A simple word of warning ...

[Bazzawookooka]

18 months or so ago I had a concern about my trailer brakes when I found a loose calliper mounting bolt. Because it threads into a plate that is welded to the axle, I wanted it checked by a professional. I also had new disc/hubs, bearings and pads installed. My first warning sign was when I received a call saying my trailer was ready to pick up, when I specifically asked for a quote on the work. So, I was placed in the position of having to accept the work was done, and pay the ridiculous amount I was charged.

In the 18 months that followed I have used the boat about five times, so about 300km worth. That was until this week. I towed my rig to Rocky (from Brisbane) and fished with a mate for about four days. So now it's done about 1100km. I checked the temp of the hubs every 300km or so, and felt nothing out of the usual. On the return trip, outside of Rocky, the right wheel locks (fortunately at a very slow speed) because the calliper mounting bolt and sleeve have rattled loose and are gone. When we remove the wheel to sort out the calliper, the wheel bearings sound like a gravel pit.

Back to my mates place, pull the hubs, and to our surprise, the bearings are rooted. Seems that the trailer "specialists" couldn't tell that mine was a boat trailer, and fitted normal box trailer dust seals, instead of marine seals. So our guess is that salt water got in there on the first dip, and every one since. Also, it seems that no thread lock was applied to the calliper bolts, and one came loose, just as it had done before, prompting my visit to the "specialist".

To say I'm pissed is an understatement, not just because the shoddy work cost a fortune, but because of all the possible really bad outcomes that could have been. I have no problem saying that this rubbish work was performed by Sunshine Coast Trailers, located opposite the Ettamogah Pub, near the Caloundra turnoff.

As I said in the thread title - be warned !!!

Steve.

[Triple]

And what have they done to rectify this situation since you notified them of these issues?

[SHOOTER1]

Why do some professionals think it is o.k to take shortcuts. I have said in the past that if I wanted a s#ht job I would have done it myself but am finding that if I want it done properly diy. P#ss poor

[LittleSkipper]

Read & Understood Loud and Clear.


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[Bazzawookooka]

And what have they done to rectify this situation since you notified them of these issues?

Triple, I typed this thread about 15 minutes after I got home from Rocky this arvo. To be honest though, I don't know if I will bother contacting them because I'm not interested in getting into some BS discussion or excuses about why it isn't their fault or problem. That's why I simply posted a warning for others who are considering "professional" work. I'll certainly be more wary if there's a next time. Cheers, Steve.

[airlock]

I'd be tempted to name and shame, at least you avoided any tragedy, could have been really ugly at the wrong time. It might be worth firing off a few e-mails and phone calls, if you can prove they did the work then i would imagine it would be a pretty cut and dry case. least they should be doing is a full refund.

[wardy40]

I'm lucky, as are quite a lot of people on this site, to do most of my work myself. I just don't trust anyone to do the right thing. I just get sick of hearing about this sort of shite. Friends have had services done on there outboards only to have the low oil alarm go off a mile out from the harbour etc. Yes they should of checked the levels before heading out. It usually comes down to the apprentices doing work, but it is the tradesman's responsibility to check there work. How else are they going to learn. I could go on but I won't. Sorry to hear Steve.

[tropicrows]

Why should you have to check if the guy who serviced your boat, car, tralier etc has done the right thing. Is that not what you have paid them to do.... some people don't even know what the oil cap looks like, what are they meant to do. Employ someone to check the work they have just paid a qualified tradesman to do. I know where your coming from wardy. Sadly the service one gets today is generally very average from all trades. If you find a good service person hang onto them, treat them well, and they will do the same for you.

[Andy56]

I am sorry to hear of your experience, its one everyone dreads.
I have run a small business and tried to emply people with various rates of success. I had one young guy who put his foot through a ceiling and never told me. I got an irrate call from the customer after his return from overseas. I just didnt ask any questions put it straight to insurance.
I wouldnt have a clue who did your job, just saying sometimes its beyond the control of anyone. First point of call should have been the garage. You shouldnt have named the place UNLESS they fobbed you off, then I too would support you to name and shame.. The owner of the business could be a good guy too for all you know. You just dont have all the facts available.
I am not looking to call anything on your situation, just a cautionary aproach sometimes avoids a bigger disaster. Just because we are angry, doesnt entitle us to explode. ( oh yea, I have thrown tantrums too !)
You have my deepest sympathy, but just be carefull what you say in public until you have all the facts.

