A CURLY QUESTION

[shakey55]

I recently bought a new boat (to me) and it is on a Tinka Trailer.

I decided to renew everything on the trailer, bearings, hubs, mechanical override brakes.

I replaced everything on the starboard side and not a problem, everything went on as it should.

Now the problem.

On the port side when putting everything together I could not do the castle nut up far enough to put the cotter pin in. It only missed by about half the thickness of the cotter pin.

I thought and tried everything and no luck. I talked to my local mechanic and he could not see what was wrong, so he suggests that I drill another hole in the axle. When I went to do this I found that the castle nut was softer than the axle so I extended the groove in the nut to accommodate the cotter pin.

So I take the boat to Botany Bay about 50 kms from my place. When I get there the bearing buddy on the port side has gone.

Got the boat home and took everything apart again and fitted it dry ( no grease ) and it fitted allowing me to put the cotter pin in any of the grooves. I also checked to see if the cones had been rammed home correctly, and they appear to be.

I was happy, everything back to normal. Pack with grease and bloody hell can't do castle nut up to get cotter pin in, other than the extended groove in castle nut.

Today I drive down the coast and after about 100 kms, bang a flat tyre on the port side. Get out and have a look, immediately see that the bearing buddy has gone again.

As I change the wheel I check to see if there is any wobble in the wheel and NONE.

It's a long shot, but has anyone heard of something like this before, what is the problem and why am I loosing bearing buddy on that side.

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[Ric001]

I know it might be a dumb question, but are the stub axles the same type and size? Have you compared the castle nut from both sides. Drilling the axle or extending the groove is dangerous practice and only used as an emergency fix to get you home.

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[Fab1]

I recently bought a new boat (to me) and it is on a Tinka Trailer.

I decided to renew everything on the trailer, bearings, hubs, mechanical override brakes.

I replaced everything on the starboard side and not a problem, everything went on as it should.

Now the problem.

On the port side when putting everything together I could not do the castle nut up far enough to put the cotter pin in. It only missed by about half the thickness of the cotter pin.

I thought and tried everything and no luck. I talked to my local mechanic and he could not see what was wrong, so he suggests that I drill another hole in the axle. When I went to do this I found that the castle nut was softer than the axle so I extended the groove in the nut to accommodate the cotter pin.

So I take the boat to Botany Bay about 50 kms from my place. When I get there the bearing buddy on the port side has gone.

Got the boat home and took everything apart again and fitted it dry ( no grease ) and it fitted allowing me to put the cotter pin in any of the grooves. I also checked to see if the cones had been rammed home correctly, and they appear to be.

I was happy, everything back to normal. Pack with grease and bloody hell can't do castle nut up to get cotter pin in, other than the extended groove in castle nut.

Today I drive down the coast and after about 100 kms, bang a flat tyre on the port side. Get out and have a look, immediately see that the bearing buddy has gone again.

As I change the wheel I check to see if there is any wobble in the wheel and NONE.

It's a long shot, but has anyone heard of something like this before, what is the problem and why am I loosing bearing buddy on that side.A simple trick to use when the castellated nuts slot doesn't align with the hole in the stub axle is to grind a little of the back of the castle nut away which will allow the nut to turn that little bit more aligning both the slot and hole to aid in installing the split pin.It's way easier than drilling through hardened steel like stub axles.I've put tested those hubs with dial indicators and verniers in the past that I've installed on horse floats to find slight variances in specs between identical pairs both in the inside bore dimensions and thicknesses.

Sometimes the reasons above cause a loose fitting buddy that can fall off on a trip.To aid the buddy in staying put get a punch and hammer little indentations all around the buddy's circumference where it fits into the hub.This will help grip the hub and help hold it on.Red loctite can be applied to the buddy also.As long as you've installed the hubs/bearings correctly and you have good clean threads on the spindle this should help.

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Edited December 25, 2015 by Fab1