So, on my quest to make sure my trailer is efficient and safe, I decided to check out the spindle and bearing on my trailer's axle. Come to find out when I popped the bearing buddies off, the inside was full of mud looking grease and water, accompanied by fairly nice size shards of metal. Furthermore, it appears the spindles are pitted, presumable from the water that has been sitting in there. And finally, the back bearing would not come off until I sanded down the spindles to remove some of the pitting. The back bearing was where the larger shards of metal were resting as well. I accidentally dropped the back bearing (a few feet), and all the little rollers fell out. A few pictures are below...
Excuse my ignorance, as I was not ignoring this, but simply did not know better until reading up on these things recently with al the trailer talk happening on the forum. Good thing I caught it before something crazy happened on the road. Anyway, my questions are...
1. Is this a complete axle replacement job, or is this salvageable in any way shape or form?
2. The seal to the back bearing, that is presumably supposed to seal to the spindle to keep water out, seemed like it was able to rock around a lot (see pics), but the rubber ring around it was in tack. Is this normal? Is this a location to be concerned about water entering? Was the hub possibly mis-sized to the axle?
3. There were bearing buddies on the hubs. Obviously I never filled them because I did not know to until now. When I push them from the inside, they will go out, but they do not spring back in immediately. They seem to take their time resetting. Is this normal? I know they depend on suction to do their job, but it kind of feels like the spring should put them back to start position when off the hub. Are these re-usable, or do they need a replacing as well?
-Paul