Hub rotor failure

This failure was not bearing related. It was sudden and catastrophic.

I had jacked the trailer up before leaving and inspected the wheels for play and drag. I am always inspecting and maintaining my trailer to avoid this exact situation.

There were no strange noises or loose parts.

As seen in the pictures the only thing holding the wheel on is the rotor/hub assembly so when the part separated the wheel came off.

There was some slight surface rust but nothing significant. I never exceeded 60mph on this trip and it was only about a 25 mile tow.

Luckily, I was able to have a friend meet me with the proper emergency parts from a boat trailer he had rebuilt and I was able to mend the axle to fit my spare tire rite there on the road. The spindle and races were undamaged so at least I didn’t have to replace the entire axle.

Was this a defective casting that just let go? Has anyone ever seen this type of failure?
How can I better inspect my wheels to prevent a similar occurrence?

My plan is to replace everything.

I am going to order better stainless steel rotors, new calipers/pads, bearings/seals. Nothing more fun than playing with grease and bearings in the hot July sun.

I dunno, when I look at it, it looks like brg failure, then trashed rotor. The nut holds the whole thing on, you could bust the rotor off with a hammer and shouldn't tell the difference unless you step on the brakes. If it happened instantly, then I wonder where's all the grease especially for the outer bearing.

Woody said:

I dunno, when I look at it, it looks like brg failure, then trashed rotor. The nut holds the whole thing on, you could bust the rotor off with a hammer and shouldn't tell the difference unless you step on the brakes. If it happened instantly, then I wonder where's all the grease especially for the outer bearing.

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This is the other side of the wheel. The inside ones are the tough ones to keep greased.

I had an inside bearing destroy the race and I had so sand the spindle flat on that wheel.

Did the heat stress the metal and weaken it? It got hot but not glowing catch the tire on fire red.

I was going to replace all the hub assemblies this winter. I figured I had no long trips planned and wouldn’t trailer more than 25 miles. So, surely it wouldn’t blow apart.

One other thing is that just before the wheel came off I had driven thru a construction zone with open seems and bumps with a realignment project.

I was Lucky my speed in that area as well as my immediate safe exit to a secondary road with big grassy shoulders.

Thank God that there was no traffic around me and my speed was only around 35 mph or so.

Someone could have been killed!

Here is a better Image showing the rotor separating. Note the fresh clean metal. The hub broke off inside of the race which is smooth and not damaged. The outside race is bent from the wheel coming off but smooth and not worn either. Most of the grease flew into the wheel well but there plenty of grease in there.

There is plenty I don’t know and need to learn. If this could have been bearing related then how?

How do you determine the life of a non warped integrated hub rotor? I look for obvious cracks after I pull them to clean and re pack the bearings. I don’t have an sonogram machine to look inside them.

Yes, the wheels were due for maintenance. I planned to replace everything during a cooler weather project. obviously that was a miscalculation.

The fact I went through the boat and trailer, only to have this happen, rattled me a bit. I jacked the trailer while it was on the truck to check the wheels. Hands on tire 9:00 and 3:00 also 12:00 and 6:00. I wiggled and turned the wheel but no grinding or loose movements side to side or in and out.


15 miles into the trip the only notable occurrence was a bumpy construction zone and one hard stop with merging jackass passing me on the right. Just after that a construction worker in a truck signaled to me there was a problem with my trailer and I was able to immediately exit to a safe place. My wheel came off just as I was about to make it to the grass away from the cars whizzing by. I pulled off then recovered my lost wheel and began the repair process. Huge pain which I do not wish to repeat.

I’d love to hear any suggestions or criticism of my analysis for this failure. Good or bad I just want to know what went wrong here.

Was there a hairline crack that opened up and broke when I hit the brakes? Why did the rotor break off in a clean circle? I have seen bearing failures before but there doesn’t seem to be any indication that there was friction.

am I a cheapskate using the rotors and hubs for too long? Do I just replace everything on a 5year schedule? I pack the bearings every 1-2 years depending on miles traveled. I keep positive pressure with the grease. I check for leaks and grease spray around the wheels.

The way this occurred really has me upset. Is this metal fatigue or a bearing failure? The previous spun bearing wasn’t that bad. Are you supposed to just replace the hub after that instead of only the race?

Id love to hear some opinions.

Woody said:

I dunno, when I look at it, it looks like brg failure, then trashed rotor. The nut holds the whole thing on, you could bust the rotor off with a hammer and shouldn't tell the difference unless you step on the brakes. If it happened instantly, then I wonder where's all the grease especially for the outer bearing.

