So you've driven to far and ruined your.......

spindle or axle. We had a caliper sieze up on us, our bearing overheated and we ruined our spindle on our axle. Now, we have an 04 X-Star and the trailer Mastercraft runs with is super hard to get parts for. If you call the dealer they will charge you $740 to replace the entire axle (and that's just for the part). Here is the deal, the spindle is not replaceble on the Mastercraft axles and on many other boat trailers for that matter. The manufacturer of the axle makes them this way so that when you break it they can sell you a whole new axle and make lots a money. All the trailer places we went to all tried to scare us as well and tried to sell us a new axle, saying that the whole thing needs to be replaced. Here's the tip in case this happens to you- don't buy a new axle, there are companies that repare spindles. They are extremely hard to find as is in our case but it saved us big $$. The dealerships will most likely tell you this is not safe or the right way to fix this problem. They're dead wrong. Spindles are fixed all the time for Semi trucks, tractors, and lots of farm and agricultural equipment. I think that if it's safe for them, it should be safe for our little boat trailer. Anyway, I'm located in Socal, so if this happens to you shoot me a PM. Happy boating!

To be honest.... If I had a '04 X-star and the bearings failed you better believe my boat would be sitting in front of the MC dealership with a note attached saying fix my %&*#. That should be a warranty issue, especially for an MC (since they make/spec their own trailers).

Thanks for the info, though. There are a lot of people out there with boats no longer covered by warranty.

This is a prime reason why I:
1)Bought an after-market trailer instead of the MC branded trailer and
2)Bought a triple-axle for my X-45

I'm sure a tandem is rated for the weight but even at 55-60 mph if you hit a decent bump it puts a ton of stress on the axles and suspension. Spend a little more up front with a bigger boat and avoid issues later.

Evan ~ you best believe it!


FIX MY #$%^&^!!!!

Rachel:

I doubt that the trailer manufacturer had the intention to make additional money by selling axels. I have no doubt, however, that they would try to save a few bucks by using a cheaper axel with non-replaceable spindles.

If you ever need any trailer parts, my best recommendation is Champion Trailers:

http://www.championtrailers.com/spdlubax.html#spindlub

You could have bought a brand new axel for about $140.

Are you kidding me............ Fix it right and forget about it. You have an 04 XStar and you are complaining about $750 bucks!!

I will let you know there is a big difference between a class 8 spindle and a 3500# trailer spindle. And that's about 4" in diameter. I would never even think about repairing, replacing, etc, a spindle that is under 2" in diameter. Don't even get me started on the long term effect the excess heat might have on the metallurgic properties of the repaired spindle.

Buy the replacement axle and fix it right. Tires, wheels, bearing, axles, brakes, and the like are not parts you should skimp on. The few hundred you save today could cost you thousands in the future, not to mention endanger your family or other motorists. It's like calling around to find the cheapest brain surgeon............

Just an FYI to anybody reading this thread. Most of these issues can be completely avoided if you do a few minor things.

Stop for gas after about 20 freeway miles, try not to use the brakes too much when stopping. While your gas is pumping put your hand on each tire, it should be warm but not too hot to touch. Put your hand as close to the bearing hub as possible either on the bearing buddy or on the hub inside the lug nuts. The hubs with brakes will of course be quite hot if it was a downhill offramp or any other moderate braking effort before the stop. Heat is probably the best early indicator of eminent failure of a tire or bearing on your trailers. Once you get in the habit you will most likely be able to avoid roadside failures.

Wow, you put out a little help, and all the haters come out. Let me respond-
Evan- The 04 X-star is out of warranty on the trailer, they only give you a one year warranty.

Barefooter- we didn't have the option to buy an aftermarket trailer because we bought it used, it came with the trailer they bought it with.

Rod- Mastercrafts axles are not your normal axles. It is a special made only for mastercraft and it is a bent rubber torsion axle. Trust me I called practically every trailer place on the west coast and no one had anything even close. All the axles on the website you gave are leaf spring axles, not rubber torsion.

Chris- I'll tell my aunt who suffering from a brain tumor that you compared an axle to her brain. I'm sure she will appreciate that one. Also, why does everyone think that if you own an x-star your filthy rich with money to spare. This is not true in my case. I'm only 24 and bought that x-star at an insane deal at 54k which is about the same as what many of you are spending for your SANs and Malibus. I just hate spending money on something like that when I could definitely use it for fun. I'm sure everyone else can relate. Oh, by the way the spindle wasn't super damaged, just enough that the thread was stripped and the nut wouldn't stay on. And the company that did this job for us has been in the business for over 40 years performing this work on all kinds of axles including boat trailer axles. I'm not sure what makes you a specialist, but I think they're experience outweighs yours.

