Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft

   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #1  

AlanB

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
2,541
Location
Clarksville, TN, USA
Tractor
NH 1925
Working on my buddies 10K Dexter axle dual tandem trailer. He had the brakes done not long ago, and I think they left out that "fill with oil" part of the equation.

Lost right rear hub, and left front hub. Right rear came off and ground the stub about half off, any advice on replacing that stub or just changing the axle out?

The left front hub we have the retainer nut etc off and looking at the outer bearing (very cooked and missing rollers) we are assuming that the inner races are welded to the axle stub at this point. Brake shoes are backed in and not contacting drum and just broke large 3 Jaw puller (using hyd ram in it) trying to pull off drum assembly.

Next step is the 12 ton 3 leg hydraulic puller from Harbor freight then if that fails I think I will have to just slice / torch / plasma a level at a time till I can get to that race without demolishing the stub (I hope and it may be too late)

Anyone been here before with words of wisdom shy of telling him he should have checked the oil level?
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #2  
Sounds expensive.

Chris
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #3  
I think I would call out the brake repair place to replace the axles due to their inaccurate rebuild.
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #4  
I think I would call out the brake repair place to replace the axles due to their inaccurate rebuild.
I agree. If they messed it up on my trailer, they would be replacing the axles unless the stubs were easily removable.

Aaron Z
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #5  
Try an air chisel, and heat if needed. Try to split the bearing, you should be able to get a new stub shaft to weld on.

dave
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I doubt he will go back on the place that did the work, it is awful hard to "prove" at this point, we both just find it a little beyond belief that both axles went bad almost simultaneously.

Dr. Dave, we talked about the air chisel route, several of the rollers are already gone out of the outer bearing, but I am of the belief that it is primarily hung on the inner bearing. I wonder if I got the outer bearing off, if maybe I could reach through the hub to the inner?

Also thought about heating the hub and CO2 on the shaft to try and get it to pop loose, but sometimes that can be a problem on its own.

When you replace the stubs, do you grind it out of the tube and insert a new stub, or just face weld on a new one?

Chris :) almost my exact words, except I said "looks"
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #7  
You shop around, you might find a complete axle cap to cap is less than you might think and less work with better result than any other fix. A local dealer for Redneck Trailer Parts would be my first call.
Keep the good hub, drum and brakes for spares.
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #8  
I've replaced dozens of siezed wheel bearings on axles on semi trailers, a lot of them on the side of the road. Also more than a few stub axles on smaller trailers.
Air chisel won't touch them and can cause chips to fly off like bullets. BUT using a blunt punch can sometimes jar them loose.
Cutting races off that are welded are an art. With O/A or Plasma you have to cut just to the shaft and stop. Once the race is off you have to polish the burrs down so the new bearing will fit. You can also cut the inner race with a cut-off wheel splitting the race in one or two places and knocking it off, then de-burr.
With Stub axle replacement you cut/grind the weld off between stub and axle housing and remove the old stub. If the new stub fits tight it won't need aligning. If it needs aligning you tack it first. There are tricks to aligning too.
As for the frozen hub, put as much pressure on it as you can then try hitting where you can to jar it loose. Sometimes that works. If the hub still rotates then the only thing holding it should be the seal.
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft #9  
if it got hot enough to weld the bearing to the stub shaft, thats going to seriously affect the temper of the stub shaft so that even if you did get the old bearing off and rehab the shaft, i wouldnt want to use it.

new axles front rear, charge to the brake shop.
 
   / Trailer axle drum stuck bearings welded to stub shaft
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Got the hub off finally this evening. Long stroke air hammer and a couple of chisels later we knocked many of the outer bearing rollers into the center cavity. After that, the 12 ton hydraulic harbor freight 3 jaw puller (nice tool by the way for the money) and it was able to pull it on off. It did not pull it off prior to roller removal.

Think everything on that one will clean up with the obvious exclusion of the bearings seals etc.

Chainsaw cutoff wheel was coming out next, but glad we did not have to go there.

Back axle is just getting replaced. Looks like around $1300, probably go to Sikeston and pick one up from Redneck. No weld in spindles available for those in the Redneck catalog.

Thanks all.
 
 
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