Click to expand...

I agree the outside bearing is dry, failure dry, the way things are smeared around near the nut the outside bearing was gone for a while causing the death wobble taking everything else out.

dlvwill said:

I agree the outside bearing is dry, failure dry, the way things are smeared around near the nut the outside bearing was gone for a while causing the death wobble taking everything else out.

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Only problem with that is I recovered the bearings in one piece. Wouldn’t the bearings all come apart? Bearings were not destroyed. Rollers were still in the cage and moved freely. Dry yes but not seized up or coming apart.

why was the wheel firm before I left? No BS, I lifted the trailer and checked all the wheels. I’m not a weakling. I usually manhandle and break things. I couldn’t wiggle the wheel at all.

I believe that a crack formed in the hub which grew until the hub couldn’t take the torque from bumps and braking. Was the hub damaged from a previous spun bearing, maybe? Big bumps on the road then a hard stop and it let go. Bearings had to be a factor but again, wouldn’t they be destroyed?

Why did this happen at low speed during a short tow? How can the bearing take out the entire hub yet remain in one piece? I guess it doesn’t matter now. I’m replacing everything with new parts.

I have and have had many trailers throughout the years. I have had wheels seize, tires blow out, hubs destroyed, and axles break. Never had a hub and rotor break off like this one.

I guess there is a first time for everything.

Thank you for the replies.

I will follow up once the parts come in and I am able to inspect all the wheels. Maybe more than one will turn out bad.

A follow up as promised but not of me fixing the ShoreLandr for the SeaRay 205 sport.

After I ordered parts for the ShoreLandr I took a good look at the Whalers trailer. I don’t tow it far or fast but it did go from Fl to TN to VA in a short time span and has not had any bearing maintenance. This is what I found when I took the wheels off.

Blown seals! No damage, no play, I caught it in time, even though it would have waited until winter.

After my experience I’m not taking any chances.

I re-packed the bearings and hubs with new seals until I get new hubs and wheels in next year’s budget.




For the SeaRay, I ordered dexter/tie down engineering complete hub rotor kits for both axels.

Im not pleased with the rust out of the box on the bracket. In their (Dexter/tie down) defense, this was the worst kit of four and the other three brackets were clean, but still...

Kodiak non stainless were the same price but not assembled with races and greased bearings installed like the G5 tie downs.

My understanding of these non vented stainless tie down Rotor hubs it that, if the calipers are not properly aligned/shimmed, they eat brake pads. Lots of complaints which I have determined to be user error.

The complaints about getting stainless Kodiak calipers over the aluminum Tie down calipers seem to be that the cost return isn’t there on the stainless calipers and rotors with all the work of rebuilding them.

Just do yourself a favor and slap on new hub assemblies every five years. I did not and my results are posted public. I endangered the vehicles around me because I did a rush check on my wheel and said to myself “good job, I did a safety check”. Well, My safety check sucked!

I did not take enough time to remove a wheel to see better what was happening out of sight.

I did not pull a wheel and see the tell tale grease spray on the back of the tire.

I didn’t even stick a hand on the back of the hub to feel the blown out seal.

How does this happen in 19 months?

I greased the bearings and shook the wheels?

Well, I will answer my own questions.

It happens after using crappy single lip seal.

Automotive seals don’t wear well.

They don’t hold up to a marine environment for very long.

I really believe the damage that caused the failure wasn’t the bearing wearing and heating this time. It was last time, and the time before.

I cheaped out. I deferred maintenance until winter to avoid the heat but only got burned.

Don’t just roll the wheel for noise or run out.

Don’t shake and twist the wheel and think your arms produce torque like hard turns and brake load.

TAKE THE WHEELS OFF AND LOOK CLOSER!

Don’t be like me!

Don’t be that guy who thinks it’s fine if the hubs not hot.

Don’t wait to replace old parts when your eyes can’t see the hidden weaknesses.

If your bearings overheat, consider purchasing new hubs. Don’t endanger other drivers like I did. I was lucky, you may not be.

I also bought new tires and rims.

All told it is a little over a boat buck in parts.

The piece of mind while towing is priceless.

I will post back when I get around to the other trailer.

Uh, oh.......that trailer sure looks familiar!

