What should I do to this wheel?

[Bogusdogs]

My trailer has 4 wheels that look like this from sitting out and the prior owner not ever using the trailer. What is the best remedy? Is there a treatment, or something to apply and then paint over? Thanks for any help.

[SilentSeven]

How far do you plan to tow? What type of brakes is the trailer fitted with?

If the wheels haven't been serviced and you have no history, I would minimally pull each hub, replace the inner wheel bearing seal and inspect/ repack the bearings. You'll also want to inspect the brakes...chances are that they are in equally poor shape. If they are drum, it's pretty sure the wheel cylinders are froze up and you'll need new ones. If disk, the calipers may be ok but you'll want to see if the pads froze to the disk. If you're lucky, a fluid flush will suffice. Start by seeing if there is any fluid in the master cylinder...

If you plan to tow some distance, you might want to get new tires as well. They dryrot when they get old and I would not want to go any distance on them.....

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[SilentSeven]

Oops...and I would just buy new rims to replace those...basic 14 inch chrome rims aren't that expensive.


Edit: Example

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[bturner]

Agree with all the above. Get the date code off the tires and see how old they are. If older than 4 years don't even bother with them and replace both the tires and wheels. Based on the size I'm assuming this is a tandem trailer so you'll need 4. I've had luck going out to a place like eTrailer, pricing the replacements then going locally to a place like Discount Tire and ask them to match the price. The last 2 times I did this they did it and changed them on the trailer for me as well.

The brakes as stated above need to be checked from front to rear. The quick health check of the system is going to be looking in the master cylinder fluid reservoir to see the condition of the fluid if there's any even there to check. I personally haven't seen a single 10 year old or greater trailer on a used boat I've looked at that had good brakes. Depending on your plans for the boat, if you have drums and you plan to keep the boat for a long period and the brakes are in poor condition it may be worth looking into a disc brake conversion. While drums have been around forever and work OK when properly adjusted they are just no comparison to disc for maintenance and performance.

[Bogusdogs]

Thanks for all the feedback . The trailer is a 2014 Extreme brand trailer and I recently got a spare wheel w/tire for it since it didn't have one...actually from Discount Tire. I wonder if I should just get 4 more of those. Pretty basic white powdercoat class C tire rated at about 1800 lbs on tandem trailer I think. I did have all the bearings re-packed and some other service done. I also had to add quite a bit of fluid to the reservoir and have not taken it out to test it yet. Pretty sure the brakes were not functioning prior because of the low brake fluid. I don't travel with it all that much, but trailers can be such a pain...and relatively cheap too.

[SilentSeven]

2014. It will have disk brakes for sure. If the hubs and seals are good (you do want a good inner grease seal otherwise the wheel bearing grease gets all over the brake disks and it's all bad), then you're minimally looking at a brake fluid flush and maybe a new front surge unit if the master cylinder seals are shot (due to old fluid / no fluid). When driving it...if the coupler bangs when you accel / stop it's likely got air in the system or a bad master cylinder.

Given how much it seems to have sat based on that one picture, tires are pretty tired and due for replacement and if you want it to look pretty, toss on some new shiny rims.

It's only money, right? :/

[Bogusdogs]

2014. It will have disk brakes for sure. If the hubs and seals are good (you do want a good inner grease seal otherwise the wheel bearing grease gets all over the brake disks and it's all bad), then you're minimally looking at a brake fluid flush and maybe a new front surge unit if the master cylinder seals are shot (due to old fluid / no fluid). When driving it...if the coupler bangs when you accel / stop it's likely got air in the system or a bad master cylinder.

Given how much it seems to have sat based on that one picture, tires are pretty tired and due for replacement and if you want it to look pretty, toss on some new shiny rims.

It's only money, right? :/

Thanks for the reply! Yes, it did bang forward and back, but the reservoir was dry. Once I added some fluid..pumped the brakes...and added more fluid, it felt better. But why was it dry??? No clue. All bearings have been repacked before storage and something else major was replaced that held the bearings. I just want some functional rims and tires. I am not too concerned about the "looks" so white or black or whatever. Just decent. I see them on Amazon, but no clue if they are functional on a tandem. Radial Class C...I suspect there is some standard.

