Ifor williams wheel bearing problem.

[BasilSeal]

I've got next doors ifor williams cattle trailer here with three wheels on ATM, long story short, i borrowed it for shifting a big batch of cattle from one block of land to another so we could run two and the wheel fel off on the first load.

my friend had only just fitted a new hub and the bearings had collapsed in the new hub, so he goes for another one, seller swaps it for a replacement, fitted that, one load and it went again.

sp i've pulled it apart, i haven't got any photos as the camera is playing up so i'll try and describe it as best i can. the new hub is a modified part, the old on has tapered wheel bearings that go straight onto the hub shaft on the trailer and are loaded to the correct tightness by the end nut, as you do. the new type has some sort of sealed unit bearing in it which has a larger center than the hub shaft and requires a spacer with a collar on to fit on the shaft, the spacer fits over the shaft on the axle, and inside the wheel bearings on the hub and has a collar on it that gos on the outside 9wheel side0 of the bearings and the nut tightens up against that.

Now i've been told that these type of bearings aren't set like a taper roller, you bang up the hub nut ans tight as it will go and that's it, job done, but the spacer is about 1/4 of an inch shorter than the width of the bearing, so when you tighten the hub nut, you're trying to push the sleeve through the bearings rather than tighten it against the flange on the axle shaft, if that makes sense.

It was thinking that surely the spacer should surely be the same length as the combined width of the bearings, anyone have any experience of this type of bearing?

 

[Mike]

Are you putting the big washer on before the stake nut?

 

[BasilSeal]

there wasn't a washer on it, i've just stripped it after it's failed, it's supposedly been put together as instructed by the supplier. the nut is pushing onto the collar of the adapter sleeve rather than straight onto the bearing though

 

[Mike]

there wasn't a washer on it, i've just stripped it after it's failed, it's supposedly been put together as instructed by the supplier. the nut is pushing onto the collar of the adapter sleeve rather than straight onto the bearing though

That will be the problem, those spacers need to be fitted with the Stake nut and washer that comes in the kit
That trailer wont ever have had tapered bearings (These were the old Alko Hubs and can only be replaced with the same again) but an older and bigger sealed bearing for which a hub is no longer available, hence the adaptor kit.

 

[BasilSeal]

I've got the old hub here to so i could try and figure out how it was supposed to go, he took it off because the wheel studs had stripped and it has got taper bearings in it as far as i can see. well i've not really studied them but they appear to be tapered races inside the hub and the bearing centers come out like a normal taper bearing anyway.

i'd just found an ebay listing for that adapter and could see that the thick washer was missing from this one.

how does that spacer fit onto the shaft, they'd got it with the collar on the outside with the nut tightening onto the collar.

 

[Mike]

I've got the old hub here to so i could try and figure out how it was supposed to go, he took it off because the wheel studs had stripped and it has got taper bearings in it as far as i can see.

i'd just found an ebay listing for that adapter and could see that the thick washer was missing from this one.

how does that spacer fit onto the shaft, they'd got it with the collar at the front with the nut tightening onto the collar.

It will look like taper bearings because the bearing has come apart, but I'd nearly bet money it was a one piece sealed bearing
I would be fitting the spacer with the collar to the back anyway.

 

[BasilSeal]

It will look like taper bearings because the bearing has come apart, but I'd nearly bet money it was a one piece sealed bearing
I would be fitting the spacer with the collar to the back anyway.

Thanks for your help on this Mike, it look like the spacer has been put on the wrong way round, which in turn would mean that the drum is going too far on and binding against the back plate.

The guy who fetched the hub for my friend says the supplier told him to put the spacer in that way though, and had put the spacer into the bearings when he picked the hub 'so he couldn't get it wrong'

surely a trailer specialist wouldn't have made a simple mistake like that?

 

[Mike]

Thanks for your help on this Mike, it look like the spacer has been put on the wrong way round, which in turn would mean that the drum is going too far on and binding against the back plate.

The guy who fetched the hub for my friend says the supplier told him to put the spacer in that way though, and had put the spacer into the bearings when he picked the hub 'so he couldn't get it wrong'

surely a trailer specialist wouldn't have made a simple mistake like that?

Well it looks like he did!

 

[BasilSeal]

it does look like that doesn't it, i'll give them a ring tomorrow and see what i can make out. perhaps they don't deal with many trailers this old any more, it was made over 20 years ago i suppose.

 

[Mike]

it does look like that doesn't it, i'll give them a ring tomorrow and see what i can make out. perhaps they don't deal with many trailers this old any more, it was made over 20 years ago i suppose.

I would be letting the owner go back for hub number 3, (FOC) and make sure it goes on right this time.