From Mary:
My friend and I were rolling down the interstate, our horses in the 2-horse bumper-hitch trailer in tow behind us, when a trucker in an 18-wheeler pulled alongside us flashing his lights and waving that something was wrong. We found a place to pull well off the travel lanes and learned that the tread was stripped from one back tire of the double-axle trailer, with smoke streaming behind us (but not visible from the truck cab.)
Skipping the long drama of both of us making many phone calls from the side of the road with two Thoroughbreds (thank you horses for being so calm and sweet,) finding a friend to transport the horses home, finding a place to take the trailer for repair … on Labor Day weekend … Among others, I called my brother, who is a master mechanic, although he lives far away and could not come himself. There was a suggestion that bad bearings and a locked hub had stopped the wheel from turning properly. I mentioned that I take my trailer in every year for a general maintenance check-up. “Do they remove the wheels, replace the grease and clean the wheel bearings?” my brother asked. My answer: “Uh.” Had he asked about re-flocking a saddle or vaccinating for West Nile, that I could have answered.
So here’s what I found out the hard way. Trailer wheel bearings should have at least a visual inspection more often than other maintenance is done to avoid a serious safety situation like the one my friend and I experienced. Wheel bearings support the weight of the trailer, while keeping the wheels turning smoothly. The essential grease can get gunky with use. In some cases, the grease can deteriorate more quickly in trailers not in use, with the accumulation of moisture. That can lead to full or partial lock-ups of a wheel hub while on the highway … and that in turn can cause loss of the wheel, or friction that can cause fire.
In my case the trucker that flagged us down saw we were close to being on fire – although, because of the wheel position, nothing was visible from the cab. My trailer hadn’t been used for about three months over the summer, but was used at least twice a month prior to that, including some dirt roads. We’ve had recent rains. It was a perfect storm for those darn wheel bearings to quit working just when we were rolling happily down the interstate.
Safety experts advise wheel bearing maintenance on a horse trailer at least annually, or every 20,000 miles, whichever comes first. But they also say that if a trailer hasn’t been used in a while, have a quick inspection done to avoid heading out with conditions that could cause dangerous problems on the road. So check your bearings and Go Eventing!
