Trailer running gear upgrade

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Hi Guys:
I spoke with Doug at Owens and $6400 price tag is beyond my budget given I just bought a new motor. He suggested I upgrade my running gear to Deesmax hubs, rotors and calipers. I think I am going in this direction. Question is where do I find temkin bearings? I looked on line and called two places but they seemed not to know specifics about boat trailer bearings . They were bearing companies not marine guys.

Do y'all have any tips? I got the skills to remove the running gear and install it. I don't have much experience bleeding brakes though.

 

[family affair]

Eastern marine sells Timken bearings.

 

[gw204]

The bearing numbers will be stamped on the inner race as shown here:

Any auto parts store should be able to cross reference those numbers and get you the Timken parts you want (if they have access to the brand).

 

[DennisG01]

Yeah, any marine store should have those Timken's. That shouldn't be hard, at all, to find. Just make sure you get the real Timken, and not some Chinese knock-offs. I recently saw on another forum that a guy found "Made in the USA" Timken at RockAuto. They couldn't tell him in advance if they would be, or not, but when he received them they were good.

Bleeding brakes... pretty easy once you've done it a few times. Possibly a daunting task the first time as it's an "unkown". There's special brake bleeders you can buy, but a simple way is that the MC can be pumped while another person controls the bleeder screw. It's a two man job (without buying anything special). BUT, any local mechanic shop (car shop) can bleed brakes and they should be able to do that for you - if you didn't want the hassle of doing it yourself.

 

[journeyman]

If you're going to bleed them manually, I've found it easiest to use the ball mount (removed from the receiver) locked into the coupler to pump the master cylinder. It is a 2 man job, but not hard. Some tubing pushed onto the bleed screw and routed to a jar will keep things less messy.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Thanks guys. I ordered the new running gear and switching to Deemax. I am splashing Saturday and doing the running gear work next week with an empty trailer. I am hoping up grading the hubs and brakes will go a long way to reducing my travel woes I seem to have annually going to Fla.

 

[Tmbrwuf]

Hey Bob,
Just ordered the two new integrated hub torsion axles with Kodiak stainless calipers and ceramic pads with stainless backs. Went ahead and got all new lines too while I'm at it. I got the order in around noon today, so it may be Monday before I get it delivered, possibly tomorrow, but very unlikely. I'll go ahead and get the old stuff off and be ready for it when it all gets here. I told the shop I needed them to keep the boat on the stands for a few more days. They were OK with it, in fact they were just calling me to let me know they were taking off early on tomorrow (Friday) for a long weekend anyway in case I was coming to pick her up. $1900 later, all may work out well. Boats are great, trailers suck...
Steve

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I would give a Nobel Prize for Boating Peace of mind to who ever invents the perfect hub and brakes for trailers.i would also give them a prize for LED lights that truly last 10,000 hours. I agree boats are cool but boat trailers suck !!! Lol

 

[Parthery]

I've had 3 trailers with Deemaxx brakes....no issues whatsoever. My current one has Kodiak's - only because Deemaxx was back ordered the week I put my order into Owens :grin:

Should help your tow....you replacing tires as well?

 

[DennisG01]

Bob, I don't know if any of this affects you, but I've worked in the marine business (part time, some full time) for almost 30 years and I've found the following to be generally true...

-- Trailers that don't get used very often have brake problems MUCH more often than trailers that are used on a regular basis. The "occasional trailerers" are the ones that usually have the issues. For trailers that don't get used often, you might consider spraying a light coat of Rustoleum over the rotor and caliper. Then, the next day, rotate the rotors about a 1/4 turn and respray the area that was missed. It's not super convenient, granted, but it helps to keep the corrosion away and the light coat of paint on the rotors will rub right off once the brakes are applied. It's not a "cure all", but it can help.

-- LED lights that are self grounding (the part that touches the trailer is supposed to ground to the trailer) lose contact over time and the light stops working. They should all have their own ground, attached with a short wire that are SS TEK screwed right to metal. Often times, the "self grounding" type can be disassembled and a grounding wire can be soldered/attached.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Parthary, last year I found load range D radials. They are doing well.

Dennis, you describe my trailer well. I use it to splash at the lake
The boat stays in a slip then when I go to Fla I grease her up and make the 1,800 mile round trip journey. Come home and it sits till we pull the boat out n the fall.

 

[wrxhoon]

Bob,

If you want trouble free trailering use Stainless steel rotors and calipers Kodiak or Deemax will do the trick . Galvanised hubs are fine as are any quality bearings made in USA or Japan, keep away from anything Chinese. Make sure you have S/S sleeves fitted on the axle stubs for the seals. Pack the bearings with marine grease, use B/buddies, again genuine not Chinese and fill up the hubs until the B/Buddy spring rocks, DON'T overfill as it may push the seal off. Bleeding is easier with a bleeding gun, buy one from your local auto shop. If you have electric actuator ( hydrastar, Dexter, etc) you don't need a bleed gun, one man job with the actuator doing the pumping for you. Bleed the caliper that is furthest away from the master fist and work your way to the closest last.
I don't know why you guys in USA have problems with submersible LEDS, I use Hella and they last the life of the trailer here. I run both cables ( Pos and Neg) to the front of the trailer in to the plug. We buy them here with 30' cables attached, water never gets in to corrode the cable and the cable is tinned marine cable.

Cheers from down under.