[swof63]

I am sorry to hear of your experience, its one everyone dreads.
I have run a small business and tried to emply people with various rates of success. I had one young guy who put his foot through a ceiling and never told me. I got an irrate call from the customer after his return from overseas. I just didnt ask any questions put it straight to insurance.
I wouldnt have a clue who did your job, just saying sometimes its beyond the control of anyone. First point of call should have been the garage. You shouldnt have named the place UNLESS they fobbed you off, then I too would support you to name and shame.. The owner of the business could be a good guy too for all you know. You just dont have all the facts available.
I am not looking to call anything on your situation, just a cautionary aproach sometimes avoids a bigger disaster. Just because we are angry, doesnt entitle us to explode. ( oh yea, I have thrown tantrums too !)
You have my deepest sympathy, but just be carefull what you say in public until you have all the facts.


Yeah sorry but no. If you put your hand out and take my money for products and services as an expert provider I have every reason to expect that any works and materials are of merchantable quality. If you as a contractor are unable to guarantee your employees are working to an acceptable level you must have processes in place to manage their quality and insulate the client from their errors.

I have no issue with the service provider being named as first response - why should we be expected to accept poor quality workmanship and give the provider right of rectification without recourse? Isn't that just propogating the squeaky wheel phenomenon and allowing vendors to think second try is acceptable?Poor quality workmanship in this instance has resulted in the OP having to repair their repairs and given the importance and possible consequences of wheel bearing failures at speed gives him a virtual obligation to let us all know of the quality of service we could experience from this vendor. Or would it be better to wait for a highway disaster to lend credibility to the OP's complaint.

Get it right the first time - no excuses.

[baitable]

Just a side note: I do all my own servicing on the trailer of a 3.5t boat and I'm seeing a couple of things to raise an eyebrow. The first is the use of auto seals- personally I think they seal better than marine seals. It's the preparation of the axle hub that is critical. If the axle hub is not prepared to a suitable level, doesn't matter if it's a auto or marine seal- it won't work. Secondly- if find it hard for a beating packed with grease or oil to implode on itself in such a short period. I'm guessing they didn't change out the inner race and bearings and maybe repacked the old ones? If a bearing is packed with grease, it will take a while for bearings to go. I'm not having a go, just raising some points of interest. I've been stuck on the side of a road myself hence why I do my own work annually!!! If you're going to name and shame I'd want to have all facts backed up by a report from a qualified source.


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[Fish Face]

Naming and shaming...mmm. I don't think it should be a first choice.
And I do think you do need to be a bit careful if you name and shame at all.. FF

[rtp1984]

Just a couple of thoughts.
18 months without a bearing inspection? And to have no temp issue on arival at rocky, to siezed leaving rocky? Something seems a bit odd.

Secondly, to have the same fault in the callipers, by 2 different , yet consecutive trailer workshops. Maybe there is a design fault, rather than a workmanship issue?

It it may be bad workmanship, but maybe there is something else as well?

[rtp1984]

Just a couple of thoughts.
18 months without a bearing inspection? And to have no temp issue on arival at rocky, to siezed leaving rocky? Something seems a bit odd.

Secondly, to have the same fault in the callipers, by 2 different , yet consecutive trailer workshops. Maybe there is a design fault, rather than a workmanship issue?

It it may be bad workmanship, but maybe there is something else as well?


Sorry, just realised not the bearing that seized, but I still don't think you can hold someone responsible for bearing condition 18 months later.

[baitable]

Exactly


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[Bremic]

Just a couple of thoughts.
18 months without a bearing inspection? And to have no temp issue on arival at rocky, to siezed leaving rocky? Something seems a bit odd.

Secondly, to have the same fault in the callipers, by 2 different , yet consecutive trailer workshops. Maybe there is a design fault, rather than a workmanship issue?

It it may be bad workmanship, but maybe there is something else as well?

I have to agree with this. If I am taking the boat further than an hour from home, I always jack it up and spin the wheels, listening for any noise indicating the bearings need attention. I do this a couple of days before departure to ensure I can repack/change them if required.

There bearings won't have crapped themselves during the four days they were in Rocky, they must have been less than perfect before you got there. Maybe I am pedantic(due to a similar bad experience), but I would have jacked the boat up again before leaving and given them another spin. Any hint of a rumble and I would have been taking the wheel off and having a look.

In my experience, it is naive to think you can leave boat trailer bearings for 18 months without looking at them and then expect to be able to jump in the car and head off on a 1200km trip.

