Trailer woes

[rdlangston13]

So last summer I had my right front brake caliper seize up. This was causing the right front hub to get really hot and I was worried it would cause a problem with the wheel seal especially when being dunked. Well a couple weeks ago I noticed my left front hub was getting hot and upon further inspection I found that it also was seized up.

Today I installed a new caliper ordered from boat mate and when I took the wheel off I found my rotor to be cracked. So now I need to order a new hubbed rotor as well. I then found my right rear caliper beginning to seize and the wheel seal is leaking a small amount of grease out of the back of the hub. All the calipers that came of my trailer are very rusty and the seals are all cracked and rotted. When will it ever end?????

Tomorrow I have to tow the boat 100 miles with a cracked rotor to the dealer to get a broken swim platform bracket fixed.

[wolfeman131]

David, I saw the pic on fb last night and wondered when you might get that posted over here.

I'm not sure what to tell you as I only tow 1 or 2 times per year.

[rdlangston13]

We usually don't tow more than 20 miles one way but we do take an occasional road trip. Guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet here and spend some money.

[lsvboombox]

Check out www.pacifictrailers.com for parts. Pretty sure Ll the rotors and Calipers are ufp. I had similar problems with a bassbOat trailer. Ended up replacing the tubing with the thermo bRake cables and all new calipers and rotors.

[jpetty3023]

Ton of problems you been having with your trailer brother. Let us know what your dealer has to say

[wolfeman131]

hope not, but I bet his dealer says, "MasterCard or AmEx?"

[rdlangston13]

Haha, I doubt my dealer cares since I did not buy the boat through them. Probably going to just replace everything

[mmandley]

Yea i was wondering what the FB pic was about too. IDK at this point it sounds like you need to just buy all new hubs, brakes and calipers. Just replace everything on it. THen keep wats left as spares.

I wouldnt skip on my trailer repairs, something fails and its a lot more then just the trailer that will get damaged.

[rdlangston13]

Yeah that's the plan mike. Just have to get the boat to the dealer tomorrow then to my house in two weeks to do the repairs. 80 mile tow tomorrow and another 30 in two weeks before it can be fixed

[rdlangston13]

The inside of the pistons on the calipers are majorly rusted. Makes me wonder if the previous owner dunked it in salt water

[kaneboats]

I'm glad you said it before I had to. It sounds like salt water usage. You don't have a premature failure of one or two components. Instead, it's every part of the whole system on both axles just rotting away on you. That sounds like salt water exposure. Now I'd be worried about the boat itself. They don't drop the trailer in salt water to run the boat in fresh water. Better go through everything my friend.

[mmandley]

The inside of the pistons on the calipers are majorly rusted. Makes me wonder if the previous owner dunked it in salt water

I was wondering this too, but you havnt had any issues with the boat right? Maybe if they did then at least they did a proper engine flush when they were done.

[Razzman]

Yeah somethings not right for sure there, I tow a minimum of 70 miles everytime out roundtrip. I've probably got 3,000+ miles on the trailer now and the only issue was a leaking oil bath seal. I never liked that setup and it was discontinued by UFP so I converted all the hubs to the standard grease setup with Bearing Buddys.

[bzubke1]

i've had the same issues as david with our trailer we had all 4 calipers rebuilt last spring, one of which had to be replaced again in the middle of summer. Should have just got new ones right away instead of rebuilt. The brazos river where I boat has a higher salt content than most freshwater lakes and rivers because it goes through some salt flats so that could have something to do with it but none of my friends with boats older than mine that have been exclusively used in the brazos have any problems with their trailers. Maybe we just got a bad batch of calipers or something.

[rdlangston13]

Could be it, we have the same year model. When I got my boat it had Arizona numbers on it so I don't think it was used in salt unless George strait owned it. Maybe the lakes up there have a similar issue? The boat itself shows no sign of salt water damage that I can see. The v drive and tranny have a few spots of surface rust but nothing too bad for something that gets wet alot.

