Archive through March 09, 2009

[jdanke]

My cub hauler is quite modest, but it does the job. Usually I use a smaller trailer, but this weekend U-Haul only had a 5x9. Turns out lucky, because when I went to pick up an Original, I also ended up with a 70. I was hoping to unload and stash it before my wife got home, but she just laughed when she saw it.

 

[sblunier]

PSA....

Be very critical of the brakes on your trailers. My 1 year old trailer with factory electric brakes was the victim of a "beer:30 Friday" welding job on the axle brake flanges. Both of them cut loose during a standard 30 mph in town stop after plow day. One cut loose and the jar broke the other one.

Looking at the welds it's very easy to see that there was ZERO penetration on the mounting flange, barely a couple of tacks keeping the brake backing plates held on.

Of course it's 6 weeks past the warranty date, but I will be taking that issue up tomorrow. I'm just glad it wasn't a panic stop when I really might have needed them!!!!!

 

[kweaver]

Steve - Glad is wasn't really needed when it let go. I see that kind of weld ALOT on these "factory built" trailers. I've seen trailers that were welded <u>only</u> from the topside.

I took pride in my 100% welded , 100% penetrated welds on my trailers when I was building them.

Glad there were no injuries or damage !

p.s. I pulled the tongue off a new 15 foot batwing Bush Hog one day for that same reason !

 

[aaytay]

Steve-
I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you, but thanks for posting it for us to see. I'm planning on repacking the hubs on my trailer, now I will check the backing plates when I'm in there!

(I certainly wouldn't have thought to check that!)

BTW... Do you mind me asking who those axles are manufactured by?

If it makes you feel better, our ride wasn't without it's share of troubles either.

First I had some cooling issues that made us run with the heat on full-blast to keep things cool for the rest of the trip...

Then the other truck that was with us got a flat tire on his trailer...

Followed by another trailer-flat just 30 miles up the road...

Since he had done all of the "right" things (tires properly inflated, trailer loaded correctly, obey posted speed limits, etc) he decided to scrap the remainder of the nearly new tires even though they looked fine and got 5 new QUALITY trailer tires. Smart move in my opinion!

I think this may be another area where trailer "builders" are saving a few bucks.

One of the members of our group said it best when he reminded us how many times we've trailered to these events without any problems. Sometimes that can give a guy a false sense of security and times like this make you never let your guard down!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Steve, bummer!

Art, bummer about the over heating and trailer issues! I'm not feeling so bad about missing this plow day now. I've had my share of trailer issues back when I used to snowmobile. One time I had an axle break off and send my tire flying. That was exciting! BANG! followed by mass quantities of sparks! It was well below zero and about 10:30PM out in the middle of no where in northern Wisconsin. Thankfully there was a house right where the trailer broke and the people that lived there were kind enough to let me leave the broken trailer and two snowmobiles there. I found the broken axle and tire way off the the far side of the road, good thing there was no other traffic on that road that night...

The next day some of my fellow snowmobile club members went with me and we flipped my broken trailer onto a trailer and loaded the sleds onto a second trailer and hauled it all to the place we were staying. I was fortunate that the owner of the place we were staying had a decent welder AND one of the guys in the club knew how to weld. My trailer was promptly repaired and my snowmobile trip was rescued.

 

[aaytay]

Kraig-
You're never supposed to let the smoke out of anything electrical, or let the sparks out of anything that spins. Neither will work well after that. LOL!

 

[dfrisk]

ART - Good luck even FINDING a decent trailer tire. From some of the forums I see NOBODY makes trailer tires that hold up anymore.

STEVE - I hope your trailer dealer doesn't hang on the fact your warranty expired six weeks ago. If He doesn't make things right I'd call the axle mfg, and really raise a stink! I'm about 99% positive thats who welds that backing plate flange.

 

[kweaver]

Dennis - What is said about Trail America tires ? That's what came on my new boat trailer. So far they are wearing normal ... bearings got greased after 1 year service and they were dry !

Let's NOT forget to use safety chains on those trailers. (I know most of time they'll wreck you)
A friend of mine dropped off a trailer here today that he had borrowed. It had no safety chains.
It also has a bent tongue , 2 bent wheels , 2 ripped up tires. He drug it around 15 miles like that !
It popped the ball when he went through a dip and luckily it went to the right and off the road.
The trailer hit something (but that's ALL I'm saying)
NO ONE was involved or hurt.

 

[sblunier]

Denny,

They have been good to work with so far, very accomodating and willing to warranty the axle.

 

[sblunier]

I heard from the trailer dealer today. The trailer manufacturer (not the axle manufacturer) is standing behind the axles (even 6 weeks out of warranty). They are replacing the bad brake axle with a complete pre-wired brake axle. They are also replacing the idler axle due to questionable flange welds. Both are being drop shipped to my home (leaving the factory in TX tomorrow) and in exchange for the labor $$$ to install the axles, they are including a brake kit for the 2nd axle.

