pewe
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 02:23 PM |
|
|
Don't forget trailer maintenance...
Recent events (disintegrated bearings and exploding tyre) have made me realise you neglect trailer maintenance at your peril.
I bought an older, second-hand trailer last year. It was owned by a lad who worked for one of the top tuning firms. That and its nice shiny coat of
paint lulled me into thinking it wouldn't need any major maintenance for some time - WRONG.
As some may know the bearings on one axle disintegrated whilst attempting to transport AkaKeith's MK to Malton. Fortunately the rim and tyre
stayed on but only by good luck.
The following week having replaced that hub and re-newed the other three outer bearings we set off for Northumberland with the F27 on board intent on
wellying over the Moors. Whilst going around the Newcastle by-pass in Frid eve rush-hour a trailer tyre explode big time.
My theory is that the original problem with the bearing may have been caused by the tread delaminating (un-seen despite close inspection) and
hammering that bearing to death.
Again we got off lightly but it was worth noting that the tyre fitter who supplied a new tyre reckoned the old one was at least 11 years old.
In theory tyre companies say it's unsafe to run tyres more than 5 years old regardless of use. Now I know they are right!
Also the fact that it's a 4 wheel trailer reduced the danger and inconvenience when things fell apart.
So if you own a trailer make one of this winter's task a strip down, de-grease, inspect and re-grease of all the trailer's components -
You Know It Makes Sense!
Cheers, Pewe 
Dan, forgot to mention one of our numerous stops on the way up was caused by some numpty (self) forgetting that the ancient swing-over bar on the
hand-brake should be swung back when towing so the hand-brake doesn't ratchet on when braking.
Still can't get my head around what happens if the trailer breaks away and the break-away cable pulls on the handbrake with the ratchet lever
swung back. Presumably it gives one tug before failing - but that doesn't mean the brakes stay on?
[Edited on 5/10/09 by pewe]
|
|
|
|
|
Bluemoon
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 02:37 PM |
|
|
The other classic trailer/caravan error is binding brakes, i.e. poorly adjusted cable or handbrake on first click, on the overrun system, cause
bearings to overheat, loose grease and sieze up...
Dan
[Edited on 5/10/09 by Bluemoon]
|
|
|
designer
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 02:41 PM |
|
|
On the biannual trailer MOT in Germany tyres are illegal if over five years old.
|
|
|
spdpug98
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 03:01 PM |
|
|
Good advice there, something I should have done with my old trailer
My old trailer was an old single axle trailer, which in my own words was crap! As it was so crap I used to spend the whole time towing looking in my
mirrors just to see if anything was going wrong.
This one day as I was trailering the racecar to Lydden along the M25 luckily I was looking in the nearside mirror, when all of a sudden plumes of grey
smoke started coming from the nearside, I pulled over straight away onto the hard shoulder only to find the wheel red hot with smoke pouring from the
bearing.
As I spotted it so early, the bearing had not seized and thankfully a fellow racer (a mate) was only 5 miles behind and he had a tub of bearing grease
on board.
After stripping the hub/bearing on the M25 hard shoulder and cooling it in water we repacked the bearing put it together and headed off to Lydden with
no further problems
My Blog: http://spdpug98.wordpress.com/
|
|
|
dhutch
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 03:46 PM |
|
|
quote:
Still can't get my head around what happens if the trailer breaks away and the break-away cable pulls on the handbrake with the ratchet
lever swung back. Presumably it gives one tug before failing - but that doesn't mean the brakes stay on
I agree about trailer maintenance as someone else with an older trailer myself and someone who been around boat trailers for years (submerging the
wheel bearings in salt water does nothing for the life expectancy) All tyres should i think have the date of manufacture on them as well by the DOT
data.
As for the older sprung type towbars (pre damped drawbars) as per mine, i believe you should not have a breakaway cable but a secondary coupling, as
you would with a unbraked trailer.
This is what i have, and although its designed for a lighter trailer as thats what was available im happy it would hold the trailer in a straight line
should the hitch fail and although if all hell broke loose it would probably fail im not totally against that either on a 'me over the
car' sort of level.
Daniel
|
|
|
dhutch
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 03:47 PM |
|
|
Your not alone on this either, becuase theres a trailer for sale on here at the moment that only has three wheels after a bearing collapsed.
|
|
|
JoelP
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 04:40 PM |
|
|
i had a wheel fall off a new trailer because i assumed it had come ready packed with grease - luckily i noticed it vibrating in the wing mirror so was
on the hard shoulder as it finally wobbled off!
|
|
|
SteveWalker
|
| posted on 5/10/09 at 07:43 PM |
|
|
I had a wheel fail on a new trailer too (the bearing was greased and correctly adjusted, as I did it!), but I was very lucky - although the entire
wheel and hub dispapeared somewhere into a farmer's field off the A34 near Oxford at 23:30 on a rainy night, my holiday breakdown insurance was
valid until midnight and I got it delivered to Manchester for free.
I went to where I had bought the hub units (Towsure) and made a fuss at the counter until I was putting off enough customers that the shop replaced
them with better units.
|
|
|
pewe
|
| posted on 6/10/09 at 04:10 PM |
|
|
Interesting about the bearing failures.
I noticed the old bearings I replaced had "Spain" marked on them.
The local bearing supplier supplied replacement SKF or Timekin (can't remember which).
At the time I thought they were expensive but if they last like others of those brands I've used in the past maybe they're a worthwhile
investment!
Cheers, Pewe
|
|
|
