loose wheels coming off?

[brussell]

Howdy Folks,
Got an old fishing boat that I may try to save...Got a guy 5 miles from me who does body work and i was gonna take the boat to him to see if the cracked splashwell on the thing was fixable..

However, the wheels are loose on the trailer..Not really loose but pretty loose.. Am I gonna need to do bearings to take it to him...

I'd hate to take the time to put in bearings only to be told the boat is a flop..
But I'd hate to burn up a spindle in the process...

any thoughts?

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

Check to see how loose they are.
Pull a bearning and inspect it.
May just need to pack them and re-insert.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

At a bare minimum I would take them off and inspect/repack them. If they are loose the bearing might be shot already. Depending on the design of the trailer if the bearing totally lets go you might loose the entire wheel while trying to pull this rig down the road. You could be stuck trying to change the bearing on the side of the road or you could lose the whole thing if it goes out at the wrong time.

Pull the hubs, clean the bearings and see if the rollers are missing or stuck, if they are in good shape repack them and put everything back together and then you won't have to worry!

 

[brussell]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

I just went out there and jacked it up.. They arent as loose as I thought.. I greased the heck of them through the bearing buddy...I think I'm gonna give it a go..

 

[rndn]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

For 5 miles, that's what I would do. Try to not go above 40mph if you're still worried and check the wheel for high heat after a couple of miles. If it's still cool or only slightly warm you should be good to go.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

I just went out there and jacked it up.. They arent as loose as I thought.. I greased the heck of them through the bearing buddy...I think I'm gonna give it a go..

Don't push too much in there. You will push the rear seal out.
BTW, loose is loose. I would have checked to make sure the bearnings were ok and tightned them up a tad and then gave them a little grease.

 

[brussell]

Re: loose wheels coming off?

made it...now to see if the motor is still good. The splashwell is cracked but this fella thought it would be fine with some support...