Thread: Assessing the damage

What happened? Bearings? What a mess.

You were lucky.....this happened to a friend of mine...he went out of control....the boat and trailer flipped and came off of the ball the boat came loose from the trailer and rolled and flipped across the road....his truck left the road and almost hit a tree. Truck was ok....boat and trailer totaled....all his rods were broken and his tackle was scattered all over the highway.

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Originally Posted by G";3629523]You were lucky.....this happened to a friend of mine...he went out of control....the boat and trailer flipped and came off of the ball the boat came loose from the trailer and rolled and flipped across the road....his truck left the road and almost hit a tree. Truck was ok....boat and trailer totaled....all his rods were broken and his tackle was scattered all over the highway.

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A great reason for why everyone should have boat insurance (agreed price, not blue book) with liability coverage as well as insuring your gear, electronics, rods, tackle etc.

I learned my lesson when a, well, let's just say a attentive driver failed to stop and ran into my little Sea Nymph buddy, its not much but I wouldn't want to buy it back. Good point on insurance.

Late to the party..in Elkhart In. is Axle inc. they will make an axle for you...as you might tell from the business name ,they got it all.
Had to do this to my wagon a few years ago. Was not too costly..I think less than 150.00.
Might give them a call, and it is not to far away from you.

Update:

I headed to Richfields Trailer Supply this morning and was in the lot when they unlocked the door. After filling them in on my dilemma
a salesman followed me out to the truck where I had my axle, bad hub, U bolts and trailer fender. They didn't have the exact same spindle and the closest was a different bearing size. I didn't want two different sized spindles so plan B was buy two that matched and have their place weld them on. This would have cost 115.00 per side plus 40.00 for the spindles. I didn't like that option either so plan C was a new axle, either a custom built that would take a while to get or a stock size that had to be cut down and a sleeve welded on to join it back together, neither of those sounded suitable to me.

I made a call to Gross Machine Shop in Westphalia and, after sending them a few pictures, they quoted me 60.00-100.00 to weld both sides and they could do it this week. This was something I could live with. So off I went to Westphalia with two new spindles and two new pre-loaded hubs. They didn't have my size U bolts or trailer fender. After dropping the axle off at Gross' I headed to B&W Auto Parts in Portland to have new U bolts made. Then it was home to have a little lunch and make a quick call to Steve. His relative sells trailer tires and I wanted to get a price from him. I picked Steve up and we headed to Leas Auto Body. Rods price was to good to turn down but I wanted to price the Goodyear Endurance before I committed. Come to find out they aren't made in my size so it was back to Charlotte to drop off my rims, the tires will be ready for pick up tomorrow. I went with an eight ply rather than the six ply thinking they'll hold up better to highway speeds.

Looks like I'll be back on the road by this weekend.

So, here I am, dog tired from all the running but feeling a whole lot better than I did at this time yesterday.

I got a call from Gross Machine Shop this morning informing me that my axle was done. Less than 24 hours, you can't beat that. When I picked it up and got the bill I was speechless. Not 60.00-100.00 like they estimated, the bill was 40.00. I couldn't be happier with the price and the welds look better than what was on it before. A quick stop at the Family Farm and Home for marine grade wheel bearing grease and a can of rustoleum and then home to start the assembly process.

I gave all the parts a coat of paint and moved them into the sun to dry while I ate a sandwich. Getting the axle into place went well, I used a floor jack and a couple of C clamps to keep things in place while I got the U bolts and nuts on and torqued down.

The hubs come pre assembled and the bearings pre packed but the hubs were dry so I added more grease to the hubs before I put them on the spindles. Flat washer, castle nut, cotter pin and bearing buddies completed assembly. Another shot of grease and slide the bra into place and this part of the job is done. Just need to put the fender back on.

I'm waiting on my new tires to get mounted, should be yet today. 72 hours and about 300.00 and I'm back on the road.

Best part is you found a good shop you trust! And now the rest of us do to.