Broke a wheel

[MinivanFan]

FYI if your trailer starts to make a knocking sound while carrying a heavy load stop and check the studs on the hubs.

On our last trip bringing wood home we made a right hand turn about 3 o4 miles from home and got up to around 35 or 40. a little more then a mile from home we started to hear a knocking but since we were only a mile or so from our driveway we kept going. a few hunderd feet down the road the driver side wheel broke off and the left side of the trailer slammed agenst the road. we out dad slowed dowwn and stopped and we watched the wheel go flying into the woods along the road, luckly nobody was in the oncoming lane. luckly we had a small 2 1/2 ton jack in the van so we jacked up the trailer and managed to get the wheel back on with only two studs (the other three bkoke off). we were then able to limp the rast of the way home, stopping twice to retighten the lugnuts. this happened on probuly the worst part of the road since there was no real shoulder and we had to crawl at 5mph along a bend in the road where people usealy do 55.

after we drug the trailer a little more then 50 feet

the bolts that hit the ground

i really wish i took more pictures but i was busy keeping a eye of traffic and helping with the trailer.

Also, can anyone tell me what axle is on the trailer? i think it is a 4'' underslung axle but i'm not sure.

 

[Barnie]

looks like an easy fix to me, a couple of new wheel studs and two new u-bolts would do it.

 

[afblue]

Lady luck was on your side could have been far worse!!! Few studs, lug nuts and u bolts from trailer shop and be good to go. You have a full pic of the trailer to help ID the axle?

 

[Junkfxr]

Yep, looks like a 4" underslung, probably 3500lb. Are those two pieces of channel hanging down from under the bed attached to the axle in the last picture? Bump stops?

 

[sthomas77]

Make sure to check the bearings....they def could be damaged if the wheel was flopping around....

 

[Rookie1]

Wow your the posterboy for trailer maintenance. Glad you and everybody else are OK.

 

[MinivanFan]

Yep, looks like a 4" underslung, probably 3500lb. Are those two pieces of channel hanging down from under the bed attached to the axle in the last picture? Bump stops?

I forgot to mention that it is a tilt trailer, the bottom of the channel pieces are where the hinges are.

 

[MinivanFan]

here are two more pictures to help ID the axle. sorry about the terrible image quality

 

[triptester]

Just replace the studs and U-bolts, but most importantly scrape the mag wheels they are not designed to handle the trailer. The mag wheels often center the rim on the lug nuts and not on the hub center.

 

[trialanderror]

Just replace the studs and U-bolts, but most importantly scrape the mag wheels they are not designed to handle the trailer. The mag wheels often center the rim on the lug nuts and not on the hub center.

yup. i've never had an accident, but others have told me it's ok to use wheels as long as they 'bolt up'. I always laugh in their face when they shear all the lug bolts off...

"see dude, i told you there's a reason rims are machine so the hub carries the weight and NOT the studs...."

Like tripster said, only use wheels that fit correctly so the hub carries the weight. I can tell from the pic the studs are carrying the weight, the center hole in the rim is too big.... studs are only designed to keep the wheel on the hub.

 

[Mr. Firewood]

I have had more issues with aluminum wheels on trailers then you can shake a stick at, hell I dont even like aluminum wheels on my trucks,... nomater what they work the lugs loose

 

[Junkfxr]

Also, can anyone tell me what axle is on the trailer? i think it is a 4'' underslung axle but i'm not sure.

There might be a tag welded to the axle tube, usually near the center of the tube, that'll tell you the manufacturer and the weight rating. If there's no tag, you'll have to pull a hub off and measure the bearing fits on the spindle and match the sizes up to a bearing/spindle chart to see what the capacity of the axle is. Like triptester and trialanderror said, lose the aluminum wheels. If for no other reason, some day the trailer will "cheat a corner" a little too tight and drag a wheel against a rock or a curb and either crack it or break it, and it'll wait untill it's loaded to the gills before it does it. As long as there are aluminum wheels on the trailer, you'll have problems with them.

 

[wkpoor]

My uncle has a trailer about the same size and he to lost a wheel. Thats too much trailer for a single axle to carry a load of wood on. We use one that size tandem 2 3500's and can still overload it but never lost a wheel.