[SilentSeven]

You can buy some chinesium trailer tires for cheap - such as these. They will rot out long before you ever wear them out. Unless you're towing cross country (think RV camping trailer on a National Parks tour trip), you don't need fancy trailer tires.

I'd buy chrome wheels over a painted ones. They last longer before they rust. And they look better. The ones I linked above should work...just check the hub measurement.

[bturner]

Thanks for the reply! Yes, it did bang forward and back, but the reservoir was dry. Once I added some fluid..pumped the brakes...and added more fluid, it felt better. But why was it dry??? No clue. All bearings have been repacked before storage and something else major was replaced that held the bearings. I just want some functional rims and tires. I am not too concerned about the "looks" so white or black or whatever. Just decent. I see them on Amazon, but no clue if they are functional on a tandem. Radial Class C...I suspect there is some standard.

Good chance the fluid went out a seal in the master cylinder or you could have a leaking caliper. Anything that moves with hydraulics has seals and seals go bad eventually. My first guess would be the master cylinder though as this is the part that takes the most abuse from the elements due to it's location. Based on the condition you've described at a minimum you'll need to flush the fluid and bleed the system. Once done you can start looking for leaks in the master cylinder and calipers. If you end up with one caliper leaking I typically recommend either rebuilding (which I stopped doing 10 years ago) or replacing all of them. If one of them is bad the rest are sure to be in a similar state. Also start checking temp on the hubs/wheels after towing to see if you have a hanging caliper. It's not that unusual for calipers to start hanging if they've sat for long periods of time. A thermal gun is great but just feeling them should give you an indication if any are warmer than the others. If you use the touch method don't just grab the wheel or hub as they can get really hot and it will burn you like a stove. I like to sneak up on them getting close but not touching them. It's OK for them to be warm to the touch after towing distance but they shouldn't be so hot that you can't touch them.

All these trailer maintenance/repair items are the stuff many buyers overlook or don't consider whey they look at or worse buy a used boat. It's easy to spend $500 - $1000 or more getting a trailer back in shape if it's been neglected by the PO. Wheels, tires, actuators, calipers and electrical repairs can add up quickly especially if you're not the one doing the work.

[Bogusdogs]

Thanks for all the info. Yes, so hard to see "inside" all the interworkings of anything. There is always a bit of trust and even then, they are telling you what they know, not what may be. Fortunately it is just a trailer that will nickel and dime you a bit I just wan to know if I am at the point where I get a 2nd hand trailer or get this one dialed in. It's not that bad, but stuff like this bugs me a lot. I think it was an "arm" that was replaced on one of the axels because it was metal against metal...maybe the bearings were blown through? I know that was HOT

Again, thanks for the feedback. Fortunately we don't haul very far or often, but still I don't want to stress if someone else is hauling it.

[SilentSeven]

..... Fortunately we don't haul very far or often, .

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I think this is your guideline. I look at the inconvenience factor...how big of a PITA would it be if I had a major roadside failure. If you're in town, no big deal. But if you're like me and can get 50 miles or more from a service location, then your risk tolerance is less.

Brakes...more of a safety thing. If you have a light boat, big truck and don't run on the highway, you can manage. But if any of those are not true, do us all a favor and get them serviced. It's prolly $600 to get a new coupler and the fluid flushed and bled. I bet your calipers are OK. Even if you get a different trailer, unless is has service history, you're likely going to spend some coin. Personally, I like good trailer brakes - I have had a few 'urgent'' highway stops and it always feels good to when you stop quickly and under control.

[Bogusdogs]

Totally agree...safety. We have a Ford Excursion and a SAN230...so heavy too. I don't care what the trailer looks like, but I do want it to function safely when driving...for your sake and mine . I will see how the additional fluid works and then when the boat is on the water, I will take the trailer in and have the brages gone through. The boat is stored literally 1 mile from where I launch it.