changing the trailer leaf springs? whats next?

[smile0784]

Hi
Was staying up at bermagui and decided to launch at narooma for the day and head out for a visit to the island.
Fishing was crap couldn't get much bottom fish even tho we worked our way around the island so we trolled east for 2 hours towards the kink with no luck so trolled back. Anyways back to my point.
On drive back to bermagui i did the right side wheel bearing on the trailer. Lucky just made it in the drive. So i replaced the bearings so could fish next day. But noticed the disks are really rusted on right side but left is perfect and both springs are really rusted also

Im going to replace the disc on right side and both lots of springs.

Is there anything else that I should replace while i have boat off trailer?

Cheers ricki

[frozenpod]

New brake pads and possibly calipers depending on the condition.

[skronkman]

Springs and brake rotors always rust up and often look worse then they really are. Interesting that only one side was rusted up. With one brake rotor being rusted you may find that your brakes aren't working correctly and causing one of the calipers not to close on the rotor. When the brakes are working properly you will have shiny surfaces on the faces where the pads make contact. Even after they rust up, a bit of a tow and they will shine up again. Check the function of your brake setup. Correctly setting the tension on the override brake cable can be a bit of trial and error. Don't have it too tight or it will constantly put the brakes on when going over bumps, (when the springs compress the axle moves rearward and puts tension on the brake cable) heat them up and wear them down (also you'll notice it in your fuel costs when towing). It should be just tight enough that after a tow you can see the rotors have been shined up by the pads though. Correct setting is usually looser then you would think on the cable.

As I said the springs are always rusty on boat trailers, they are just raw steel, no galv. If they're just rusty and not actually reduced in thickness or broken they may be ok. You could ask at a trailer joint for their opinion.

You should probably do all your wheel bearings at one time, if one has gone then The other/s are likely in similar condition. there is nothing worse then being stuck on the side of the road without all the right tools, trying to do a wheel bearing when you really should be out fishing. I've done it twice, so preventative maintenance is my bible now. Once the inner race actually seized to the axle and had to be oxyed off, I had to leave my boat on the side of the road chained to a tree 200km away from my home for 2 days. It was nerve racking to say the least.

Check all the studs in the wheel hub too, if these are heavily rusted (also not galve) then they could potentially snap and you can lose a wheel while traveling.

Also, check your hubs are both galvanised hubs and not just regular steel trailer hubs. They'll still work ok but like your springs, they'll hate the salt water.

[Nude up]

You can buy galvanized springs you just need to put springs with more leafs in to compensate.i found my discs would rust on my last trailer but every year when I would repacked the wheel bearings I would knock the scale of with an angle grinder and they looked good. When I put new springs on a dunbier trailer I had years ago I covered them in spray grease right from the start
I would replace the brake cable just try to bend it they lose there flexibility they can rust from the inside out.