All said and done, I should have a brand new axles and brakes all around (replacing one idler and one brake axle with 2 brake axles) in exchange for my time to install.

I am extremely happy with the results of the warranty claim, and while I'm not happy the axle broke, PJ and my dealer have been 100% honest and have worked to make me happy every step of the way. I love the trailer, and PJ just proved that they are a stand-up company, going above and beyond to make things right....

I'll keep everyone posted when the axles arrive and when I replace them.

 

[kweaver]

COOL

 

[dfrisk]

STEVE - That's good news. Glad they made things right with you.

KEN - There was an active trailer/towing forum over at TheDieselStop.com years ago. They added HUNDREDS of sponsor pop-ups a couple years ago and it became real slow to load so I stopped going there.
Seemed like the biggest complaint was trailer tires in general, follwed closely by "Which brake controller is best?", kinda like the oil or gear drive vs Hydro debates here.

Can't really say which brand of trailer tire was worst or bad, just seemed like everyone had problems with all brands a LOT!

 

[kweaver]

I guess they're re-cycling worn out sandal soles and making tires out of them ...

 

[sblunier]

I spent Saturday afternoon putting the new axles on the trailer. After a quick trip to TSC for some replacement shackle bolts (mainly for the lock-nuts) everything was back together and functional. I now have brakes on both axles and the flange welds look 3x better than the last axles did. While I ended up having to deal with some work, the trailer company (PJ) and the dealer (NITE Equipment) were very easy to deal with and wanted to make me happy at all costs….a nice change of pace these days!!!

One other note:

If you get a new trailer or replacement axle/hub that comes as an assembly, check the wheel bearings for adequate grease. I pulled a hub just to check and the bearings were packed, but the remainder of the hub bore was bone dry. As the grease gets warm and runs out into the hub how much will be left for the bearings??? My axles are EZ Lube equipped, and it took over ½ of a tube of grease from the gun to get 4 bearing sets packed to the level I wanted them at.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Steve, good to hear that it all worked out.

Thanks for the heads up on the bearing/grease.

 

[dtanner]

Steve Blunier "Mr. Plow" (Central IL)

(If you get a new trailer or replacement axle/hub that comes as an assembly, check the wheel bearings for adequate grease. I pulled a hub just to check and the bearings were packed, but the remainder of the hub bore was bone dry. As the grease gets warm and runs out into the hub how much will be left for the bearings??? My axles are EZ Lube equipped, and it took over ½ of a tube of grease from the gun to get 4 bearing sets packed to the level I wanted them at.)

Not a good idea to over pack a hub assembly with grease. the center of the hub should not be filled with grease. this will cause your bearings to go bad the same as to little grease. I just fill my bearings by hand and place a small amount of grease in the center hub and that is it.To much grease and you create a heat sink and the bearings gall and fall apart. the full bearing and hub prevents heat dissipation and that will cause premature wear . I all ways wash and repack my trailer bearings every spring and they have lasted 4 years on my 14 ft tandem .The last set of ez lube spindles I bought where for my 129 loader and they came with bearing seals on both sides of the bearing

and I had to laugh as to how the grease could get into the bearing and help it last longer.this spring i did a trailer for a friend and he watched and stated he had to buy new bearing and seal every year and he always repacks them.I washed out the hubs and bearings and had the bearings sitting on my bench. He took a bearing and my air gun and spun the bearing up.I said no don`t do that because you have wrecked that bearing. Never spin a dry bearing with air., because they are dry and the heat will pit the ball surface and then they are junk.I always remove the seals on new bearing and wash and repack them myself ,because the grease they use is not good bearing grease.The last set I did I used CV boot grease with lead contain and next spring I hope not to find any dried grease and still have good bearings. My .02 Don T

 

[mfrade]

When I was in school, vocational, the first day of freshman year the teacher said NOT TO spin bearings with air because the rollers will come free. Of course the very first brake job we're doing one of the students feels he has to try it and sure enough the roller came out and went through his safety glasses, through his eye and into his skull. We never saw him again!

 

[msmucker]

Its been a while since I last looked at this part of the forum and imagine my surprise, there is another Subaru fan who hauls Cubs with the family wagon!

As for ours we have loaded a lot on the Subies we have owned and they don't seem to mind much.

 

[ljones]

Here is going to be my cub hauler it is a 87 ford ranger it sat in a barn 5+ years but got it out replaced both fuel pumps and front break calipers and almost ready to go.

 

[balder]

Here is a pic of my cub hauler. Its a 97 Nissan in really good shape. It can only haul one at a time.