Well folks, the other day I installed my new wheels, getting rid of some old rusty cheapos for some nice new aluminum bling... needed new tires and it wasnt much more. Anyhow, in the process I felt a problem, grease on the inside of the rim aka a blown rear seal.
I have been trying to no avail since last summer to find out what bearings these hubs took. First things first, this is the older hub, one with bolts instead of studs/lug nuts. I decided these are going goodbye as theyre a nightmare for doing maintance. Anyhow back to my story. I called tracker they told me they didnt know, I called other dealers and they didnt know. The only way to find out was to pull the whole hub. Today, I pulled the hubs to get measurements and order new hub assemblies, the entire package.
First I pulled the bearings out to look for numbers, these bearings must be originals because the numbers are gone. Thankfully I used to be a machinist and out came the dial calipers. This is a strait spindle, not tapered, both the same size bearing inner and outer. 1.063" is the inside diameter which cross references to bearing L44649.
If you have a trailstar near this age I would say Im pretty certain this is what you have as well. Now that my new ones are on the way I will order the single kit from BPS in the near future to get the carrying box as their replacement hub is these exact measurements. Ill keep it in my car incase of breakdown. Ive been left sitting in the middle of nowhere via a bearing failure and its not fun.
So... regardless of what trailer you have check your seals this spring, check your grease and if you need it rebuild your hubs. Its one of the easiest things to do there is and takes common hand tools. If you own a flat head screw driver, lug wrench and a hammer you can do this yourself very quickly.
Please note that my trailer doesnt have brakes but I wouldnt think that would be much harder just a few extra steps.