So I'm on pacific trailer website looking at brakes and just want to verify one thing. We have a 5 on 4.5 lug pattern and a 1 3/8 x 1 1/16 spindle right?

[rdlangston13]

Just some pics I snapped of the chaos

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/7050d018.jpg

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/3cc859f4.jpg

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/d0bcec8a.jpg

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/5c60c36a.jpg

[jmb]

I will never put this boat or trailer in salt or brackish water. I had to replace everything on my last boat. New trailer after 4-1/2 years. Washed it every time I pulled it out and thats all the longer it lasted. Even sanded and painted it. Manifolds, Risers and heads. I will charter or rent a boat before I stick mine in salt water again. I flushed for 15 minutes every time I pulled the boat out. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

[jmb]

Buy an Outboard for salt water. Repalce the motor after about 7 years.

[Nobodyrides4Free]

Hey Dave, Has anyone thought of the rotors warping or cracking from heat. Its kind of like on your car , if the rotors are hot then you roll through some water the can wrap or even crack. Ive seen other people pulling boats and rotors were red from heat! Also make sure to Torque wrench them.
I bought all my stuff from Pacific trailers for my brakes. Previous owner bought boat new and never hooked up th brake lines. I had to replace whole system becuase everything filled with water and rusted. Do you have Bearing Buddys on your trailer?

[rdlangston13]

My guess is that the caliper dragging generated excess heat and then cracked the rotor when it met cool water. I don't have bearing buddies, mine came with the "vault" lubrication system. Susposed to me maintenance free but I assume I will put beating buddies on when i fix all this in a few weeks

[moombadaze]

The inside of the pistons on the calipers are majorly rusted. Makes me wonder if the previous owner dunked it in salt water

i was wondering that, if it had been in salt water. it really sounds like it may have been with that much rust.

[rdlangston13]

Thing is there is not much rust anywhere else on the trailer. Or at least not what I would consider excessive for a boat trailer. Just on the calipers. The boat don't really have much rust anywhere except on the worm clamps around the dripless shaft seal and I replaced those

[rdlangston13]

Does anyone use bearing buddies with the Vault grease or did you swap to normal grease for bearing buddy use?

[kaneboats]

I think that's apples and oranges.

[rdlangston13]

I think that's apples and oranges.

i figure you can just knock off the caps on there and install bearing buddy caps and then use a grease gun loaded with a tube of that hybrid grease to grease the wheel bearing ever so often...

[Nobodyrides4Free]

My Trailer had Bearing Buddys already, I fill them once a season and there Good! I use a marine grade grease in them. And Yes, you pull the cap, hook up grease gun and fill. Its easy. Never heard of Vault grease.

[Razzman]

Does anyone use bearing buddies with the Vault grease or did you swap to normal grease for bearing buddy use?

David I did the conversion last season when I noticed oil leaking from two seals in the rear of the hubs. After finding out that 1) the oil bath system is discontinued, 2) the oil bath seals are hard to find and 3) I couldn't get the stupid tiny allen fills out, it was a no-brainer for me.

All you need is the Bearing Buddies (or your equivelent choice) and regular trailer grease seals. I used marine grease and they've worked perfectly.

After you do the conversion and fill with grease drive it around and fill again as the grease will pack in due to centrifugal force. You may have to do this a few times before the buddies quit recessing in. I carry a mini grease gun in the truck for just this reason.

[kaneboats]

You really didn't have to change bearings or anything, just seals? Sounds like a decent plan.

[rdlangston13]

My Trailer had Bearing Buddys already, I fill them once a season and there Good! I use a marine grade grease in them. And Yes, you pull the cap, hook up grease gun and fill. Its easy. Never heard of Vault grease.

the vault system that came standard on my trailer uses some special hybrid grease that is thick like grease when cool but liquifies when heated from the trailer being towed. supposed to be good stuff...

[FLTH2O]

The cracking often occurs when hot rotors get submeged in water. The vault hubs have a long warranty period so you might want to talk to boatmate or ufp about that. Also the vault uses a special hybrid type grease so mixing the
greases will likely not be good nor keep your warranty valid.