Time to change the tire ??????

ouch.......

Gives a new meaning to the word "toast"...

Hahaha been there done that. Mine looked just like that too... axle nut offset to the center of the hub... oops. At least I made it home before we discovered it.

Good thing axles are cheap.

-DallanC

WOW !!

That's an understatement, Gelandangan.

When I first got a trailer for the kayaks I noticed that the hub got a little warm after towing a while. I asked some knowledgeable mechanics at work about it and they explained that the retaining nut for the bearing was overtightened. I followed their instructions and it's been running cool for years. While we were talking about it one of the machine operators overheard and said that overheating was "normal". He always CHANGED BEARINGS half way to the coast (after about 125 miles)... It was enlightening because he couldn't run his machine for crap either.

there was a whole container or bearing here,that came over by ship and had chatttered the whole way...ALL the bearings in container had worn and made noise from get go..... trailer bearings are a pain in my butt....our tandem had had new bearings twice over in 20 years...Ive got to stage now,if mechanic says its noisy..take it home, undo,fill it up with new grease,soin it a few times,do it up tight,try it...if quiet take back to mechanic for warrent of fitness...if still noisy or he not happy...whip whole hub off,scoot down to engineers and getthem to swap out for new bearings,then take hub back to mechanic and get warrent ticket and go home and refit it.... going into water WHILE its hot kills them...park the boat trailer for ten minutes before going down ramp if youve traveled any distance.

I've been a mechanic most of my life. I have seen my share of bearing failures. Most are due to a lack of lube, some have been too tight, a few are too loose. The best cure I have found is to clean all the grease out of the new bearings and replace it with a 50/50 mix of moly high speed grease and Hilton's Hyperlube (or STP oil treatment). That mix requires a preload on the bearings so you remove the slack and go another 1/8 turn and lock it in. Fill the dust cap with more of the goo and hammer it home. I have done that to a number of trailers and never had the hubs heat at all and I never had to repack the bearings. The front wheels on cars are done the same way (rear wheel drive) and the only time they have to be repacked is when you have to replace the brakes.

Grease dries out and leaves the bearings dry. This stuf gets a little warm and flows into the bearings keeping them well lubed and cool. Even towing the little trailer overloaded with concrete and cement blocks 20 NPH faster than the suggested speed for those little 8 inch wheels it NEVER got hot and I never had any problems with the bearings. I did manage to bend the tongue on that 300 mile trip but it didn't seem to hurt anything. I straightened it 15 years later when I sold it. I told the new owner how to grease the bearings in case he was going to as a preventative measure.

Check your dashboard gauges and lights for indications of low oil pressure or overheating. These conditions mean you should pull over and shut off the engine as soon as you can find a safe place to do so. On some cars, a yellow check engine light means investigate the problem and a red one means stop right now, Thank you!!