I'm sorry you are having the trouble you are having. Here is the trailer history before you took ownership. The trailer bearings were removed, the bearings, washed out all old grease of unknown origin and re-packed with marine grease before we moved the Whaler to Florida......425 miles, then we towed the trailer back to Tennessee, washed the bearings again and re-packed the bearings and stored the trailer inside a metal building until we towed the trailer back to Fla to pick up the Whaler for you. Then another 425 miles ......a total of 1275 miles, all on fresh grease when you picked up the Whaler here in Tennessee.

Looks like you are taking the high road on the repairs and hopefully this will end your difficulties.



Frank

Are those Bearing Buddies? If so don't pump grease until grease extrudes from the seal or until the spring is fully compressed. Only put enough grease in to compress the spring about 50%. This allows the spring to compress further when the grease gets hot and expands rather than blow the seal out.
Or if the hub has standard dust caps never completely fill / pack with grease; pack only the bearings and leave the air space between the bearings.
From the school of hard knocks...

The outer bearing failed first. Perhaps due to improper preload, loss of the cap, and/or contamination. Once the outer bearing rollers wear down, the hub can “walk” outboard and chew up the washer. The rest of the damage is a consequence.

In the days when we had rear wheel drive cars I used to to do my front wheel bearings. I never saw rust in the assembly. Is it common for a boat trailer inner assembly to rust. We have a twin axel boat trailer for our jetboat and just had the trailer serviced cost was 900 CDN they did not mention any rust.

This is the other side of the wheel. The inside ones are the tough ones to keep greased.
Nope, not if you remove the hub once a year to clean and re-grease the bearings. Outer bearing failure led to this disaster

I would be more concerned with no movement than I would be with slight movement, as far as pulling on the tire goes. Tight bearings run at higher temps than slightly loose. 0 end play is fine, but cannot be differentiated from preloaded bearings on a hub with a tire and brakes hanging on it.

Just to follow up with a little feedback on the tie down engineering brakes I installed on my trailer.
If you look closely at the brake flange on the right side of the picture you can see a spot of cold galvanized paint. A small amount of material had to be removed from that part of the brake flange so the caliper bracket would align properly. This is the step most do it yourself installers do not take which leads to probably 90% of the complaints about pad life. These calipers are not just a bolt on installation. They MUST be properly aligned to function correctly and have a reasonable life expectancy of the pads.


I have put almost 500 miles on them and the pads are barley broken in. This is the mileage most claim to get out of these pads only to give a bad review. I really like how these brakes feel and stop. I expect many more miles before I replace the pads. I would give them five stars for functionality and two stars for ease of installation and directions.

I had a similar failure. I towed about 30 miles and had a tire blow and took out my fender. I limped one mile to a tire dealership and had 6 new tires put on. Had them inspect the hubs/rotors while they were there and got a green light. Drove the final 6 miles to the launch ramp and 1/2 mile before I got there one was glowing, smoking and grease free. stopped to let it cool and then took it directly to the ramp at a slower speed. Took the trailer and dumped it at the SAME tire place and asked them to replace the hub and check the other 5. I got 6 new hubs/bearings. These had all been put on in 2007, but we trailer the boat A LOT! I'm probably guilty of OVER greasing. The installer asked me how I grease my bearings and I told him once a year I greased the sure lube hub until new grease replaced the old grease. Then just a few pumps periodically throughout the season WHILE monitoring them at every stop with a thermometer. He suggested that might have blown out the back seal. He suggested just a squirt or two in each hub instead before each trip. I haven't moved it since it got home after Labor Day, but I'll follow his advice and see if I can get 13 years out of the next set of hubs. I'm also thinking I should replace ALL seals every 7 years or so.

I’m a retired mechanic with MANY years servicing trailer boat axles. The initial cause of hub/bearing failure is NOT lack of grease. The failure chain begins with water intrusion into the hub when the normally hot hub gets quenched as its dunked into the water. The airspace inside the hub cools and develops a vacuum causing water to get sucked in at the hub seal, around the cap, or around the EZ Lube rubber cap. Once we have water in the hub, it’s only a matter of time before the races and rollers get pitted from rust. Running on the road with pitted bearings causes excessive heat, cooks & boils the grease, and if ignored, wheel/hub separation.

The best defense IMO is authentic Bearing Buddies installed with a clean spindle seal surface along with a quality double-lip seal and a hub full of grease. The user needs to understand how to keep the piston carrying positive pressure and also how to properly and periodically add grease.

They are easy to maintain and offer the best insurance once they are properly installed.