My Bad & Good News ! ><> Trailer

[Lucky_Phill]

Good news story.

A week or so ago I blew a set of bearings on the boat trailer and after a thought, figured it was my fault. Why ? Well, I purchased the trailer new about 3 years ago and the brake cable was galvanized.... that's OK, I suppose. So eventually it rusted and broke, so I replaced it with a stainless steel ( non-rusting ) cable. Unfortunately it appears that I tensioned the cable a tad too much and it did not release the brake callipers enough and the brakes remained on slightly, heating up the rotors when I drove it, thus cooking the grease and allowing the bearings to break, shit themselves !





So with the amount of damage caused to axle stub and sending detailed photos to trailer manufacturer, it was a new one to be made. So, order new one and manufacturer says a couple of days, all sweet. 8 days later, I pick up axle from other side of town, through 4,786,321 sets of lights. Good news is, I got one green light.... !

Get home and ready ( hook up ) to take boat etc down to workshop and notice axle looks different from old one. Yep..... completely different. To those that are aware, manufacturer supplied a straight axle... my original one is a gull wing type. No fit. Ring manufacturer... OH.. bugga ( no sorry ). Bring it back and I'll make new one, take a couple of days. So, it will be 6 trips in all for about 35 - 40 minutes each trip.




unfortunately, I am heading away for 10 days from Friday, so boat will sit wheel-less until I return.

The good news is I am still sane. ( apparently ) No idea why this shit happens to me and don't really care.


Shame on me for expecting a professional job from a professional, ><>



LP

[PixieAU]

Drop the wrong one in when you pick up the right one. Save two trips.

[2IC]

sorry Phill but thats so funny;D;D gezz it must be the weather I"m must be getting cabin fever

[Lucky_Phill]

Drop the wrong one in when you pick up the right one. Save two trips.

Manufacturer needs new ( wrong one ) to get accurate measurements from to make new( right ) one. OR he doesn't trust me to return new ( wrong ) one when I eventually pick up new ( right ) one. So two wrongs later, I may be right........ ?????

LP

[Humdinger]

Should have gone to active fab Phil
At least if they give you the wrong one its only a 5 minute drive

[Lucky_Phill]

Well Brett, you would have thought the manufacturer would have known what axle he put under my trailer, as when I rang , it was like I was his long lost buddy.

LP

[marto78]

On the bright side with a missing axle at least no one will pinch your boat while your away.

[propdinger]

See your problem is you think the guy who makes trailers for a living would know what goes in his products. it simply isn't the case these days that would be too hard to look at his parts list and make the right one first go. geez Phill you want way too much from people

[SunnyCoastMark]

Yeah................and.............No.
Hey Phil,
As you would be aware, there are many sizes and types of axles. Any larger volume manufacturer would use quite a few. I know when we get an order for a spare axle - wether the trailer is 1 year old or 10 years old - we have to check on what type/size/length - as you never know what people ordered with their trailer. (You can't always look it up quickly either).

So unless the question has been asked and answered and unless your photos showed the axle in it's entirety - It's not surpirising that they got it wrong.

Sounds as though they were remiss in not asking you the right questions........

Mark

[Lucky_Phill]

Should have gone to active fab Phil
At least if they give you the wrong one its only a 5 minute drive

Five minutes from where ?

Anyway, as per your suggestion, I took the old axle to Active.

No can do.......... do not do solid axles. Not with bend in them anyway. Active suggest I take it to ........... you guessed it.... original manufacturer.

Problem now is.... boat is sitting on hoist at workshop taking up their space and I have to take old axle back to other side of town tomorrow morning.

Then, I need to get axle back to workshop asap ( as soon as it is ready / made ) to free up workshop hoist.

I will be away down south from Friday.

So.... we have all up.

8 trips across town ( 2 of which I will have to pay a staff member to run around for me) and a trip there and back to Active, via workshop.

This is going to be the most expense axle in history.

.... phill shotguns a UDL, snorts out the bubbles, kicks the next door neighbours cat and fires a " colourful " email to another P.I.T.A. business.:wut:

LP

[netmaker]

bet you'll never over-tension a brake cable again...

[Lucky_Phill]

No intention to over tension, just I figure that is what happened. Could have been something completely different.

You see, it all comes back to the original. If the cable had been stainless to start with, it would never have rusted out in such a short space of time and I would not be making repairs.

Very similar to those $100,000 plus " well known " fibreglass boats, still using standard wire and not tin plated. for the sake of a few dollars. We won't go there. !!!


Anyway, Dave, hope to see some pics and story in the local rag soon from Sunday.

Cheers

[Spaniard_King]

Has phil checked to see if new stainless cable meets trailer Standards cause if it don't and Phil has accident.. Phil will no longer have just a boat problem :)

Stainless has no where near the strength of the Gal cable :)

[Cheech]

Don't say tat Garry, I have been running stainless every time I have needed to replace rusted out gal cables.

[Lucky_Phill]

Has phil checked to see if new stainless cable meets trailer Standards cause if it don't and Phil has accident.. Phil will no longer have just a boat problem :)

Stainless has no where near the strength of the Gal cable :)

Thanks Garry,

No I haven't checked... where would I do that ?

cheers

[Lucky_Phill]

checked it out here:-

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/Safety/Vehicle%20standards%20and%20modifications/Loads%20and%20towing/Safe%20towing/Safe_towing_guide.pdf

mentions AS standards for , chains, couplings, D shackles, brakes but no... cables. ?

I'll keep digging.

[netmaker]

Thanks Garry,

No I haven't checked... where would I do that ?

cheers

more than likely with the manufacturer:LMAO:

[Lucky_Phill]

Dug deeper...

