Have you Neglected your trailer?

[warthog5]

Got a job in to service this trailer... This is a High end welded alum trailer...A Yellowfin goes on it.
It's only used for Huricane evacuation. [Boat sits in a lift]
Well.. It blew the tread on one tire on the way to my house....But still held air....Lucky- Lucky !

It to me 6hrs to get the wheels off this trailer..... Say WHAT ?

Yes, It has alum mag wheels on it.... Note..... They are WHEEL's not freaking "RIM's" !

The lug nuts are those tin sheetmetal covered nuts. They have never been removed and antiseze installed on the threads. On each wheel [tandom trailer] 2 or 3 of the lug nuts had rust under the tin and caused it to expand....Thus causing a socket NOT to fit. Solution........ Remove the tin cover and drive a 3/4in 6 pt onto the nut under it. Some covers[lots of rust] came of easy.... Some did not. And THEN....There was this ONE..... The 3/4in socket rounded the nut.....

Heated the nut best I could with oxy/act. Welded a Grade 8 bolt to it..... Snapped that ***** off.
Played with my compressor.....Uped the high limit of preasure.... Its good for 175, but have turned it down to 150 since day one. Went up to 160.

Welded a 1/2in Grade 8 nut to it 4 times.... kept wringing it off....

More oxy/act heat on the nut....Welded another one on..... BINGO! It came off.

Now before you say...Pentrating fluid..... If you spary fluid "AT it" that does No good...It has to be ON the threads...and No way was it getting on the threads.... Heat breaks rust down quicker.

 

[afitzray]

I had a similar experience. After buying my project, I had to replace axles and cross members on the trailer before the boat could even move. The lug nuts were half rusted away similar to your issue but I had plenty of time and not a customer waiting on me. Multiple days of soaking with liquid wrench but then if the nuts started as 17mm they degraded so bad they were near round so I was hammering (and ruining) a 15mm socket onto what was left to break it loose. One might have needed a 14mm.

And the tires are still showing some dry rot but it never moves more than 2 miles so I haven’t replaced them yet but it’s on the list. I only need the trailer to haul out for hurricane season. Also had to totally replace the coupler.

 

[Efx]

Mag wheels are a mistake. Cheap lug nuts are junk also. I’ll take the steelies all day long. Good job with the welding, it has to be done.

 

[pelagic2530]

Had that experience on my old 1700 trailer. No lights, old tires, pretty much a piece of junk, but I needed to get it back from Delaware to Virginia.

I bought a spare tire for it ahead of time, then spent all day trying to make the lights work to no avail. About noon on the day of departure I decided that I should check the lug nuts, just to make sure they were free. Big mistake, should have STARTED there. All ten of them were frozen solid and so corroded that they rounded immediately. A few hours with a torch, penetrating fluid, and one of those impact rounded lug nut remover sockets, and I managed to get all but two of them on the left side wheel loose. Those ones were simply not going to budge.

With daylight fading and no working lights, I decided to hit the road with the mindset that “if one’s gonna blow, I hope it’s the right side one!” Pretty tense ride south, but I made it without issue. Ended up giving the old trailer to my neighbor, a retired mechanic who messed around with it for two days and I think ended up either replacing the studs or the whole hub.

The lug nuts on my new trailer get removed, anti-seized, and retightened at least twice a season now.

 

[1801Steve]

Let me guess Warthog... your customer wanted to know why his bill was so much!!!!

 

[warthog5]

Nope..... I actually worked on it 6hrs to get the wheels off...Charged him for 4hrs.
Bill was $1101.80 parts and Labor.... He paid me $1200.

 

[rfleming]

Got a job in to service this trailer... This is a High end welded alum trailer...A Yellowfin goes on it.
It's only used for Huricane evacuation. [Boat sits in a lift]
Well.. It blew the tread on one tire on the way to my house....But still held air....Lucky- Lucky !

It to me 6hrs to get the wheels off this trailer..... Say WHAT ?

Yes, It has alum mag wheels on it.... Note..... They are WHEEL's not freaking "RIM's" !

The lug nuts are those tin sheetmetal covered nuts. They have never been removed and antiseze installed on the threads. On each wheel [tandom trailer] 2 or 3 of the lug nuts had rust under the tin and caused it to expand....Thus causing a socket NOT to fit. Solution........ Remove the tin cover and drive a 3/4in 6 pt onto the nut under it. Some covers[lots of rust] came of easy.... Some did not. And THEN....There was this ONE..... The 3/4in socket rounded the nut.....

Heated the nut best I could with oxy/act. Welded a Grade 8 bolt to it..... Snapped that ***** off.
Played with my compressor.....Uped the high limit of preasure.... Its good for 175, but have turned it down to 150 since day one. Went up to 160.

Welded a 1/2in Grade 8 nut to it 4 times.... kept wringing it off....

More oxy/act heat on the nut....Welded another one on..... BINGO! It came off.

Now before you say...Pentrating fluid..... If you spary fluid "AT it" that does No good...It has to be ON the threads...and No way was it getting on the threads.... Heat breaks rust down quicker.

I think you did all the right things. Only one more suggestion that I could have made working for Caterpillar for more than 20 years as a diesel mechanic. On the second attempt to heating the nut would have douse a cup of cold water after heating. Sometimes this will cause the rust to shatter on the threads. Don't always help but it's a good, easy option to try when all else fails.

 

[SamR]

Maybe pop the hubs off and try the salt and vinegar trick next time? I’m always amazed at how that eats through rust like maggots on a wound. At the very least it would clean the up for more purchase.

Those rims less than helpful…

 

[GotChrist?]

Had that experience on my old 1700 trailer. No lights, old tires, pretty much a piece of junk, but I needed to get it back from Delaware to Virginia.

I bought a spare tire for it ahead of time, then spent all day trying to make the lights work to no avail. About noon on the day of departure I decided that I should check the lug nuts, just to make sure they were free. Big mistake, should have STARTED there. All ten of them were frozen solid and so corroded that they rounded immediately. A few hours with a torch, penetrating fluid, and one of those impact rounded lug nut remover sockets, and I managed to get all but two of them on the left side wheel loose. Those ones were simply not going to budge.

With daylight fading and no working lights, I decided to hit the road with the mindset that “if one’s gonna blow, I hope it’s the right side one!” Pretty tense ride south, but I made it without issue. Ended up giving the old trailer to my neighbor, a retired mechanic who messed around with it for two days and I think ended up either replacing the studs or the whole hub.

The lug nuts on my new trailer get removed, anti-seized, and retightened at least twice a season now.

After changing them, spray Fluid Film or CRC on them. They'll never corrode again. Mine come off with ease and don't have antiseize on them.

 

[Andy]

After changing them, spray Fluid Film or CRC on them. They'll never corrode again. Mine come off with ease and don't have antiseize on them.

Dittos on the Fluid Film!
I use it anywhere, I don't have to smell it! ☺