Frank Taylor, Jr. wrote:
I recently had one of the wheels on my trailer overheat after only about 4
miles of driving. As it turns out the one of the bearings has totally
disintegrated and a piece of the drum had broken off. I replace the drum
and the bearings.

Inspection of the spindle revealed that it was not bent but it did have a
few gouges on it. The new bearings and the new drum all fit on perfectly
and after about 25 miles of towing (with the boat on the trailer), the hub
was just barely warm.

My question is . . . are the gouges in the spindle going to cause a problem
or is it okay? I'm thinking that since the drum turns on the bearings and
not the spindle, it should be no problem but I want to be sure.

What do you all think?

I don't think it's definitely going to be a problem, but the potential
is certainly there. Remember, you're heat-forming the bearing race to
the spindle. Did it get barely warm on a freezing cold day?

A big factor is how heavily loaded the bearing is, and what the grease
capacity is of the whole assembly. If it's a normal size bearing under a
heavy boat, it could be worth fixing "all the way."

Fresh Breezes- Doug King