Meatwagon
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
This is what I thought, a complete bolt on sealed system. My first thought when clicking on the link, that must be a torsion axle. Thanks for sharing
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Bearings and other Misc Trailer Maintenance
- Thread starter broski
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Dave I.
Escalante-Class Member
It is substantially cheaper if you do them yourself and not especially hard to do.
What you would need is the back plates (both left and right), If your hubs are the same dimensions, you can re-use them, wire and connections and a replacement, solid hitch to get ride of the surge hitch.
If you previously had disk brakes, you will need new hubs to match the brakes.
If you were to get the parts at your local NAPA, you are probably looking at <$500 for all the parts.
4 bolts and 1 axle nut on each side and the brakes are physically in place. Then the hitch and wiring which is 5 wires for most.
I would suggest you do to be on the safe side. I have had calls to the lake for both trailer and vehicle brake pads "fusing" to the brake drums for getting submersed while they are hot. Most cases, it is vehicles that launch the boat, then go park and set their parking brakes on the vehicle, but I have had a handful of trailer brakes that have done the same.
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Pretty similar to what you would do with a traditional hub. Jack the axle up and check for play in the wheel. If there is play, there is a castle nut to adjust. Not hard but hardly inspection and maintenance free.
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
I don’t.
I think it was about $1200. That was to switch out both axles from surge disc to electric drum. Also did the break away switch and battery and welded the tongue of the trailer so it no longer slides.
Ultrastrand
Member
I have vault on my trailer and it is 8 years old. I Don’t put a ton of mileage on it. Is this replacement something you could change out easy on side of road if I had one fail?
Coho975
Well-Known Member
Absolutely, once the wheel is off, it is only one bolt to pull the hub assembly, I forget the wrench size but I carry one in my truck with the spare hub. Just make a mark on the shaft so when you put the new one on the angle of the trailing arm is the same. If its been 8 years you may want to pull it, wire brush the splines and put a coat of grease on them, just so your not fighting them on the side of the road.
bobco
Well-Known Member
had vault hubs on my ranger. we did allot of miles every year. they lasted around the 5 year mark then inner seal started to leak. I was very happy with them and think it is a good system. Like Coho said you can buy a complete assembly and with 1 bolt swap out a spindle and hub. Not a fan of bearing buddys at all, people tend to overfill and blow out rear seal. Really like axles with spindle lube where it pushed grease from back out to front. I ditch the bearing buddys , service each year and put new solid dust hub on with a little sealant, never an issue.
bobco
Well-Known Member
did you ditch the brakes on your ranger and go electric? curious how you did that if you did?
Dane Coyle
Member
Does anybody know of a shop in Page that does a good job of servicing boat trailers.
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
It would be the same process and about half the price, but I haven’t done it yet.
The Malibu was at a spot that it needed about $500 worth of work to the surge system, so that made it easier to bite the bullet. Plus the fact a couple times on steep ramps (Glendo and Big Mac) it ended up pulling the Yukon XL part way down the ramp with the SUV tires locked up. So it was a much easier call.
That said, When the Ranger needs brake work, I’ll for sure make the swap.
Ryan -
When you are ready, we have a friend who did ours, he works part time from his home. He did a great job.
broski
Well-Known Member
I am hoping we can get an entirely new category for maintenance, etc., as there is SOOOO much already going on here already!
On the original WWs, we were really close to this before we had to move over, and we never finalized the plan, or moved it over to the new, stellar, website that Bart has built....
Topics could easy include
Brakes
Tires
Batteries
Solar
Plumbing
Hubs
Tires
Maintenance info and instructions
Topics could be endless, but hoping to get them in one place....
On the original WWs, we were really close to this before we had to move over, and we never finalized the plan, or moved it over to the new, stellar, website that Bart has built....
Topics could easy include
Brakes
Tires
Batteries
Solar
Plumbing
Hubs
Tires
Maintenance info and instructions
Topics could be endless, but hoping to get them in one place....
Lake Bum
Escalante-Class Member
The only way I have witnessed over the years to screw up a Bearing Buddy royally, is to come straight off of the highway, and dunk your boat straight into the cold water at the ramp. Going from hot/warmish to being quenched in cold water can cause water intrusion pretty quickly.
Most people never have this problem, mostly because of boat prep at the top of the ramp. But I've seen plenty of bass boats pull down with zero prep and do the dunk.
Most people never have this problem, mostly because of boat prep at the top of the ramp. But I've seen plenty of bass boats pull down with zero prep and do the dunk.
bobco
Well-Known Member
Rangers have the UFP and disc brakes on a torsion axle, at least the newer ones do. not sure how you change that system out to electric drums. I have seen an electric to hydraulic controller mounted on tongues which allow use of the disc brakes? I totally agreee surge brakes in the Mountians bad idea....
Ryan
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
The Malibu does have torsion axles and did have disc brakes. And I didn’t have to change them. Since I didnt DIY I’m not as familiar with what was done. I want to say it was about a 4 hour job.
I can send you photos if you want.
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