Trailer Spindle

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
Tom Hemphill
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:04 pm

Trailer Spindle

Postby Tom Hemphill » Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:28 pm

Before towing a long distance (to Cape Cod) this week, I examined the trailer under my 1970 16-foot Whaler. Both wheels appeared to be leaking grease from their inner hub seals, and when I jacked up the trailer and spun the wheels, one felt rough and had some axial play. The other one rotated smoothly and had little play.

I disassembled the hub of the worse wheel, and found that the grease was thin and watery; the bearings and races had moderate pitting; and the grease seal barely had any rubber left. So I left the boat at home (and instead took the kayak to the Cape).

I have ordered replacement hubs complete with all components (plus extra spare grease seals). My question is this: If I clean up the corrosion on my spindles (one of which is pictured below), will that be good enough? If not, to replace the spindles I need to buy a whole new axle and associated hardware.
Attachments
Spindle 1.jpg
Spindle 1.jpg (231.04 KiB) Viewed 9422 times

Jefecinco
Posts: 1592
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:35 pm
Location: Gulf Shores, AL

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Jefecinco » Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:02 pm

I believe I read that sleeves are available to cover damaged spindles where bearings caused damage. I'm not at all sure of this but it may be worth a net search. I also seem to remember that a slightly larger bearing will be needed.
Butch

number9
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:25 pm

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby number9 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:22 pm

I would clean up the spindles and check for significant pitting of sealing surface. Make a judgement call and if decision is to go for it as is keep a closer eye on the wheels and evidence of grease leaking out. New hubs/bearings unlikely to be damaged and the extra seals would be on hand if axle replacement eventually needed. Have heard of sleeves for applications other than for spindles and may be worth checking out.

Yellowjacket
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:33 am

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Yellowjacket » Mon Oct 02, 2017 7:33 pm

Look up "speedy sleeves" and if the seal areas are badly pitted you can put them on and not have to replace your axle.

They work and are made of stainless steel so you shouldn't have a problem with corrosion when they are properly installed.

A new set of seals and sleeves should do the trick.

Bearing caps that have grease fittings on them are a good idea, you can pressurize the bearing cavity and if it leaks, it leaks grease out of the seal and does not allow water to leak in.

Annual check of the lube in the axles is a good idea, pop off the caps and make sure there is no water in there and the grease is clean. Water sitting in there over the winter is a great of bearings and axles.

Tom Hemphill
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:04 pm

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Tom Hemphill » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:50 pm

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I cleaned up the surface of the spindle where the seal sits, as shown below:

Spindle-2.jpg
Spindle-2.jpg (60.04 KiB) Viewed 9280 times


Then I reassembled it with new hubs, bearings and seals as planned. I believe it will be good enough, but will inspect it regularly. Thank you, Yellowjacket, for letting me know about SKF Speedi-Sleeves. They look to be a great solution if my seals don't hold up.

pstollie
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:00 pm

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby pstollie » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:17 pm

I have an old Dilly trailer that came with my Outrage. Had a lot more scoring than yours. Once I cleaned it up and replaced the seals and bearings, has been good to go on a 900 mile trip for the last four years. Bearing Buddies are great. Good luck..

Yellowjacket
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2017 9:33 am

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Yellowjacket » Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:20 pm

You might as well just go get the sleeve, that pitted surface will chew up a seal if you tried to run a seal on it.

If you can move the seal in or out relative to where the pitted area is you can get it to work. One way to do that is to put a couple of washers, so that the total thickness of the stack is .125 thick under the bearing so that the hub is spaced out and the seal isn't running on the pitted area anymore. There should be that much thread available and still be able to get the cotter key into the shaft with the proper bearing clearance but that may or may not be so.

Oldslowandugly
Posts: 718
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:19 pm
Location: Queens NY

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Oldslowandugly » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:50 am

I am in the same situation. I could have used an old hot rodder trick to build up the axle seal contact surface with Marine Tex and then sand it down flush. That way it fills the pits and the seal has a nice smooth surface to ride on. But I also wanted the better double spring loaded seals recommended for use with Bearing Buddies. I went with the Bearing Buddy Spindle Seal Kit. It has a stainless steel sleeve that goes over the spindle and the seal lip rides on that for a tight seal. FWIW my trailer has had Bearing Buddies since new for 28 years. I kept the stock seals since they were new and they worked very well keeping the pressurized grease in. Last year was the first time I ever had grease leak out the inner seals. I stripped the spindles down and found pitting similar to yours. I felt an upgrade was in order and I am doing that as we speak.

Image

Vance's Revenge
Posts: 116
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2015 2:37 am
Location: Northern California

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Vance's Revenge » Sun Nov 05, 2017 3:14 am

Been there dun that with this problem. If you have pits or corrosion left after you clean up your axle you will get water in.
I found Kwik Sleev's from Timkin to be a better option than Speedy's. Just Mic them out and look at their chart for width etc. Mine on my whaler trailer are actually listed as output shaft sleeves for a Nissan automatic transmission. Very well built!
If you haven't purchased the hubs yet switch to Oil bath. You will never go back.--Vance

Tom Hemphill
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:04 pm

Re: Trailer Spindle

Postby Tom Hemphill » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:01 pm

As a followup, I can report that my axle, bearings and inner seals are all in good shape three-plus years later. There was no evidence of water intrusion when I repacked the bearings recently.