Replacing trailer hub

Joker91
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Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:59 pm

I have decided to tackle the boat trailer hub replacement on my own tomorrow.

Never done it before, but watching a few videos on YouTube and they make it seem easy enough (I am sure that won’t be the case).

If anyone has any tips, please pass them on.

Just around the bearings, do you grease them before installing them? Or is it enough to just put it all together and pump the grease through it?

canned_tuna
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by canned_tuna » Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:10 pm

The bearings need to be "packed" before you install them otherwise you dont get grease between the bearings, only on the outside. It is a messy job so lots of rags, a bit of old fuel in a bucket to throw the old stuff in to give em a clean and use them as spares

Joker91
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:41 pm

I seen that in a couple of videos. Just a clump of grease in the palm and rake in the bearings yeah?

That’s a good idea! Is there any grease in particular you would recommend? Or are they all the same?

Nude up
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Nude up » Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:11 pm

Marine grease. You can purchase a tool to help you grease the bearings most car shops sell them but it is most important that you force the grease between the rollers not just wipe it around the outside. Wheel bearings are tapered if you hold the wheel bearing small diameter up then stroke the wheel bearing through the grease in the palm of your hand forcing the grease through the gap between the rollers. When you see grease come out the small dia end of the wheel bearing you rotate the wheel bearing in your grasp repeat until grease is extruded through all the rollers. If you have any issues pm me and I will call you

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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by purple5ive » Sat Oct 16, 2021 8:44 am

Here are some tips..

Absolutely make sure the wheel nuts are soaked in some sort of penetrative lubricant atleast a day prior to attempting the task.
Otherwise you will more than likely never get them off as they will be rusted without doubt..

Have a heat gun ready to heat the lug nuts if they still don't budge.

Make sure you get the right bearings, theres Ford and Holden types and sometimes a mix of both (inner and outer bearing will be two different models) to make things even more harder.
If your not sure what they are, remove the old ones and match the model numbers to the new ones.

Pack the bearings properly with marine waterproof grease. The hub also needs to be filled with grease, so buy enough grease.

Make sure you get marine dust seals, not normal road dust seals. They are very very important. Usually they come in a kit so that saves you the headache, but sometimes they have to be bought separately. The alko seals and bearings I found are really great.

Be prepared to take the old bearing off with an angle grinder as sometimes they can get stuck on the shaft due to poor maintenance. (I had to do this the first time I replaced bearings and I'll never forget that day lmao)

It gets extremely messy so make sure you have enough gloves and rags etc to tackle the mess.

Good luck...

Joker91
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:42 pm

Started the day off kicking goals. Old hub came off nice and easy, I sanded down the shaft so it was nice and smooth, packed the bearing properly with grease until it oozed out of the other end. All going well and then this!

The rubber seal does not go all the way to the back of the shaft. Not sure if it has to? I’ll pose a photo now.

Issue is, the way it sits now, if I turn the hub the rubber seal is sliding off as it’s not butted up against anything.

Joker91
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:49 pm

You can see the gap up to the steel tube
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Joker91
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:51 pm

And the birds eye view. Is it normal if it sits back like that? The bearing actually won’t go any further even if you tried.
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by purple5ive » Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:13 pm

Is the bearings on the right way?

Joker91
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Re: Replacing trailer hub

Post by Joker91 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:24 pm

It’s definitely on the right way :)

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