HF 1700# replacement hub = Tractor Supply 1 1/16"

[daveesl77]

As noted in my trip report, one of the hubs on my HF 1,720# trailer failed about 250 miles into the trip. It was NOT a bearing problem, but instead a mfg defect in the hub. Anyway, the camping gods were smiling and I found that the Tractor Supply 1 1/16 hub assembly works perfect with these axles. Cost at the TS store in the middle of nowhere was $54, so you might find them for less. Only weird part is the provided bearing cap doesn't fit well, so had to do some slight tapering on the cap rim to get them to start in the opening they then pounded in fine. I did pack the bearings when installed and then repacked all when we got to NY. They have now run an additional 2,500+ miles and absolutely no problems.

Today I'll be taking the failed assembly to HF and see if they wish to stand by their product or if I get to argue with them. I like HF and have used them for years, so hoping they act nice.

dave

[KCStudly]

How did the hub fail? Spun a bearing race, split in two, cracked...?

[daveesl77]

It was pretty weird. Near as we can figure, the actual cast metal of the hub began to disintegrate at the studs, this caused at least two studs to begin to wobble. They were still torqued properly to the nut, but a wobble began inside the stud hole of the hub. This then caused more studs to start to fail. The tire place we got it to spent over 20 minutes having to cut off the studs, but all 5 were still there. Oh, and the tire place refused to charge for their work said they'd seen a few of these like this over the years. We had them cut off the studs as we wanted to see what was happening between the wheel and the hub. You couldn't remove them by a wrench as the splines just tore out immediately. There are almost perfectly identical wear patterns on the old hub at each stud location. Also, I had personally torqued all lugs by hand and not with a gun. I had triple checked everything the day prior to this trip.

Once I got to NY I pulled down both wheels and repacked the bearings on both the remaining HF hub and the new TS hub, both were fine. Repeated this again today now that I'm home and yes they are fine.

The bearings were fine and no damage done at all to the spindle. It was just a failure of the casting of the hub. Went to HF today, they said they did not have any trailers in stock today, but should have some next week and will replace both the wheel and hub. That works for me, as it gives me a full spare.

Weirdest part of all this is that there was absolutely no indication prior to this that something was wrong. I was stopping every 75-100 miles to check the wheels, as I always do on a new trailer or bearing pack. No excess heat, no sign of tire wear. On that final stop, at about 250 miles, it was to get gas I did not need and was just lucky I saw the problem. I seriously doubt the trailer would have made another 10 miles.

I've been building cars and stuff for decades and while I've seen a few bearing and stud failures, I've never seen anything like this.

dave

[KCStudly]

Bad casting. Cautionary tale and a good reminder to the rest of us to be diligent about doing a walk around at every stop. Loosing a wheel could have resulted in a much bigger upset.

[daveesl77]

Yep, every time I stop I always put my hand on the tire, the wheel and the hub to check for heat. Look at the lug nuts and the tread. Check the chains and bounce on the receiver. Takes a few seconds and gives a lot of peace of mind.

Sorry we didn't get up to see you, but with it being the 4th coming up we realized it would be impossible to get camp sites, so we headed back home.

dave

[WizardOfOdds]

Thanks for sharing the details, it's an amazing story! If you still have the paper work, could you share the actual Tractor Supply SKU stock number of the hub you bought?? It could prove very valuable to a lot of people, but my experience has been you NEED the actual SKU. I got a replacement hub from HF, but have not yet tried it out. Here is the info from what they sent:

SKU: 1252163
Part Desg: 94564 hub
Changzhou Nanxizshu Tool Company

[daveesl77]

I'll have to check to see if I still have the TS stuff and if so will post the SKU. When I went to the TS store they had two different 5 bolt pattern hubs on the rack. One was 1 1/16" and the other was bigger, like maybe 1 1/4 or 1 1/2". I had brought in the HF hub and matched the bearing internal diameter to the 1 1/16". Assuming HF actually does honor the replacement, which I think they will since I immediately brought up the fact that this could be a DOT/Recall issue, then I'll have both a replacement wheel and hub.

dave