Hub Failure— EZ Loader Trailer

[CaspersCruiser]

I recently had a catastrophic failure of an oil bath hub on the EZ Loader tandem axle trailer carrying my 2012 R27. It is discussed in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15397

The front left hub, wheel, brake assembly, and tire departed the trailer on I-95 northbound in Florida between Ft. Pierce and Vero Beach. I had been on the road only 45 minutes into a 1,000 mile tow back home to Kentucky when it occurred. Thankfully, the hub and wheel assembly ended up on the same side of the road on which I was traveling and I was able to recover it.

The hub failure sequence damaged the spindle beyond repair. The spindle is pressed into the torsion axles used on this trailer and cannot be replaced.

Because of the damage to the spindle, the only option was to replace the axle. EZ Loader builds nice trailers, but the down side is many parts used on them are EZ Loader specific and that includes the axles. Aftermarket axles will not fit, at least not any I could find. EZ Loader did not have any of my axles in stock and had to manufacture one. Thankfully, that only took a few days. I think they expedited for me because of the circumstance of the trailer being out of service.

The longest part of the waiting game was eight days shipping from Spokane, WA to Ft. Pierce, FL. The axle was delivered last Wednesday afternoon and installed on Thursday. It came bolt-on ready with hubs and brake assemblies and it fit perfectly— pretty good for a nine year-old trailer and a testament of EZ Loader’s precision manufacturing.

Concurrent with the axle replacement, I had the bearings, races, and seals replaced on the rear axle hubs. I was anxious to see the condition of those items to see if they provided any clue as to what may have been the cause of the hub failure on the front axle. They didn’t. They were in pristine condition. Like new. Same for the spindles.

So what caused the hub failure? Who knows. Either the seal failed and the oil evacuated and that lack of lubrication caused bearing seizure, or a bearing simply failed. My hunch is a bearing failed.

I finally got the boat home Friday night, completing the 1,000 mile tow I started May 21st.

 

[knotflying]

Good to hear all worked out for you Bill.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Sorry to read of the problem but glad you and the boat did not incur any physical damage.

Jim

 

[scross]

You may think Bill's hub failure is a very rare event. Like getting hit by lighting. But if you tow your boat on a regular basis, sooner or later it will happen to you! How Bill handled the incident was perfect!
Our hub failure was on our prior boat (a 24 ft Monterey 242 Cruiser) back in 2014. We had just had all four hubs serviced by a well known boat repair (NHD) in Anacortes, WA along with a lot of minor boat winterization and general repairs. Well, even though we were charged for the bearing maintenance, the work wasn't actually performed.
About five hours down the southbound I-5 just before Exit 278 in Oregon at about 7 PM I felt the Tundra start to vibrate. A glance in the rear view mirror showed the driver's rear trailer wheel wobbling wildly on it's vertical axis. On the side of the road a quick assessment was we had bearing failure. Limped a couple of hundred yards at 2 MPH to the off ramp, parked in a safe spot and started looking online for a trailer repair shop. Lucky for us Fleet Specialist NW was less than 1/4 mile from our location. I called their after hours number and they said to drop the trailer off in front of their gate, In that 1/4 mile the wheel did fall off. We parked just outside the repair yard gate, unhooked the trailer, and drove the remaining four hours home.
Just like Bill, when the bearing failed it took out the spindle which required a new axle. Our trailer used a common 3,500 pound axle and the repair shop had it delivered and installed in just 3 days. The wheel and tire were fine. Had the shop service/replace all other the bearings which were in bad shape. Picked up trailer 4 days later and drove it home.
Lessons learned from this incident:
1. Carry a digital IR thermometer and use it at every stop to check tire and bearing temps.
2. Have your trailer bearings serviced at a trailer repair specialty shop that knows what they are doing!
Like Bill we were relatively lucky that the damage wasn't worse than it turned out to be. Just very inconvenient. NHD willingly paid for the axle replacement after talking to their mechanic and Fleet Specialist. To those that carry spare axles and hubs with them - I applaud you. We just don't have the room to do that.

 

[BB marine]

I have been to more than I want to mention bearing seminars. Every manufactures states a bearing if properly maintained will last forever. They don't because they are never maintained properly. Lubrication is the number one cause of failure. To break lubrication down further. It must be clean, maintained viscosity, moisture free and present at the proper capacity. The largest percentage of boat trailer failure is seal damage or improperly installed seals. Seals wear out on boat trailers because they sit more than they are used. Rust forms right at the seal line, the synthetic rubber dries out. This rust can be abrasive. Boat trailers require a good double lip seal. Most wheel bearing seals purchased from the automotive stores are single lip. Many mechanics that service trailers bearings use single lip seals. Because they don't know not to. The seals work good keeping the grease in but they don't keep the water out. (moisture damages bearings). Setting proper bearing preload is easy but many times set to tight which can cause bearings to run hot and shorten the longevity. Lubricants are not all equal. Marine greases and gear lubes are not the same as the ones that you purchase from the auto parts store. Most are not formulated to be mixed with water. Why would they? I have seen many boat owners purchase gear lube 90w and put it in there Lower units or trailer wheel bearings and have failures "Lube looks fine". The same with grease. But in reality the water had separated out of the lube and eventually was a lubricants of the bearings and the bearings fail.

Inspect grease, wheels, brakes, and bearings before every long haul. Jack the axel up and feel for bearing pre-load to tight bad , to loose bad. Wipe behind the wheel at seal area to see if it is wet from grease extrusion. If grease is leaking out water is gettin in. Even with a double lip seal the outer seal normally fails before the inner seal.

Wheel bearing reseal, inspection and lubrication replacement should be done no less than every three years regardless of use. Sooner if there are signs of seal or bearing failure. When I replace the tires and I repack the bearings.

Bill what happened to you on your trip back to Kentucky is the nightmare that we all want to avoid. I know you are very particular with the maintenance on your boat. I would put money on this ! It will never happen to you again.