Motolug trailer. Wheel won’t come off

[austin]

I bought a 16 year old Motolug trailer from Tetley (Colin) - he of the many many airheads. Very rusty and cheap so I’ve been dismantling it to clean snd paint. It’ll be a nice thing when I’ve finished. But….

…one of the wheel nuts is rusted on very tight and despite days in plusgas, and a bit of heat it has started to turn the stud in the hub. I’ve tried hammering a socket onto the back of the stud- nope not enough to get a proper grip; tried turning over the edges of the stud to dig into the hub but it’s made from some very hard metal and won’t bend really. Grips pliers etc all hopeless. Any ideas before I take it to a workshop for a dab of weld and a go with their air gun.

I’m thinking /hoping the weld will be ok for reassembly with the wheel or is the hub going to be scrap? Never had to work on a trailer before so not sure how the things disassemble or which parts stay with the trailer and which are standard hub parts.

advice appreciated.

 

[Mervin]

I once cracked a stubborn sprocket nut i could not undo by drilling a hole as large as possible through from the side , then getting a cold chisel and splitting then nut

 

[austin]

I was going to use my new grinder to grind the nut away but access is limited due the shape of the wheel. Plus I would no doubt knacker the thread on the stud. Which I would like to save if I can. No access for drilling into nut, but a good idea.

 

[austin]

Sorted. Took it up to the garage I use. About 3minutes later it’s done: Two spot welds and whirr of the windy gun and it’s off. I offered a few quid which they refused so happy days.

all cleaned up now but it looks like the bearing is leaking grease out. I don’t know anything about these things but I assume it and or it’s bearing is replaceable.

 

[Lutin]

Hi Austin. There's probably thousands (ok, maybe a few) videos on the tube-of-you showing how to replace the bearings.

They'll no doubt be standard sizes and can be obtained from the likes of Simply Bearings or the Bearing Boys.

I see that you've discovered the joys of angle grinder ownership.

 

[austin]

Found some YouTube videos. Famous last words but it looks simple enough. I’m going to give it a go some time next week. Wish me luck. I’m shit at stuff like drifting out bearings.

 

[austin]

Wheel hubs done. . The inner races took some getting out and I did seek assistance at the tractor sales place up the road as they also flog various trailers and could get the bearings nice and quickly. They all went back together easily enough once I had the confidence to whack the drift properly hard.

Trailer is mostly done now. Fully dismantled, mostly De-rusted, fixings replaced with stainless, hubs done, paint discretely applied to mudguards and reflector brackets, red loctite on the pivot bolts (feck me they were tight to get off) and a front wheel chock/holder thingy on order from Motolug. It’s been a fun couple of weeks if a little more expensive than planned.
trailer before and after….

 

[Lutin]

Nice one Austin. A little trepidation goes a long way - if nothing else it might dissuade you from hitting "it" just one more time, if you see what I mean.

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

Looks fab Austin, well done [emoji106]

Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk

 

[Hudders]

Looking good Austin