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?

Frank

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

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

It won't be a problem at all unless the gouges are so deep that they
actually reduce the strength of the spindle. Gouges with extremely sharp
roots might lead to failure but it's unlikely that this type of damage would
occur from a bearing failure. A warm hub is normal. The heat you feel is
almost certainly coming from the tire not the hub. Feel the tread of the
tire as soon as you stop. It will be warm and the heat is being passed to
the hub via the wheel. Brakes will also generate heat that gets passed into
the hub. It's amazing to me how long clean well lubed bearings will last
and yet how little surface damage to the race and rollers it takes to
quickly distroy a bearing.
Quinton

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote in message
...
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?

Frank

It won't be a problem at all unless the gouges are so deep that they
actually reduce the strength of the spindle. Gouges with extremely sharp
roots might lead to failure but it's unlikely that this type of damage would
occur from a bearing failure. A warm hub is normal. The heat you feel is
almost certainly coming from the tire not the hub. Feel the tread of the
tire as soon as you stop. It will be warm and the heat is being passed to
the hub via the wheel. Brakes will also generate heat that gets passed into
the hub. It's amazing to me how long clean well lubed bearings will last
and yet how little surface damage to the race and rollers it takes to
quickly distroy a bearing.
Quinton

"Frank Taylor, Jr." wrote in message
...
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?

Frank