed bearing wives tale about a year or so ago....and that is what it is......I spoke to one of the bearing companies and any bearing fitted to any trailer that is legal should handle any legal road speed and then some.

I have to agree that like many others I don't like integral wheels....and some of them take a weird bearing.

Some of the integral wheels however take standard holden bearings.

The first thing is to check out what you have got.

If you go on the all trailer spares web site, on one of the resource pages there is a list of bearings and sizes..so you can sus out what bearings you have.

Iff you are going thru bearings.
Check out your axle.....if your axle is bent it can cause considerably increased wear on ya bearings....... how are the tyres wearing.....if badly or unevenly...there is a clue.

get ya existing bearings snugged up ane running true and do a tape measure wheel alignment......the wheels should be paralell in all planes to within a few mm

If ya axle is straight and it is machined to take holden bearings...all you need to do is buy a set of hubs and new wheels....and you can solve your issues in an afternoon.

Galvanised HT holden hubs complete with bearings seals and wheelnuts arround $60 each.
"12 inch wheel and tyre comlete arround $120.

If ya have to replace the axle add arround $100 by the time you buy new "U"bolts & plates......that is if you are happy with a plain steel axle......galvanised more.

It's realy not a bank breaker

If ya find all else is still straight & is in good order ya should be able to get new integral bearing wheels for arround $120 each with tyres fitted.

Ya might find the bearing seats in the integral wheels have been buggered, and the bearings arent sitting true & firm.


Whatever you do buy the parts from a specialist trailer parts supplier, you will get better for less.

Active fab and All trailer spares are good starting points on the southe side.

cheers
cheers

[tunaticer]

If you have been "going through" bearings a fair bit lately, i would not mind betting your bearings are a tad tight. They should only be adjusted to just remove the play in the bearing then checked again after a short drive for any play. I take the slack up then back off to the first slot back on the castellated nut. (on good free threads this can be just at the limit of finger tight) Never go to the one up from just taking the play out, that is too tight and will separate the hard facing from the bearing rollers and cups.