highway 280 skunk

[alantani]

highway 280 skunk - 6/4/14

lost a trailer tire this morning.  what a mess!



backed up and the tire fell off.  







scott showed up in 1 hour as promised, but said a flat bed would not work because the overall height would be over 15 feet, so he could not tow me.  



he removed the fender and chained up the axle, then i drove the rig to central valley marine.  



thank goodness for boat us towing insurance.  

[Shark Hunter]

It could have ended a lot worse boss. Glad everything is OK Now.

[johndtuttle]

Should have greased the bearings! 



Honestly, just happy it turned out safe for you. 

[Dominick]

Tough.  I'm sorry it happened.  I hope all is well now.  Dominick

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

i'm glad nobody got hurt...

[kmstorm64]

Did the axle go out?  Or just the tire.

[alantani]

bearings first, then the tire and brake caliper and finally the rim.

[Keta]

Is the spindle OK or are you going to have to replace the axel?

[alantani]

not sure. i will find out this week. 

[Jon Vadney]

I'm that good lookin guy on the left in the 3rd picture.     What was incredible was how fast the tire went from: normal  ---> "oh sh*t I'm smoking" ---> "OH SH*T I'M FALLING OFF".  It was maybe 20-30 seconds. 

[kmstorm64]

Does not take much.  On a special note about bearings, and heat, and I can't say how many bearings we replaced in Iraq that came into our shops that when we would pull a hub the standard Military General Automotive Artillery (GAA ) Grease would pour out of the bearings, it had liquified from the heat (GAA has a temp rating of around 250 degrees, if that gives you any idea of what those bearings were going through).  We did something not authorized and repacked them with synthetic bearing grease that was designed for 500+ degree temps.  Made a world of difference, we had no more bearing failures after that.  Since that timeI have repacked my truck, with synthetic grease for the same reason, not that I ever expect to be in that extreme, but you never know.

[Bryan Young]

Glad you are safe.  I heard that you had a fire truck honking their horn at you too.

[Keta]

I use Hydrotex grease.  When the mill I worked at changed to it the down time was greatly reduced

I have a habit of driving 5-10 miles then stopping to feel the hubs to see if it's getting hot, this helps keeping bad things like bearing failure from surprising you when driving down the road.  In the past, before spring loaded bearing caps, I serviced my bearings annually and just before a long trip.  With spring loaded bearing caps, always loaded with grease, I have found that biannually is probably too often but I still like to clean and inspect them every other year.

[crackerman]

I saved myself a lot of trailer axle trouble going to an oil bath bearing cap. No more lost bearings and they run much cooler. Plus you can check lube levels instantly through the clear cap.

[Dominick]

I saved myself a lot of trailer axle trouble going to an oil bath bearing cap. No more lost bearings and they run much cooler. Plus you can check lube levels instantly through the clear cap.

I never heard of oil bath bearing caps.  I went to Google.  Interesting.  I have changed my share of bearing over the years.  I don't have a boat anymore or I would move to oil bath bearing caps.

He Lee every 5-10 miles aren't you being a little anal considering you do the maintenance.  I used to get out and feel the hubs every 40-50 miles once I packed and replaced them.   Dominick