trailer spindle repair

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mickri

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When I bought my home a few years back the prior owner had left behind a very sturdy home built utility trailer. This afternoon I decided to check out the bearings, etc to see if it was worth getting the trailer registered and start using it. Jacked up the right side and the hub was very loose. I thought to myself looks like I got a bad bearing. Took it apart and the bearings were fine. The grease seal looked like it needed replacement but I didn't notice anything else that looked a miss except it looked like the grease seal had been rubbing on the spindle backing plate.
Jacked up the left side and everything seemed ok. Took the hub off. No problems with the bearings and the grease seal looked like it needed replacement also but had not been rubbing on the backing plate. Swapped the hubs side to side. The right side hub on the left spindle fit just fine and was not loose. But the left side hub now on the right spindle was loose and sloppy. What's up with that???
I looked at the spindles and discovered that they were slightly different in one place. The spindles have three bearing surfaces. One for the grease seal, one for the inner bearing and one for the outer bearing. The difference in the spindles is the length of the grease seal and inner bearing surfaces. The left side grease seal bearing surface is approximately 3/8" long whereas the right side grease seal bearing surface is approximately 1/8" long. And the inner bearing surfaces are different in length by the same amount with the right side being approximately 1/4" longer than the left side. The inner bearing fits up against the face of the grease seal. This is what keeps the hub in proper position on the spindle. There is no evidence of wear on the right side face. Looks like it was made that way.

I think that I can solve the problem by machining a spacer to increase the length of the grease seal surface and decrease the length of the inner bearing surface. I would think that this spacer would need to be a press fit. Or would it be ok if it should happen to rotate. The force of the inner bearing should hold it in place. I would of course slather this spacer with wheel bearing grease. Also how precise would the thickness of this spacer need to be.

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.trailer spindles.jpg
 
Sounds like you have a great plan. I would make the spacer a tight fit, so it does not rotate. Check the seal is riding 100% either on whats left of the seal surface, or the spacer. If not, I would get one of those repair sleeves, so the seal has a good surface to ride on.

Thickness precision? I don't see it as that critical, as long as the bearing nut fully engages the threads, and does not bottom out on the threads. So I would say you could be off by 1/4" or so, and still get good nut thread engagement. I would concentrate on the seal surface, over the thickness.
 
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Post a picture of the spindle. Something isn't right.
 
Going out of town early tomorrow morning. Won't be able to get any pictures until early next week. That is why I did the drawing. Yes something is not right. The spindles are welded to the axle and it looks like whoever build this trailer used two different spindles. But that doesn't seem right either because the grease seal surface on the right side spindle is not long enough for the grease seal to make contact. It's a big mystery is all I can say. I would rather focus on the repair than speculate on why or how the right spindle came to be the way it is.
The spacer would have to be fairly close to the correct width because it would determine where the load rests on the spindle. It the spacer is too thick that would place the load further out on the spindle. A repair sleeve is probably a good idea. Just don't know if it would stay in place with the spacer. I am thinking that I should make the spacer the same width as the left side. This would guaranty that the grease seal would ride totally on the spacer and not on the joint between the spindle and the spacer. That would place the load only about 1/8" further outboard

What material should I make the spacer out of?

Thanks for the suggestions
 
In making the spacer I am thinking about using a solid round bar and turn it between centers to the correct outside diameter. The bar would be say 6" long and I would only turn the last inch or so to the correct diameter. I would then use my steady rest to hold the outer end of the bar in place while I bore the inner diameter and face off the end of the bar. Next cut off the end of the bar close to length and finally face off the bar to the correct length.
I have never done something like this before so feel free to point out any errors in my thinking or a better way to make the spacer.
 
Sounds like a reasonable plan. I would make the i.d. a press fit. Either make yourself a tool to drive the ring on or heat it and slip it into place holding it for a few seconds until it cools enough to grab the spindle.
 
Spacers are best made, imo, by chucking a short piece and doing both the ID and OD in the same chucking. Face the part, generously radius or chamfer the end that will be on the inside next to the existing shoulder, or even bore the first 1/16" about +0.005 to assist getting in on straight. Then part it off. Stop before complete separation and put a 20° bevel on the OD to help get the seal on without messing up the lip. Sort of copy the other side as an example. Then complete the part off. If you don't want to change tools for the bevel, it can be filed on. Nothing too critical about it except smoothness, same as OD where the seal will ride.
 
It's just a stop for the bearing. It could be pinned on , shrink fit , or set screwed . It only matters there both the same width so the seals work and no slop when loading the bearings. They are taper bearings aren't they 1" I bet too. Normal small trailer . I've done many in my past . Even to the point of building from scratch , straight axles are pretty easy to take care of.
 
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