Bearings And Axle

[lostincable]

Hey everyone,

I was having troubles with my trailer at speed 80kmh + I would get a vibration from the trailer it almost sounds as if the wheel was wobbling.

So I suspected bearings and replaced both sides, one side the wheel and bearings came of easy enough and went back on easy enough after a new set was fitted and regreased.

The other side the outer bearing came out easy but the inner bearing would not come of the axle and required a fair amount of force with hammers, chisels etc to get it free.

When installing the wheel and bearing back on the axle I had troubles getting the bearing of initially it was quite difficult to get the bearing over the axle and into position requiring a fair amount of force to get the bearing to slide over the axle and into position.

I eventually got it on but the vibration / wobble is still there.

I am thinking potentially the axle / wheel is damaged? I am thinking axle as the bearing is impossible to get on / off compared with the other side.

Just wondering what others think?

The wheel has the bearings built in so the wheel is essentially the hub.

 

[redneck joe]

Have someone follow you and see which one is wobbling, then swap side and see if the wobble moves with the tire. That will tell you if tire or axle.



Welcome to the forum

 

[alldodge]

The other side the outer bearing came out easy but the inner bearing would not come of the axle and required a fair amount of force with hammers, chisels etc to get it free.

When installing the wheel and bearing back on the axle I had troubles getting the bearing of initially it was quite difficult to get the bearing over the axle and into position requiring a fair amount of force to get the bearing to slide over the axle and into position.

Howdy

Take the wheel and bearings off and with a metal straight edge, check that to axle is not bent.

The bearing should slide on easy, so it probably has a bit of scoring on it. I would remove the bearing and use a flat file were ever the bearings starts to bind. Look for the high spots and file them down. Once it slides all the way on easy, reinstall the wheel.

 

[gm280]

I agree with AllDodge's suggestions above. Is the hard to get on bearing side spindle rusty? As far as a wobble goes, you could have a bent rim. Swapping from one side to the other would make that obvious.

 

[lostincable]

Thanks everyone

To swap the wheel I need to take bearings out as the wheel is the hub assembly see pic in first post.

To do this I would wreck the bearings currently on there as I would have to beat the crap out of it to get over the axle.

The axle isn't rusty and it's very clean and not scored it seems to be slightly enlarged at a certain point the whole way round.

I might just swap the axle and wheel on the bad side for new or I'm just gonna wreck bearings and grease everytime I try and remove / reinstall wheel.

It's a small trailer so axle is easy to replace on one side I would rather avoid it but it sounds like either the wheel is shagged or the axle.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Get a new axle with modern hubs.

 

[Rick Stephens]

As AllDodge recommended, beat it apart and use a good size flat file and a new bearing to get the spindle diameter to where the bearing slides right on and off. Nothing more useless than a boat axle that you can't easily take apart clean and re-grease every year.

Wobble and vibration are normally caused by bent wheel, as noted by gm280. The axle, even bent, won't cause a wobble, but will cause excessive tire wear.

Rick

 

[Silvertip]

Some trailers have a design issue where harmonics occur at given speeds if you have a wheel out of balance, bent wheel, or an alignment/bent spindle. On the other hand, I've owned trailers that when unloaded vibrated when none of those issues existed. You should also jack up each wheel and give it a spin while watching the tread. A tire with a tread separation will appear to wobble in the tread area but not the sidewall/rim area. A bulge on the inside or outside of the tire is also an indication of impending failure.

 

[gm280]

After reading these comments again, maybe the best thing would be for you to change the entire axle assembly and wheels to more of a standard setup. WHY? For two reasons, first it would solve your initial problem for sure, and secondly, if you ever have a flat on the road, you could easily change it. Not so much with your present setup in my opinion. JMHO

 

[cwburkeva]

Tires out of balance will cause wobble or vibration too. But if tire can't be taken off - new axle is in order.