OEM trailer axle failure

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beechkingd
Chief Steward
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon May 13, 2019 3:41 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Central VA 1996 26x

OEM trailer axle failure

Post by beechkingd »

My `95 X trailer axle end cap plates rusted from the inside and snapped after hitting a pot hole. The actual axle beam was in great shape, but the plate that the trailer spindle was welded onto rusted from the inside. I think it was open from the bottom and was basically 3/4" inboard of the brake plate. It's not a place I would have thought to look at. Last year I'd done a tap test on many areas of the trailer and didn't see anything that scared me, I totally missed this one.

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Thankfully I was going slow around a tight corner, the fender held the weight and stopped it from doing anything more than cosmetic damage to the hull. I was able to get a new axle custom made by Champion trailers. It took for ever for them to actually ship out though so if you do order from them I would call frequently to check progress.

https://www.championtrailers.com/galvan ... e-over-85/

Hub face 88" Spring center 68"

The original axle was a 2X3 drop axle but the original spindle wasn't mounted on top of the axle tube so I went with the 2X2 tube since they weld it on top. It fit perfectly, the only thing lacking was brake line loops which I ended up attaching with some ziptie standoffs.

The other issue I had was the brake hose on my trailer rolled the threads when I unscrewed it from the fitting. It was a Male/Female 1/8" brake hose with standard 3/8" 24 threads and it was 24" long, should be easy to find right??? I could not find one locally but after scouring a few websites I was able to find a 20" long one that went on a 1971 Ford F100 that had the right fittings on it and one of the local chain parts stores had one in stock.
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Jimmyt
Admiral
Posts: 3166
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 9:52 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Mobile AL 2013 26M, 60 Etec

Re: OEM trailer axle failure

Post by Jimmyt »

Yikes! Glad you didn't have major damage!
BestMACSailor
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:04 pm

Re: OEM trailer axle failure

Post by BestMACSailor »

The OEM trailer seems to be sub standard
beechkingd
Chief Steward
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon May 13, 2019 3:41 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Central VA 1996 26x

Re: OEM trailer axle failure

Post by beechkingd »

BestMACSailor wrote: Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:10 pm The OEM trailer seems to be sub standard
It's 24 years old, so it certainly doesn't owe me anything, it could have been made better that's for sure. Of all the previous issues I've read about I hadn't read about this one.
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