[ric]

18 months or so ago I had a concern about my trailer brakes when I found a loose calliper mounting bolt. Because it threads into a plate that is welded to the axle, I wanted it checked by a professional. I also had new disc/hubs, bearings and pads installed. My first warning sign was when I received a call saying my trailer was ready to pick up, when I specifically asked for a quote on the work. So, I was placed in the position of having to accept the work was done, and pay the ridiculous amount I was charged.

In the 18 months that followed I have used the boat about five times, so about 300km worth. That was until this week. I towed my rig to Rocky (from Brisbane) and fished with a mate for about four days. So now it's done about 1100km. I checked the temp of the hubs every 300km or so, and felt nothing out of the usual. On the return trip, outside of Rocky, the right wheel locks (fortunately at a very slow speed) because the calliper mounting bolt and sleeve have rattled loose and are gone. When we remove the wheel to sort out the calliper, the wheel bearings sound like a gravel pit.

Back to my mates place, pull the hubs, and to our surprise, the bearings are rooted. Seems that the trailer "specialists" couldn't tell that mine was a boat trailer, and fitted normal box trailer dust seals, instead of marine seals. So our guess is that salt water got in there on the first dip, and every one since. Also, it seems that no thread lock was applied to the calliper bolts, and one came loose, just as it had done before, prompting my visit to the "specialist".

To say I'm pissed is an understatement, not just because the shoddy work cost a fortune, but because of all the possible really bad outcomes that could have been. I have no problem saying that this rubbish work was performed by Sunshine Coast Trailers, located opposite the Ettamogah Pub, near the Caloundra turnoff.

As I said in the thread title - be warned !!!

Steve.

1. Its only fair for the company who did the work to have a chance to rectify the situation if it is at all their fault.
2. How do you know it was shoddy work if you had to employ professionals to do the job?

[Bazzawookooka]

1. Its only fair for the company who did the work to have a chance to rectify the situation if it is at all their fault.
2. How do you know it was shoddy work if you had to employ professionals to do the job?

Ric, I'm trying not to see these questions as smart-arse remarks.

1. They were 700km away at the time, and I didn't have time to stuff around waiting for Monday morning.

2. My mate in Rocky is a qualified mechanic, so I took his word for it.

If you bothered to read the first post, the wayward calliper bolt was my main reason for having it seen to. I can do bearings, and in fact had to do the bearings in Rocky.

I respect that everyone has their own opinion on the situation, and has an idea of what they would have done in my place. I would appreciate the same leeway in accepting the actions I took.

[gunna]

Not the first time I have heard an indifferent report from that place. There is a really good brake/bearing/trailer bloke further down Steve Irwin Way that Smithy put me onto a couple years back. A search back through the posts will find him if you need more work done by a reliable expert.

[russ71]

Im for ya Bazza, nothing worse paying top dollar for a rushed job, these days it seems some professionals think your a lucky person for them to do work for you. Even if you did or do talk to them about it, you would get the normal response, " oh gee, that's no good, bring it down and we will have a looksy for you" they don't understand the stress and anxiety you have gone through.
Gone are the days of good tradesmen imho. if they cant do it in a rush, they just cant do it.

I do 95% of all my own maintenance, and always spin the wheels prior to any trip just so I feel warm and fussy.

Cheers
Russ

[gazza2006au]

i'm very surprised standard non submersible bearing kits lasted u 18 months on a marine trailer, i see your point of not checking them before a 1100km trip for me thats only a trip from Sydney to the Victoria boarder and back piece of piss maybe we are just more relaxed about our bearing conditions?

i haven't towed a trailer of any sort motor bike,boat,car,box trailers with rusty bearings and haven't heard the grinding from the drivers seat and im half deaf not really but my hearing is impaired, usually u can hear the grind travel up thru the draw bar into the towbar, bearings will hang on a little while, while making the grinding noise

i guess if your a frequent tower once or twice a week it could creep up on you and u wouldn't notice it untill your on the side of the highway

using your mirrors is a good way of checking your wheels if your bearings are shot when u hit small bumps keep an eye on each wheel in the side mirrors you'll see it wobble,you can also hear a loose wheel as it wobbles when u hit bumps

back to that bolt that came loose maybe the mechanic did use loctite but the amount of heat from the brakes has burnt the loctite? all u need to do to release a bolt that has been loctited is to heat it up, brakes get bloody hot!

maybe it's time u invest in a 1/2" drive torque wrench and install high tensile bolts to there maximum torque setting?

im trying to picture your welded mounts and how your calipers are bolted on i know the weld on mounts but trying to picture it,could u possible run a bolt right thru it and install a metal locking nut on the other side?

