Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Almost got ugly today.


Bill_AirJunky

Recommended Posts

Went to Desert Aire this weekend in Central WA. Had a great Saturday riding with 3 boats full of foil riders. Good times guys.

Came home today, hooked my boat to tow it out to Lake Coeur d'Alene for a little practice session..... we have a ski show next Friday, showing off for the cities centennial celebration.

But anyway, drove to the freeway, got on the on ramp, look in my rearview mirror on the passenger side & there is smoke coming from the trailer tire. I stop off to the side of the on ramp, jump out & find the rear wheel cocked at an angle, like the lugnuts are gone. But looking closer & the wheel is still bolted to the brake rotor. So we jack the trailer up & remove the wheel. The hub cap is gone, and the hub itself is trashed, bearings & oil all over the inside of the wheel, tire trashed from rubbing on the frame. Lucky I wasn't going faster when it happened or I would have lost the wheel & fender, if not the boat too, or worse.

So we strapped the axle up to the frame & drove home on 3 wheels. Crazy, I've read about some of you guys doin it, but had never seen it myself. Brake never touched the ground in about 5 miles going 25 - 30 mph.

Guess I'll be tearing the brake & hub off the axle tomorrow to see what the damage is. Better go drop the boat in the lake first while the trailer still rolls. :Doh:

2012-09-16_14-33-58_466.jpg

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
Link to comment

Glad the damage is limited to the failed components. Mine came compleately off on the interstate this summer. Slight trailer damage (from the wheel comeing off) and a major delay getting home but that was all. The trailer tracked straight behind the Suburban (weight of the tow vehicle does make a differance). I am a pusher of transome straps for these days. Mine bounced around a bit when the wheel was making its way out from under the fender. I'm guessing things would have gotten real ugly without straps.

Have fun riding and showingoff for the city.

REW

Link to comment

Bill....good things happen to good folks who pay attention to what they are towing.. sooo could have been mucho worse...Bro in law managed a Les Schwab store in WA...you should see/hear some of the stories he has...fenders torn up and almost off, the steel belt thrashing around at 60-70 mph and damaging the gel coat, etc.

Glad to see/hear it was minor.

Link to comment

Yea, I've been pretty fortunate when it comes to the trailer. I read about the lessons everyone on here learns & hope to learn them myself without trashing things or costing a ton.

I talked to Bret at the dealership, who told me they pick up all their trailer parts at Six Roblees. I've bought golf cart stuff there too so I imagine I'll be visiting them again soon.

I'll limp the thing over to the ramp this evening & get the boat off the trailer. Then I'll pull the brake rotor & see how bad the damage is. The inside of the both the rear tires has been wearing. A buddy of mine suggested it might be a bent rear axle. But now I'm wondering if this is due to worn wheel bearings on both sides.

Link to comment

One of the things I worry about having the newer torsion bars on my tandem axle trailer...Not sure, but do they go with the torsion on the single axles too??

Edited by jkendallmsce
Link to comment

Wow. Glad to hear you caught it in time. I am sort of thinking I should pull my bearings this winter and swap them all out, or at least pull and inspect. I hate boat trailer wheel bearings.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Yea, brakes only on the back axle. It's an 05 Extreme. Not sure how the others are setup.

I do know that the truck stops better with the trailer & boat behind than without.

Only issue I'd ever had with it is that the trailer hops when the boat isn't on it, going down a steep hill. It's the brakes applying, and no weight on it so they lock up.

Link to comment

Only issue I'd ever had with it is that the trailer hops when the boat isn't on it, going down a steep hill. It's the brakes applying, and no weight on it so they lock up.

Ruffdog had the same issue and fixed it. You might ask him exactly what he did. I know he took apart the surge brake tongue assembly and monkeyed with it. His was so bad I tapped the brakes when a guy ran in front of me at the ramp and it hopped so violently the freaking guide posts jumped out of their holsters and fell on the ground! :lol: embaaaarrrrasssssing........ :blush: I was only going maybe 5mph with no boat on it.....

Link to comment

Ruffdog had the same issue and fixed it. You might ask him exactly what he did. I know he took apart the surge brake tongue assembly and monkeyed with it. His was so bad I tapped the brakes when a guy ran in front of me at the ramp and it hopped so violently the freaking guide posts jumped out of their holsters and fell on the ground! :lol: embaaaarrrrasssssing........ :blush: I was only going maybe 5mph with no boat on it.....

:rofl: :rofl: And you might have left that part out when you told me about it :lol: .

Edited by Ruffdog
  • Like 1
Link to comment

I still don't know if that part is fixed.... :) I forgot to test it at LBC.

But what I found is that the shock inside the actuator came unbolted from the mounting point. The bolt fell into my lap when I took it apart, but the bushing inside the shock mount was gone. When the new bushing came in I reassembled and bled the brakes but haven't tested it.

Edited by Ruffdog
Link to comment

Glad to hear you caught it in time Bill!

I just upgraded to disc brakes on my trailer and did new bearings on all four corners. It's so easy to replace and repack them we really should do it every couple years.

Link to comment

Got the boat off the trailer (back in the slip) & got to work on the trailer. Got the brake caliper loose & the cotter pin out of the axle (that in itself was a chore.... came out in like 4 pieces). The big axle nut is partially ground down by the rotor (from the wheel wobble after the bearings fell apart). I had to grind a little bit of metal off the nut to get a socket on it, but still couldn't get the axle nut off. Haven't even been able to budge it yet. So it's soaking in PB Blaster for now. I'll spray it a couple times between now & when I leave for work, maybe again at lunch, then try to get the axle nut off again tomorrow. If it still doesn't come off, I'm thinkin about the best way to either heat it or cut it off. I have a propane torch, not sure if that is hot enough to do the job.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
Link to comment

I think you might need to cut it. I would cut it until your almost through then use a chisel to split it. That away you don't damage threads but that's without seeing it to know for sure.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Once you cut partially through it you might be able to hit it with the socket again to "crack" it off. Do you have a good impact gun? Those are worth their weight in gold in a situation like this when you can't do any damage to the nut..

Link to comment

Hmmm, I do have an impact. So if I can get a socket on the nut really tight, maybe it'll spin. Also thinking about notching the nut & then trying to spin it with a hammer & chisel.

I've seen hot-air guns do wonders for frozen nuts, etc., of course along with using a good liquid penetrant and tapping for increased capillary action.

I use mine (2 speeds) for so many things. Might be worth getting one if you don't have, and trying it out. If if doesn't work, you can use it for alot of other things (shrink tubing, hot-temp scraping, drying out electronics, etc.) Mine came with several attachments making it even more handy.

Link to comment

I've seen hot-air guns do wonders for frozen nuts, etc., of course along with using a good liquid penetrant and tapping for increased capillary action.

I use mine (2 speeds) for so many things. Might be worth getting one if you don't have, and trying it out. If if doesn't work, you can use it for alot of other things (shrink tubing, hot-temp scraping, drying out electronics, etc.) Mine came with several attachments making it even more handy.

Your referring to a heat gun, right? I have a cheap Harbor Freight heat gun. Says it gets over 1000 degrees. Might have to try that first.

The issue is that the axle nut is ground down on 2 of the edges. The metal I had to remove is the burrs created in that process. So getting a socket to fit it may be interesting. Anyone recall what size that axle nut was?

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...