Trailer Spindle Pitting- usable?

[KCFinesse]

I have a 2 year old tandem trailer and am in the process of replacing bearings/hub assemblies. On my last hub I found four areas of pitting- two on the seal 'level', one on the corner between inner bearing and seal levels and one midway across the inner bearing level. All will catch a fingernail... I travel quite a bit but change bearing assemblies annually. Am I better off getting a new spindle or is this reasonable? 

 

On the picture, only the center pitting is visible, otherwise all four are pretty similar.

 

Thanks,

-Jared

Zoomed out for clarity on where issues are...

[slonezp]

I'm no mechanic, but I don't see the issue.

[KCFinesse]

12 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I'm no mechanic, but I don't see the issue.

Pictures really aren't showing up well... But the pits are about 1/8" x 1/16 and too deep to sand out...

 

I'm a little paranoid after seeing a couple bad bearing failures firsthand!

[cyclops2]

I have never seen so many scuffed / dull surfaces in my life. 

 

Yes I have. Long ago. WAY over tightened shaft nut.  There is a right way to adjust the bearing play. Was not done on that set.

[KCFinesse]

11 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

I have never seen so many scuffed / dull surfaces in my life. 

 

Yes I have. Long ago. WAY over tightened shaft nut.  There is a right way to adjust the bearing play. Was not done on that set.

 

I've been a bit disappointed in the spindles themselves... I've had small areas of light rust that I scotchbrite-ed off. Again, it's not an old trailer ?‍♂️.

 

This isn't my first time changing bearings, and this isn't my first trailer... As far as overtightening goes- I've always seated them tight and backed off the castle nut til the ease of hub rotation is reasonable.. I'd like to think I know what I'm doing (but according to my wife I can be wrong)...

[Deleted account]

If you are going to tow far and often, then replace the axle. If you are driving a short distance to the ramp here and there, it will be ok. The issue is that a bearing was left in there too long without proper maintenance, and now it will go through bearings faster than normal. With enough towing experience, you will be able to tell if there is an issue with the trailer by sound and feel.

[cyclops2]

Is there any chance the boat is too heavy for the trailer ?  Have you checked the weights of the trailer & boat ?

[KCFinesse]

18 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

Is there any chance the boat is too heavy for the trailer ?  Have you checked the weights of the trailer & boat ?

No chance- ranger 185 (18-1/2'), previously on a single axle, but now on a tandem... The trailer was made specifically for the boat by the trailer manufacturer.

[cyclops2]

Pass  Tapped out. Good luck with it.

[KCFinesse]

Just now, cyclops2 said:

Pass  Tapped out. Good luck with it.

 

This is why I wonder if the spindles themselves are bad ?‍♂️... The stainless really shouldnt rust unless there's a bad overheating problem, but the rust was on all four spindles to some extent and I have yet to throw a bearing...

[cyclops2]

I have a 1984 singl axle that sits in the field every year. I clean & repacked it 1 time. Did not need it.  The surfaces are original.  Why were they needing a Scrubbing If covered by grease ?  Plain steel does not rus if covered by grease............. Call & send those pictures to him. 

[Chris Catignani]

Since you do maintenace on your trailer yearly...I would bet that your issues are just water intrusion.

There is such a "fix" thats called a Speedi Sleeve (SKF)...it a wafer-thin stainless steel sleave you drive over the damaged spindle surface.

[slonezp]

If the spindle(s) in question have been serviced somewhat regularly, I wouldn't be too concerned. The wheels run on the bearing and the bearings run on the spindle. 

[Way2slow]

Those spinals are junk as bad as they are grooved.  I have to question if maybe you are over tightening the bearing.  What you are seeing is caused by the inner bearing race spinning on the spindle, instead of the bearings spinning on the inner race.  A common prevention of this in industrial applications is putting green Loctite on them when installing the bearing, however, that's not very practical on wheel bearings.  For one, they have to be clean with no oil on the surfaces, and two, a lot of times it takes heat to get them back off again. 

Another cause could be the poor-quality bearings and are not the proper size.  I just ran into this yesterday with a project I'm working on.  I ordered two cheap, ebay bearings and all they gave for an inside diameter was 45mm and outer diameter of 60mm.  I did the conversion and turned my shafts.  I guess a Chinese 45mm and 60mm are different than the rest of the world.  Both ID and OD were 0.0015" off.  Green Loctite time for those because it wouldn't take long for those shafts to look like your spindle's.  

By the way, I see someone mentioned using a speedy Sleeve, repair sleeve.  They are not designed for you situation.  They are for repairing a spindle the seal has cut a grove into and the grove has gotten to the point it won't let the seal, seal.  The only repair for those spindles in to either replace them or have a machine shop flash weld them and turn them back to specs.  That's usually more expensive than replacing the spindle.

[MickD]

13 hours ago, Way2slow said:

Those spinals are junk as bad as they are grooved. 

Yes, not pitting or more commonly called spalling.  I would call it scoring as Way2slow mentioned from bearing inner races spinning on the spindle.  I'm not sure how this can happen without the bearings being "locked up" with there being less torque needed to spin the inner races than it takes for the bearings to turn naturally as designed.  It could be that the bearing would lock periodically due to lube failure or inadequate lube causing the race to spin relative to the spindle. 

 

If this is true, you are very lucky to have not had a catastrophic failure already.  Regardless of the cause, it is definitely wrong; there is a serious problem.

 

I would take it to a trailer specialist and have it fixed right.  

 

  

[Kirtley Howe]

I would not trust those spindles to get me anywhere. My vote is to replace them now.

[VolFan]

If this trailer is really less than two years old than something is wrong and I would take it back where I got it. The bearing spinning on the spindle instead of around the races is a catastrophic failure and something is seriously wrong with something you’re doing or with the original parts.

[Catt]

In the aerospace industry it's called B.E.R. Beyond economic repair.

[Way2slow]

I think he said he had replaced the bearings a couple of times.  It doesn't take but one bad set where the inside diameter is as little as a half thousandth of an inch over size to cause the damage and once it has started, it's just going to get worse.  Just over tightening them one time can cause it.  Once the spindle has be reduced in size from the race spinning on it, every bearing you put on it is subject to spin on it.

There are tricks you can do, that might salvage it (like knurling them) but in the case of being on a trailer and it having to potential to cause a failure at a very inopportune time, it would be more prudent to replace the spindles.  They are not that expensive; the main cost is paying a shops labor to replace them.