[ranmar850]

The caliper bolts are actually sliders--the calipers move back and forward on them as they operate. This makes them very prone to loosening off, as the calipers will rattle on them over so slightly (or a bloody lot on corrugations)--it is not as though they are hard bolting the calipers in place. I've lost a couple on bad roads over the years, just something you have to get to get the 16mm ring spanner on , on a regular basis. I always have a spare bolt and sleeve in the toolbox.

I would argue about the plain seals being superior to marine seals in a marine application--why would they bother to do a different design if it was not for a purpose. I replaced all four seals and bearings on the boat a few years back, and had to use a plain seal on one axle as there wasn't four marine ones available--12 months later, guess what, inner bearing on the plain sealed axle was stuffed from water ingess, other three were fine. The marine seals are made to have a lot of grease pumped in via the bearing buddies after the original packing job, and use the grease sitting on the labyrinth seal to keep the water out. Push a lot of grease into a conventional seal and you stuff it and let the water in, simple as that. And I do long distance towing, heavily loaded.

And as for people thinking they can monitor the state of their bearings by listening for grinding noises as they drive, and thinking absence of said noise means things are OK--I hope I never have to share road space with you and any trailer you own, because you are a menace.

[ashh]

pew pew pew shots fired!

[rayken1938]

Amazing how retrospect brings out the advice /criticism,
To my mind there is no excuse for using standard seals instead of marine seals,
I would respectfully suggest the use of an oil filled hub such as a dura hub I use a mixture of molybond and sae90 gear oil in mine and think that if a seal were to let go the presence of the molybond would still protect the bearing.
When I installed my dura hubs over 5 years ago I had to install a stainless sleeve on one side of the axle as the surface was grooved as the result of water ingress and subsequent bearing failure.
To check for a seal failure you just have to walk around the trailer and check for oil stains on the rims.
I do aprox 25k a year towing my trailer and immerse nearly every time when launching and only check the bearings once a year when I pay my rego by jacking up and checking for side play and noise
I have had the wheels off once to replace the tyres.
Apart from that still running on original 5 year old bearings and never had to adjust the bearings..
Re the loose caliper bolts mate had same issue with his horse float and Alco supplied longer bolts with nylock lock nuts which could be a solution.
Cheers
Ray

[Fed]

I guess a lot depends on the terminology.

In the olden days I've had hairy felt seals, single lips seals, double lip seals, fitted speedi sleeves and now marine seals that don't rotate with the hub.

Did the fitted dust seals have a hairy felt running surface, that wouldn't be good.

I doubt anyone would convert it to marine seals (fixed) or fit speedi sleeves unless it was specifically asked for.

[ericcs]

while there is no substitute for poor workmanship, surely after 18 months and at least a couple of bearing checks in between, you would notice whether it had marine seals or standard dust seals, as they are noticeably different?

[baitable]

Wow there are a lot of people on here who have obviously never changed a set of bearings before... Rather than criticizing ignorance, I'm happy to teach anyone who wants a lesson in bearing changes. My rule of thumb is to change bearings every 12 months. I run a durahub setup with oil filled hubs and it works a treat. After proper prep of the hub it has never leaked a drop of oil. The critical part of the system is actually rubber grommets sealing against the axle spindle. Everyone is moaning about differences between the retaining collar keeping the grommets in place. If you change and look after your bearings you will rarely have an issue. Capiche?


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[baitable]

Cliffs notes: prepare your axle spindle and doesn't matter what system u use.


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[odes20]

To be honest, as a tradie, I would be very annoyed if someone went public to defame me without any opportunity to fix a mistake, failure, or at least have the chance to review the situation. Quality service is about resolving conflicts as well, and I for one would at least hope for some communication from a customer, in such circumstances.

Name and shame should be a resort in the end but never at the beginning.

[hainsofast]

To be honest, as a tradie, I would be very annoyed if someone went public to defame me without any opportunity to fix a mistake, failure, or at least have the chance to review the situation. Quality service is about resolving conflicts as well, and I for one would at least hope for some communication from a customer, in such circumstances.

Name and shame should be a resort in the end but never at the beginning. got to agree somewhat here, everyone makes mistakes, it is how you adress that mistake is what makes the difference, I recently had some work done on one of my toys, work was not completed properly, contacted person, and apart from the inconvienience of having to go back there, couldn't have been happier with the way the oversight was dealt with and this is from a very reputable tradesman in their chosen field.