Beached Roadside? Avoid Breakdowns with Regular Boat Trailer Service

Have good intentions with regard to boat trailer service, but fall short on the actual effort required to make the appointment? Boat trailer breakdowns are common, with 77% of roadside assistance calls for boat trailer breakdowns attributable to trailer maintenance issues. Don’t want to end up becoming part of those roadside statistics? Managing boat trailer breakdowns is all about preparation…

Avoiding the 3 Most-Common Trailer Breakdowns
Rushing onto the road with your boat and sticking your head in the sand in regards to maintenance could leave you beached roadside. To avoid the causes of most boat trailer roadside snafus, regular preventative maintenance is key:

1. Preventative Tire Maintenance
   43% of roadside assistance calls for boat trailer breakdowns are due to flat tires, which are easily prevented with an air pressure check, a quick eyeball for sidewall cracks caused by age and other tread irregularities such as separations and bubbles, and the occasional alignment and balancing of wheels and tires.
2. Preventative Wheel Bearing Maintenance
   22% of roadside assistance calls for boat trailer breakdowns are due to failed wheel bearings, which are easy to detect but commonly ignored. Watch for warning signs of neglected wheel bearings including hubs that are too hot to touch after hauling, noisy bearings, and sloppy, loose wheel play when the trailer is jacked up. When was the last time you checked or repacked your bearings?
3. Preventative Axle Maintenance
   12% of roadside assistance calls for boat trailer breakdowns are due to failed axles. This typically indicates long-term corrosion. If your boat trailer shows signs of rusted stains or bubbles beneath axle paint, your trailer needs TLC – and fast. You can verify the issue by tapping the axle lightly with a steel hammer. If it doesn’t ring, but thuds, it’s rotten. Once rust or ‘metal cancer’ has begun within the axle, replacement (potentially following a roadside trailer breakdown) is inevitable.

Boat Trailer Breakdown Despite Your Best Efforts?
Sometimes you follow all the rules of regular trailer maintenance, and you still end up roadside. When your trusty trailer toolkit isn’t enough to get you by, it pays to have the number of a trusted roadside repair service on-hand in the event of an emergency. If your boat trailer ends up miles from the creek and there’s no paddling or pushing your way back home, Ainsworth has you covered, servicing your vehicle roadside and sending you on your way to the water, or rescuing you from your roadside location for service at our local repair facility.

Boat trailer beached? Dig yourself out with the dependable and affordable emergency roadside service of Ainsworth Trailer Repair today.

This post was originally published at http://www.trailerrepairdenver.com/dont-get-burned-replacing-trailer-axle-spindles/

Boat Trailer Bearing Replacement: How Long Do They Last?

Putting off boat trailer wheel bearing replacement? If bearings fail, wheels can literally fall off the vehicle, and your boat will definitely go sailing off in the sunset… Just not quite the way you’d envisioned. Bearings should be greased, taken apart and serviced at least once per year. But that’s not a hard and fast rule. Maintenance and replacement needs will vary based on frequency of trailer use, wear-and-tear from water, mud, and road conditions, and how well you kept up with (or ignored) bearing service needs over the year.

How Do I Know When My Trailer Wheel Bearings Need Repacking/Replacement?

The bearings on your boat trailer reduce friction, allowing trailer wheels to spin freely about the axle. This takes a constant supply of lubrication – bearing grease – which must be regularly replaced to prevent damage. Luckily, your trailer will drop little hints when bearing issues are imminent. Are you ignoring these signs of worn wheel bearings?

●     Warm/Hot Hubs
Lack of lubrication can cause bearings to generate excessive heat. Carefully put your palm on the hub of each trailer tire. If it is too hot to comfortably handle or one is warmer than the other, this indicates the need for trailer bearing attention.

●     Noise
Grinding, clicking, and squeaking from trailer wheels often indicate a worn or defective wheel bearing in need of replacement – or the need to repack bearings with grease.

●     Grease in the Hub
When bearings seals go bad, grease can leak out and collect in the hub, and can even be blown into the fender.

●     Lost/Loose Dust Cap
Dust caps often come loose when issues with the bearing assembly exist, and should be replaced when bearings are serviced.

Grease the Wheels of Progress
Your boating time is sacred. Don’t spend your weekend stuck on the side of the road. Contact Ainsworth to schedule wheel bearing maintenance for your trailer today.

This post was originally published at http://www.trailerrepairdenver.com/boat-trailer-bearing-replacement-long-last/