Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

I just bought a new-to-me but older trailer. I need to know what all steps I need to take to service it properly. I already plan on replacing all rollers, sanding down, and painting. Wondering if all the bolts and nuts should be painted? Behind the wheels is pretty rusty. Can you replace the hubs (?) there? Tires look ok but some rust on the rims. Any help would be appreciated. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

In addition to perusing this forum you might like to look at the trailer one for ideas. I have a few shots of what I did on my photobucket.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

I've been researching quite a bit. Looks like a may replace the hubs. That should rid the rust.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Replace the hubs only if they are worn..... a good wire brush and a coat of paint should make them look new (or acceptable).

I would put in new seals and maybe bearings if needed. Rewire the lights, check all ground points...... safety chains, coupler...... I tend to worry about the mechanical before the pretty stuff. Make sure if your trailer is welded to look for cracks.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Great information Bob. I will see how well the hubs clean up. They are pretty rough looking. I know replacemnet bearings are much cheaper than the hubs themselves. What about leaf springs? Guess they should clean up as well.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Bushy99 said:

Great information Bob. I will see how well the hubs clean up. They are pretty rough looking. I know replacemnet bearings are much cheaper than the hubs themselves. What about leaf springs? Guess they should clean up as well.

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i agree with bob.

even new hubs rust fairly quickly.

as for the springs, if they look rough enough to want to clean them up, then change them since you dont know how worn they are anyway... there pretty cheap and easy to do. use all new hardware as well.

springs/coupler/safety chains are the major safety concerns.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Bob_VT said:

Make sure if your trailer is welded to look for cracks.

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very good info if using a used trailer!!! i found 3 cracked welds and 1 crossbeam that was only tacked in and not finished welded on one side on my galvinized trailer. that wasnt fun to repair! galv sucks when comes time to grind and weld!!!!

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

If you have a Northern Tool store anywhere nearby, they have everything you might need for a trailer, including new hubs, bearings, seals, bearing buddies, lights, etc. If your trailer is steel and much rust, then it would be great to sand-blast it to the bare metal, prime and paint, just depends on how nice you want it to be. Good Luck!

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Regarding your hubs. They shouldn't need replacing unless damaged. Bearings and seals however are cheap insurance. If you have ever had a trailer wheel lock up on the road, you'd make darn sure it didn't happen again.(roadside repairs are tough because seized bearings usually need to be cut off with a torch). Measure your spindle diameter or get the number off the bearing before buying bearings. Same for the seals. 1" and 1 1/16" spindles are pretty common for smaller boat trailers. Bearing Buddies or equivalent are a good idea as well, just don't overload the hubs with grease and blow out the seals.

There is no magic involved with leaf springs, if they look OK they probably are. Pay attention to the bushings in the eyelets. It's not an emergency if they are beginning to crack, but if pieces are falling out, things are gonna get noisy and maybe loosy goosy.

Safety chains are very important, make sure they are sized appropriately and in good condition. Pay attention to the mounting points, they should be attached with proper sized bolts. I've seen them just tack welded on the trailer, which is a no-go. I've heard several stories of the trailer detaching and the welded chains popping right off, bye bye trailer.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

The hubs cleaned up nicely today. I'll probably replace the bearings and seals though. I knocked a lot of rust off of the leaf springs but they still seem pretty solid. Had to cut several bolts off. Most of the bolts are seized up. I began grinding down to bare metal as well.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

motorpsykler said:

Regarding your hubs. They shouldn't need replacing unless damaged. Bearings and seals however are cheap insurance. If you have ever had a trailer wheel lock up on the road, you'd make darn sure it didn't happen again.(roadside repairs are tough because seized bearings usually need to be cut off with a torch). Measure your spindle diameter or get the number off the bearing before buying bearings. Same for the seals. 1" and 1 1/16" spindles are pretty common for smaller boat trailers. Bearing Buddies or equivalent are a good idea as well, just don't overload the hubs with grease and blow out the seals.

There is no magic involved with leaf springs, if they look OK they probably are. Pay attention to the bushings in the eyelets. It's not an emergency if they are beginning to crack, but if pieces are falling out, things are gonna get noisy and maybe loosy goosy.

Safety chains are very important, make sure they are sized appropriately and in good condition. Pay attention to the mounting points, they should be attached with proper sized bolts. I've seen them just tack welded on the trailer, which is a no-go. I've heard several stories of the trailer detaching and the welded chains popping right off, bye bye trailer.

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Where do I begin with replacing seals and bearings? Pop the cap off? Are they heat shrunk on? This is all new to me.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

If it has rounded end bearing caps you pry them off. If it has bearing buddies which are cylindrical devices with a grease fitting you get a smallish block of 2X4 and whack the sides of the bearing buddies til you walk the piece out of the hub. Then you remove a cotter pin or keeper to get to the bearing hold down nut, remove nut, then outer bearing and then the hub which contains the inner bearing, inner seal and races. There is a good tutorial in www.RV.net.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

NHGuy said:

If it has rounded end bearing caps you pry them off. If it has bearing buddies which are cylindrical devices with a grease fitting you get a smallish block of 2X4 and whack the sides of the bearing buddies til you walk the piece out of the hub. Then you remove a cotter pin or keeper to get to the bearing hold down nut, remove nut, then outer bearing and then the hub which contains the inner bearing, inner seal and races. There is a good tutorial in www.RV.net.

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What section of the RV site did you find the tutorial? I looked around a bit and used the search but came up with nothing.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

http://searchwarp.com/swa211385.htm

A step by step tutorial on servicing wheel bearings.

Remember the axle nut should not be overtightend. I have seen new bearings shot in under a hundred miles by people who overtightend these nuts.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

I just replaced my wheel bearings and tires, theres a code on the bearings that will tell you what size they are.

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.catalog&categoryID=188

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

Replaced the wheel bearings. Everything went smooth. The leaf eyelet bushings were in terrible condition and the bolts holding them in place were almost rusted through.

Re: Just Bought a Trailer. Help Me Service it Properly.

This thread was a good read..

Something to learn for every novice trailer owner...