Boat Trailer Maintenance Time

Ok, so. took boat trailer for WOF the other day. One of the bearings on the back axle was very slightly noisy. So, new bearings in yesterday for both sides. (as an apart, recommend 'Farrells Bearings' in Hamilton. Great service from them and quality bearings too)

So far because I'm a maintenance freak, I'm up to new bearings all round, brake pads, master cylinder and fluid. winch and rope

I see a lot of trailers on the side of the road in summer with issues with bearings.

I'm not going to be one of those folks because with my luck it will happen in the middle of the harbour bridge in Auckland.

Summers almost here lads.

Check your bearings!!!

Also ya springs - boat trailer springs are notorious for corroding between the leaves and cracking...

A guy I know carries a spare hub with bearings seal and nut washer and split pin as well as a spare when ever hes going for some distance with his trailer. Seems like a good idea..

Well, if you do the maintenance... If I'm using a trailer heavily repack the hub bearings with fresh grease every couple of months or so? The other one is bearing buddies - they can be a problem if used incorrectly (pop the seals inside out at the back through too much pressure) but they can keep the grease where you need it. The other one I've had a good run out of is a grease called Bigfoot (from Moreys if I remember right) - the purists turn away now but it's an extra high tack grease designed for seriously heavy duty mining applications and not strictly a wheel bearing NLGI-2 grease. When I say high tack, I mean this stuff is the Force gluing light to dark. It's a bastard to work with and it's coloured fluro orange so you can see it escaping but once it's in place it's in place. Perfect for areas where you can get water ingress and grease wash out.

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Originally Posted by blip

A guy I know carries a spare hub with bearings seal and nut washer and split pin as well as a spare when ever hes going for some distance with his trailer. Seems like a good idea..

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I do the same but have it mounted on a trailer stub u bolted to winch post , also doubles as a giant straight line jockey wheel to winch trailer up soft sand beach etc , also gives me spare nuts

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Originally Posted by No.3

Well, if you do the maintenance... If I'm using a trailer heavily repack the hub bearings with fresh grease every couple of months or so? The other one is bearing buddies - they can be a problem if used incorrectly (pop the seals inside out at the back through too much pressure) but they can keep the grease where you need it. The other one I've had a good run out of is a grease called Bigfoot (from Moreys if I remember right) - the purists turn away now but it's an extra high tack grease designed for seriously heavy duty mining applications and not strictly a wheel bearing NLGI-2 grease. When I say high tack, I mean this stuff is the Force gluing light to dark. It's a bastard to work with and it's coloured fluro orange so you can see it escaping but once it's in place it's in place. Perfect for areas where you can get water ingress and grease wash out.

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That orange grease sticks like shit to a blanket alright

Never heard of that grease before. I use moreys waterproof grease. Seems ok.

I use bearing buddys and I know how to use them. Little bit of grease every now and then. Don't pump them up.

I don't run single leaf springs. They are dangerous fucking things and should be banned they break that often.

And your engine. Don't forget to service that. Each xmas break we tow between 6 and 10 boats. Either they have run out of fuel, fuel is stale or they haven't serviced their engine. This is in the Marlborough sounds. 99% of the people we tow are from ChCh. They all say the same thing, I serviced this last Xmas. All use the boat once or twice a year and think it's good as. We are only 1 commercial vessel, I'm sure others will tow more. Coastguard will do another dozen or more for breakdowns.

Re trailer chassis maintenance: my 2006 Stabi rig trailer still looks mint. I squirt fish oil into the crossmembers using a long flexible hole through drain ports. For the exterior, I’ve scrubbed the galv with a worn green pot cleaner before applying two coats of ALTEX marine undercoat, same colour as galvanising. The trailer now has x4 coats of that product and still looks new.

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Originally Posted by blip

That orange grease sticks like shit to a blanket alright

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I once tried to clean out a grease gun I was using with the Bigfoot to chuck a standard grease back in it. I gave up and brought another grease gun and a couple more cartridges of the Bigfoot to go with it haha!

I just bought one irrigation hose from mitre ten. 8 bucks comes with a hose end and fed it thru the main crossmember and out the end .so I can rinse the inside bx section.

Got the boat a WOF a few weeks ago. New wheel bearing needed on one side too. Good to go for summer

How come we can put people on the moon but we are all changing trailer bearings like it's going out of fashion. WTF

@Strummer - Because there isn't any salt water in space! :D

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Originally Posted by Strummer

How come we can put people on the moon but we are all changing trailer bearings like it's going out of fashion. WTF

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Generally water intrusion, the grease floats on water leading to small corrosion spots on the bottom of the bearing shells. Once you have a small spot, the bearing fails surprisingly quickly. This is the problem with driving to the ramp, hot bearings, backing straight into the water which cools the bearing and draws in a little bit of water. The other thing is getting home and parking the trailer for a month or so between uses, with the water sitting there... Salt water contains quite a bit of dissolved oxygen as does water from geothermal areas so you don't need much else to start corrosion off. I have a mate that backs his trailer in and jacks it up onto blocks he's made up. Every day or so on the walk past he spins the wheels on one side, then on the way back the other side of the trailer. He doesn't change out many bearings. Bearing buddies (pressure greasers) can help prevent this, but they can also upset the inner seals leading to the same problem if there's too much pressure in the hub.

I'm a big fan of bearing buddies. I only fill them till I see the spring move, a little often is the secret.

As for bearing buddies. Fantastic. My old boat which I sold to another member .I out new bearings amd bearing buddies as soon as I bought it.in the ten years of my ownership I never failed a warrant and the bearings were mint.never had any issues
My mate whi worked for a bearing company said pump them up all good when the overflow hole weeps on that model of bearing all good stop. If the grease has come out the back of the seal.then it's failed .

wash trailer well and coat it with this stuff.
https://prolan.co.nz/product/enduro-heavy-grade/ after coating it tacks up (doesn't dry just goes all tacky)
after treating don't waterblast just hose salt off with lower pressure

keep it all in perfect nick (can look quite rough as all the road dust sticks to its but keeps it all mint and rust free

recoat every 12months. we use an air compressor with a paint sprayer but a manual squeezy spray bottle or a paint brush works.

I thought there was cases where lanolin and some dunbier trailers reacted and actually made the trailer corrode badly.read.it somewhere whole ago.

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Originally Posted by Quackers

I thought there was cases where lanolin and some dunbier trailers reacted and actually made the trailer corrode badly.read.it somewhere whole ago.

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Yes i have seen this first hand. Mates trailer that he coated in lanolin. I told him not to do it, but, then the galv was buggered within 12 months and had to be re dipped.

It sort of went crappy and flaky within a few months. I wouldn't use it on any galvanised items.

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Originally Posted by tac a1

Yes i have seen this first hand. Mates trailer that he coated in lanolin. I told him not to do it, but, then the galv was buggered within 12 months and had to be re dipped.

It sort of went crappy and flaky within a few months. I wouldn't use it on any galvanised items.

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I doubt the galv reacted with the lanolin- but you could very well have sealed something in under the lanolin that caused the reaction (zinc is one of the most reactive metals hence it's use for cathodic coating and protection of less reactive metals).