[Bywaters]

do you actually need all 4 wheels for the use that you are going for?
Why not just have one axle?

[chrismahon]

I did notice with our 4 wheel box trailer that the tyres scrubbed badly when making tight turns, so Bywaters has a good point, do you really need two axles? Perhaps just one in the position for best balance?
I can see that the missing backplate is going to need a whole new axle assembly, which is obviously going to be expensive.


No idea about the 'thing' sticking out Womble- sure ours didn't have that. I had to take all the hub/drum assemblies off to clean the rust off the braking surface. The hub nut has to be torqued to a pretty high figure and I had to buy a new wrench to do it. It was also 42mm A/F and needed a new socket (also used on Ducati rear axles apparently).

[Womble]

Hmmm, I might well not need both axles for my use, but honestly I don't fancy trying to explain that to a friendly policeman!

@Chris - this is a pre-1992 model trailer with taper bearings, rather than the sealed bearings yours has that require silly amounts of torque on the hub nut. The advantage of that is they're easier for user servicing (e.g. you don't need a bearing press). I suppose the disadvantage is that they need regular maintenance such as greasing, but I'm not really sure. Perhaps they stopped using them because they kept failing!?

I managed to find out that "the thing" is a "spirol pin", part number F1909S. It's quite literally a spiral spring pin, and I'm pretty sure it's "just" there to stop the hub washer from rotating and hence spinning the castle nut off.

This trailer was cheap because it had lost a wheel and cracked a hub, and I think that was actually *because* it sheared off the spirol pin. That will then have allowed the bearing to rotate the washer, the washer to put a torque on the castle nut, and the castle nut to fall off when the split pin also failed.

Overall, this trailer is a perfect example of what happens if you run a trailer for years and never maintain it. I can fix everything up and will enjoy learning in the process, but being honest, I do wonder if I should have bought a better one to begin with. Let's see how things pan out!

[doganjo]

Hmmm, I might well not need both axles for my use, but honestly I don't fancy trying to explain that to a friendly policeman!

Keep the u/s bits in the barn and if said bobby turns up tell him they were taken off for repair and you were just going to the mart to buy the bits you need when he turned up    It's a fun game 

[Womble]

Or just replace the bearings and put the wheels back on, thus hiding the absence of brakes..... which is the game the previous owners were (I think unwittingly) playing.