Mikeski is absolutely right, a lesson that we learned very quickly.

Congratulations Rachel, it sounds to me like you found the most intelligent and economical solution to your problem. I wish most other boaters would take your approach, maybe our insurance rates would reflect lower rates.

Rachel-

I didn't mean it negative, I was being sympathetic and didn't communicate that very well. When I sold my 3 year old '01 X-30 last year both axles on the driver's side were bent so badly they needed replacing. Poor choice of parts in my opionion which is why I chose not to buy the MC trailer again. Good luck with your trailer and congratulations on your boat it sounds like you got a great deal.

Rachel- Your trailer is not specific to Mastercraft or made only for mastercrafts. I have a torsion axle on my Moomba as does all the other manufacturers. In fact, if I'm not wrong, BoatMate makes the trailers for mastercraft as well as for Supra, Moomba and other boats too.

The torsion axle is not Mastercraft specific! I am glad to hear you found a more economical way to solve your problem. I totally agree with what you did and I would have done the same thing myself. Good job on your research! And to back up Evan, I would have gone after the dealer on this one and had them contact your trailer manufacturer for some customer service! We spend alot of money on our toys.

While it's true other manufacturers use torsion suspension on their trailers, not all do. Mine has leaf springs.

I'm fairly certain that MC builds their trailers in-house.

I've been in the Mastercraft factory a couple times. They have their own trailer manufacturing shop. They buy components such as axles, winch, and wheels from the same suppliers as other trailer manufactures. My 01 Boatmate trailer had leaf springs. My 05 Boatmate trailer has torsion suspension. Either can have problems.

I checked Boatmate's website and it's Malibu they make trailers for along with Supra/Moomba, Bryant and others. My main point was that Torsion axles are not Mastercraft specific.

George is right, Mastercraft makes their own trailers, but they do not make their own axles. The company that makes the axels on our trailer is Reliable tool and machine. I know this because there is a plate with all their info on it on the axle. I called up Reliable and they said that particular axle is one custom made for mastercraft. They do not even carry that axle in stock, it's a special make. I'm not saying that bent rubber torsion axles are mastercraft specific. What I am saying is that the bend in this axle (the degrees of the bend and all the specs) are mastercraft specific.

So the boat designer is telling the axle designer how to build an axle, and it is used no where else? I'd love to know the why for the custom specs.

To clear the skegs?

Rachel, it is worth a call the MC directly to see if they will fix it under warranty. We had problems with our '03 X2 trailer this spring. We called MC to explain out problem since it was out of warranty. MC called the dealer and told them to hook us up. Our dealer had called MC himself prior to us calling asking if he could fix it under warranty, but MC told him no. When we called, they did right by us.

I still do not think the spindle is something to take a chance with. Let's see $750 vs. $54k.........hmmm the choice seems simple to me. For your sake and anyone that might be following you I hope you do not have any troubles and that ths spindle will hold up. I guess I just see things differently than most............saftey is my main concern when it comes to towing.

Good luck

Rachel:
By chance is the axel like this one?
http://www.championtrailers.com/TORSION%20AXLE.htm

Certainly makes it more expensive, but not $750

I really doubt that Mastercraft makes their own axels.

For the record MC does not make their own axles, they only install them on their trailers, which they make in house. There are many components of what is being generically referred to here at the "axle". In this case from what has been said only the spindle has been damaged. The remaining parts of the axle assembly are okay. In this case I would think any competent shop could replace the torsion/spindle assembly in the axle itself. Then you could bolt up the other components and reinstall the axle. It sounds like someone is being lazy and just wants to unbolt the entire assembly and bolt in a new one. Everyone of the components including the damage spindle are available for sale individually for their respective suppliers. The entire torsion/spindle assembly can easily be replaced in the current axle tube as long as it is not damaged. The actual axle tube itself might not be available since it is MFG exclusively for MC but the rest of the components are readily available. Here is a pic of a similar replacement torsion/spindle component MFG by Reliable. This is just the torsion/spindle component sans axle tube.



Also here is a link to Reliable's page detailing the components of a 3500# torsion axle assembly.
http://www.reliabletool.com/products/r2500lb.htm

My MC trailer is older (99-2K) and the brakes/axle components are made by Dexter.

Luckily the following store has a bunch of online catalogs and happens to be only 1/2 hour away from me. Their prices were pretty good and everything I needed was in stock.

http://autosafetyhouse.com/