www.iFourWinns.com

I think my entire bearing assy went kaput on the way home tonight.

Wheel is crooked and the bearing dust cap is non existent. Right now she's sitting in a parking lot I found on the way home. I tried adding more grease but she was smoking with an 1/8 mile. I pulled over in a HS parking lot and left it for the night.

Anyone got any tips on what the heck I can do?

- Can I remove the wheel and limp it to the nearest marine dealer? (can I tow under 35 mph that way)
- What type of repair shop does this type of repair?

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2005 Horizon 210, 5.7L Volvo

You can have it towed on a flatbed. You might get away with towing it yourself with the wheel off, but if you try it, make sure the other tire on that side is fully inflated and keep the speed low - that single tire will be under extreme stress.

Check around for a trailer shop, they'd be my first choice. Barring that, call U-Haul and see if they can work on it or give you a reference for someone who can. Assuming the bearings are ruined (sounds like it), make sure they replace the races and seal too; bearings and races should always be replaced as a set. Ask them to check the spindle for damage. For the future, these things aren't terribly hard to do yourself and the parts don't cost much - but it's good to have them on hand ahead of time.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Yep +1 to what Mike said once a year repack the bearings with new grease........MINUMUM!!!

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Ardy
Adelaide South Australia
Red H180 3.0 Merc

I have towing insurance on the water from BoatUS and you can add a rider that covers your trailer too, not a bad idea. But you have to get this fixed, a trailer shop should be able to do it no problem...I'd say flatbedding it is safest unless you can get a buddy who knows how to replace trailer bearings do the job right there. Is it on the brake axle or the one that just has the idler hubs on it? Idler hubs are simple, you can buy a new one complete with bearings and races at West Marine and then go to the champion trailers website and read the instructions on how to install it...it is really not hard...if it's the brake axle then you have to remove the brake caliper and take the disc off, you most likely will have to replace the races in the disc if the bearings failed.

I have the Tie Down super lube system that allows you to re-grease by pulling out the rubber plug in the dust cap and then you pump grease into the zerk fitting on the spindle, while spinning the jacked up wheel. You can see the old grease getting pushed out and can evaluate if it was water contaminated. If so then you dis-assemble and clean and repack...if not then you clean up the grease and replace the cap. Best system out there. I do not know what system FW uses on their trailers but manual packing is MESSY to say the least. I only get the trailer wet a few times a year (boat on a mooring) and have not had to take these bearings apart for 6 years so far....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Yeah, it was the braking tire so I can fudge with getting the disc off.

As of this morning I got the tire and assy off the spindle. I definitely looks like I damaged the spindle too. The edge is dinged up on the bottom side.

Right now I'm just trying to find the bearing kit for it. The outer bearing is in a ditch somewhere so I can't get a part number off of it. On top of that all the marine service shops are closed today which doesn't help my cause.

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2005 Horizon 210, 5.7L Volvo

You might try the Northern Tool and Equipment store on Merle Hay Road.
They have a lot of bearings, spindles, etc on hand.
Usually they can get the proper parts.

You can usually get bearings, etc at Napa auto. Is it a tapered spindle?

You could always pull the wheel off the other side, if push comes to shove, to get the number off the bearing.

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Got her done (was not fun). Picked up a new bearing kit from Northern Tool and put it all back together.

The spindle and inside of the hub looked pretty tough so I'm still going to have it checked out when I bring it in this week for winterization.

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2005 Horizon 210, 5.7L Volvo

Same thing happened to me a week ago.. Drove home on three wheels @ 15 mph. Took 2 hours to drive 20 miles. But got it all fixed and the rest of the bearings repacked. I would recommend using the metal caps, not the cheap rubber dust caps. Those have a tendency to fall off once they are wet, and I believe were designed to be used on buddy bearings.

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1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP