Hi all,
I wanted to pass on some information on an experience I just had while repacking my wheel bearings for the first time on my 17B. I bought my trailer new in 2017 and after three years thought it prudent to check things.
Yesterday I pulled the brake drums off the trailer to service the wheel bearings and check the brakes for the first time since I purchased the trailer new. Passenger side was no problem. Drivers side took me about half an hour to get the spindle nut off the axle. When I finally got the nut off it was ruined and the axle threads were bad enough I couldn't get a nut back on. Turns out the axle threads were poorly done from the factory. Debris from the cutting of the axle threads wasn't cleared and when the spindle nut was put on it ran the debris into the axle threads. This happened at the Dexter factory I imagine. Not at Escape. Probably one in a million I hope.
Lucky for me I have the Escape Trailer Forum to turn to. And thanks for the sticky on the Dexter Axle Maintenance. I read that, went to the Dexter website and found the resources, then parts and then the Retainer Kit K71-622-00. I called a local company that services Dexter axles and they had the spindle nuts part number 006-191-00. Bought two of them for a little over $6. Asked the service guy what the threads were on the 600-8,000lb axles. He said 1 inch x 14 thread count. So, off I went to a machine shop supply store and I bought a CS Rethreading Hexagon Die RH Thread size: 1-14. Back home I cleaned the axle spindle and gently threaded the die on then recut the axle threads, repacked the wheel bearings and installed everything with a new spindle nut. If I hadn't been able to recut the axle threads I'd have been looking at a new axle.
Lesson learned here....check your trailer shortly after you first buy it. If I had done that it would have been a warranty issue. Three years later it's my issue. And I was extremely lucky in that the spindle nut was cranked on the bearing probably three turns too many. I'm surprised the bearing didn't burn up. Plus I was able to find the spindle nuts, rethreading die and get it all back together in a few hours. Otherwise this might have turned into a real big problem.
I want to thank all of you for the contributions you've made on this forum. It's made a world of difference for me in maintaining my trailer.