Why you should never trust a “new to you” trailer

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PNW_Wesley

New member
There are often posts from folks who have a bought a boat and are faced with trailering it across the country to their home. And there are many good responses to these posts.

Here is a suggestion I wish I had followed upon buying my boat:

** Never Tow A New-to-You Boat Before A Thorough Wheel Hub Inspection **

On the day I took possession at the dealer, I asked them to confirm there was adequate grease in the wheel bearings, and they squirted some into the Bearing Buddy’s. The trailer had just gotten new tires a few months earlier. Given the excellent appearance of the trailer, I assumed all was rosy.

The trip from the dealer to home was 125 miles.

I towed it 10 miles on the first outing.

After towing 25 miles on the second outing, I encountered what could have been a deadly situation.

I was slowing to make a turn, and my speed was about 20 mph. The left trailer wheel came off. The wheel rolled toward oncoming traffic for about 100 feet before going into the ditch. Fortunately, the wheel did not hit any car or person before coming to a stop.

The mechanic and I suspect the hub nut was not tight enough, and this allowed the wheel to wobble. The wobble finally destroyed the bearings and cracked the nut.

I had the entire axle replaced, along with new disc brakes, brake actuator, wheels, and tires.

From buying the boat until the failure, I had only towed it 160 miles.

I am thankful nobody was injured, and that I was close to home when it happened.

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Well now, That is not a surprise you were wanting. Sure glad nobody got hurt. How old is the trailer? and obviously, there was differed maintenance.

Thanks for the reminder. It is good for all of us. and sorry you had to pay the price.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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That sucks! So much can be ascertained by just jacking up each wheel, checking for play, and giving them a good spin while listening. If they sound bad, they are. If they are loose, well exactly what happened in your situation is what normally happens given enough time. I am saddened the dealer didn't take your request very seriously.

Bearing buddies.......I don't have a ton of love for them - most of the time the only bearing that gets grease is the outer one and then there is the opposite where somebody blows out the inner seal by pumping too much grease in. They look so good on paper. Yet, I still have them because it makes me feel better to put grease in on occasion.....lol.... As you can see, I don't trust them!

Getting a new axle was a great idea and probably cheaper than cutting off the spindle and replacing all the carnage that took place. A previous poster noted a dual axle trailer being better in this scenario, but that is way overkill for your model of boat and I'm not completely sure it would have significantly changed the outcome.

Glad you got it fixed up :-)
 
Wesley, thank you for sharing this learning experience with all of us. Glad nobody got hurt in the process. One thing I thought of when I read your post was what my father I believe taught me when I was younger. He told me to regularly do a safety check for the wheel and wheel bearings by grabbing the top outer and top inner tire with both hands and pull back and forth (toward and away) to check the play in the wheel bearings. A "little bump feel," he told me was good because it showed that the wheel bearings are not too tight; which could result in the bearings getting hot or wearing prematurely. I still perform this test today on all of my trailers. It only takes a few seconds to do every time you check the tire for air and check the lug nuts.
 
I have towed boats and travel trailers for more than 40 years, including our current 35 foot, 12,000 pound travel trailer. I am also a private pilot, with Commercial, Instrument, and Multiengine ratings.

I am very much accustomed to performing detailed pre-flight/pre-trip checklists. This includes tire pressure, lug nut torque, and visual inspection of the running gear.

For equipment that I own, I keep records of all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

My punch list for taking possesion of the boat included tire pressure, lug torque, and bearing grease. But, like most buyers, I did not insist on the dealer doing a brake and hub inspection.

Having the wheel come off in the first 160 miles was certainly not a “newbie mistake”. I was lulled into a false sense of security by seeing the shiny new tires with the receipt from Les Schwab.

hardee":1w6vjuhw said:
How old is the trailer? and obviously, there was differed maintenance.
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The trailer was made in 2005. It was apparent that the brakes had not worked for years before it was mine, as all the parts frozen in place with thick rust. The wheel hubs showed no evidence of contact with brake shoes.

If Schwab inspected the brakes when putting the new tires on, there was certainly no attempt made to correct the obvious problems.
 
I realize that my prior post sounds defensive, but was not intended that way.

Also, I forgot to thank all those who responded with good thoughts and suggestions.

If my incident, and the other suggestions presented, help to preclude anyone else from having a similar failure, that would be great.
 
No worries Wesley,
I thought my post may have been like Mr. Know It All. My tip was intended to be for good as it has worked for me in practice since my youth. Sounds like the wheel was just due to come off and it could have happened to any of us. Glad your trailer is now in good working order. Thanks for sharing.
 
I would be curious to know if the Les Schwab dealer mentioned the brakes to the owner. I guess it might depend on which LS shop, but I would have expected better service than that from any of their shops.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I seriously doubt the tire shop took the time to take apart the hubs to inspect the brakes while putting tires on boat trailer. They do it with cars since everything is right there in front of you and w/o any disassembly or labor and because it makes them a ton of money. It would take the tech about an hour to do the inspection and the write up - no way they are doing that for free as part of putting tires on a trailer.
 
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