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/vsb1/pdf/vsb01_June2009.pdf

still no " cable standards "....


You are on fire Dave... :)


LP

[netmaker]

thanks mate. reckon that sort of obscure information is only known to insurance companies and they guard it jealously until you want to make a claim...

[netmaker]

and whilst i think about it, i reckon you should be emailing your insurer and querying them. after all it will be them assessing any claim you have to make.

[Spaniard_King]

Insurance companies will be interested in the breaking strain of the original cable fitted. This is what you need to find out :) then mattch it up against the stainless one. What people dont realise is whe the gal one rusts and you don't replace it you are at risk of voiding insurance as well.

Do you think the Stainless cable will apply the same braking force as the Gal one???

At least you are doing something Phil

[Horse]

The problem is that stainless work hardens and fails without notice. Gal rusts out but a visual inspection will show up an issue. I put gal back on mine despite having 100s of meters of stainless on hand

[Lucky_Phill]

Do you think the Stainless cable will apply the same braking force as the Gal one???



No idea, hence my searching the Idiotnet.

This brings in all sorts of questions, hey ?

I told supplier of intended use of cable, and THEY still sold it to me... Duty of Care ?

I fitted it..... no qualifications ................... ?

Seeing a rust spot on a Gal cable, will obviously mean the integrity is not 100% as per new and as per the Standards ( if ever I can find them ), so does one replace the Gal cable at the first sign of rust / discolouration ?............... every few weeks ???????????????

If I ask the supplier of the S/S cable what the breaking strain is, do you believe they will know ???

How do I measure the breaking strain applied to the cable while under brakes with my vehicle.?

Does the integrity of the cable deminish when a 'd' shackle / clamp is applied and how much nm should be applied to the area where said shackle is attached, OR do I have to attach / clamp S/S cable with a swage ( spelling ). ..... ?

I am returning to manufacturer tomorrow morning and should be there until he kicks me out for asking all these questions. :'(( ::(

I will however, also enquire with my insurance company. I know they will say " the trailer should meet the requirement of the standards and be in roadworthy condition at all times. "........

Wonder if the Dynema Rope would be OK as a brake cable, at least it won't rust ?????8-))

cheers

[wags on the water]

Phill, if the bearing dia was the wrong size - smaller than spec - then that may well have caused the damage to the shaft we looked at. Stop blaming yourself.....

[Lovey80]

Does the integrity of the cable deminish when a 'd' shackle / clamp is applied and how much nm should be applied to the area where said shackle is attached, OR do I have to attach / clamp S/S cable with a swage ( spelling ). ..... ?

I am not sure the "integrity" of the cable is deminished as such but certainly the safe working load of SWR is reduced when clamps are applied. I have just had a quick look and can't find my calc's for an accurate answer. I may get back to you at a later date on that one.

But, after converting my second trailer to Durahubs (this one a double axle) I can't stress how highly I recommend using these instead of grease bearing systems.

The double axle trailer I just did was only done 12 months ago with new bearings, seals and bearing buddies. I religiously checked the seals and the bearing buddies got a regular pump each time I took the boat out and always allowed them to cool before I launched. 2 out of the four wheel bearings were completely stuffed (came out in 2 pieces when I took the hub off) and a third was not far behind.

The other trailer that I built that i installed Durahubs on two years ago, and has has many more KM on it were checked last weekend and the bearings still look like new. A quick look each side at the hubs tells me that I have never had salt water intrusion.

For further piece of mind with them though I would do what I did and spend the extra 70bucks and install a stainless speedy sleeve on each stub to ensure a silky smooth seal between the inner seal and the stub as the double lipped seals stay fixed to the hub and rotate on the stub(opposite to a grease marine seal).

It sure is a pain in the ass to set up but if done right is a hassle free system that IMO would have avoided all the trouble you are having now.

[Spaniard_King]

If you put thimbles through a d-shackle onto the brake leaver.. your quids in front .

[Dan5]

Mate i've just worked in the lifting gear wire rope industry.......Stainless wire as long as it's strand will be fine for your trailer brakes.....when i say strand i mean the construction should be 1x19......The galv would more than likely be 6x25.

Galv goes in 4 general tensile ratings.......1560gr..........1770gr...1960gr and 2070gr.......higher MPA the stronger you get the point.Very rare to get small diameters in higher tensiles.

WLL really have nothing to do with your application and you need to go off of MBL....minimum break load......
IF you buy your wire from a reputable lifting gear company like say Nobles,Bullivants or Unirig or similar they will have millcerts on hand from the manufacturer of the wire and its true batch tensile strength.(what it broke at)

Lets say you had 4mm 6x25 rhl 1560gr galv you would have had a MBL of around the 800kg mark give or take 5% for arguments sake.

Now lets put some 5mm S/S 316 strand 1x19 rhl........guess what around 800kg MBL......give or take 5%.......
So in a non lifting application and in your case go up 1mm in DIA for reletive strength in stainless.....strand not fswr(flexible steel wire rope)

Using compression fittings (ferrules) also further de-rates by a further 5% the MBL.


FWIW i use 4mm 1x19 s/s strand on my trailer.........so do many other people in Darwin,we used to sell proberbly 6-8 replacement s/s trailer brake cables a week due to the Galvanised ones rusting/breaking......
Stainless used as a standing rope.........as in not running through sheaves/pulleys will take along time to work harden......lots longer than galv will to corrode,

No matter what material used regular checks are ofcourse important......but you know that already thats how you found your problem and created a new one.

Dan