whitebuffalo you can always pack the wheel bearings with grease to prevent the lack of use rusting problems associated with the oil baths..

 

i talked to him today and he assured me they were regular trailer axles. i dont think he really understood what i was saying about the hubs. im hoping to go look tomorrow afternoon, but my granddad is in bad shape in the hospital so i might not be able to....ill keep y'all posted.

 

well....i went ahead and got it. they are regular trailer axles.....just with weird looking hubs. i havent gotten a chance to take it apart and see what it looks like on the inside. trailer is pretty decent, its older for sure, but pulls pretty good. the i beam construction is pretty beefy

 

Looks like it has a really long reach on the neck

 

i pulled one hub just for grins the other day. basically, theres 4 bolts holding the cover on (instead of prying off the cap thing). once inside, theres a large nut, then a washer type thing that has a keyed piece that fits into the axle itself (has a keyway), then another nut, then washer, then bearing. the bearings look beefy and pretty generic. SO.....i think it shoudl be all good. im going to repack all the bearings for piece of mind, but the one i pulled looked ok (knock on wood). i started painting it this week too, so hopefully it'll look a lot nicer by this time next week

oh yeah, picked up a couple of load range E tires to replace the dry rotted 1 tire and sidewall damaged other tire.

while crawling around underneath it also i found where at one point in time it was a triple axle. im not real sure where the lead axle ended up

double is all i need though

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE THAT TRAILER! It appears to me that it is very dangerous and too heavy to be safely used! PM me your address and I'll come down and 'dispose' of it for you, (I'm just being a nice guy because I don't want to see you get hurt!).



Seriously tho, nice find! Could you take a close up pic of those hubs and/or axles? I've never seen anything like what you're describing.

chaikwa.

 

hahaha. thanks for looking out for my interests

i am hoping to do the other hubs this weekend, so i will take some pics and post up. i've never seen any like this before either. it through me off not having a castle nut or cotter pin to hold the bearing nut from backing off......

hopefully by then it will look a little nicer with a coat of paint on it too

 

Thank you!

chaikwa.

 

i have a load trail 14,000 lb trailer with two 7k axles and they are oil bath. the trailer is two years old. made in texas

 

heres the pics of the bearing set up, as promised:

another pic of the hub


wheel off


cover removed


outside locking nut removed, showing slotted washer


inner nut


inner bearing


bare brake plate (looks pretty new! WIN!!)


idler hub set up was a little different, washer/spindle had a keyway, instead of flat side


the beauty of it is you can set your pre load a little more precise than with a castle nut. the downside is, i guess im screwed if i ever need a new drum.

 

Actually, if you ever need a new drum, you can just take your measurements, and probably buy one off the shelf.

I have seen and done hub end conversions several times, and you can get bearings to allow for a hub changeout, even on house trailer axles.

 

Thanks for the pics! I've never seen those caps before, but it look like a higher quality version of what they make now. Instead of pounding the cap on like they do now, they used to make a bolt on cap... I like it!

Everything else looks pretty standard.

chaikwa.

 

sweet. thanks y'all. i may at some point convert the idler axle to brakes, but we'll play it by ear. i've loaded it a few times but not real heavy yet. i did paint it black and replaced a few boards on it, so it looks a little nicer now. not too nice though, i dont want it to stand out from the rest of my junk