Help Please - Can't Get HF Hub on Axle

[Dale M.]

Can everybody recognize Chinese Republic Authorized Product (CRAP)....

I am really tired with things being almost what they should be and everything being disposable.... Quality control seems to be a thing of the past, and its now its just take the money and run....

Dale

[H.A.]

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[KCStudly]

Supply and demand. If you demand the lowest price, they will supply the lowest quality. It starts with the end user.

[Redneck Teepee]

I can remember when made in Japan got the same rating as made in China does today, but the Japanese have become almost second to none in certain areas of manufacturing. Japans quality control is a take no prisoners business, especially in the automotive field (yes, they do build some cheap stuff like we do) Some of the finest machine work I've ever seen has come out of Germany for the auto manufacturing industry for use in paint booth applications. China will only get better as time goes on and if the consumer is willing to pay for quality.

[Justjoe65]

I had this very same issue happen with me on my trailer. One spindle was too big to accept the hub provided. First off, I was not real thrilled wtih the C channel axle that was provided, but then to see this, I was a little learing about sanding or grinding on the spindle because I didnt want to throw camber or anything else out of wack.
I went down to my local Tractor supply and found a good 2000 pound axle that came complete with installed 5 lug hubs for around $134.00 so that is what I am going to be using for my trailer, It will give me a little more peice of mind.
Yes, I am not happy about getting ripped off with that HF axle, but at the same time, i wanted to go with larger tires/rims any way, and think I will be better of anyway. You know what they say, You get what you pay for.

Joe

[jseyfert3]

You had a C-channel axle with your HF trailer?

[Justjoe65]

Yes I did. Not even going to mess with it, I found a nice 2000 pound axle at Tractor supply that I am going to install instead.

[WizardOfOdds]

With the destruction of the Tip Top Tier Drop http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=56232&start=15#p1087994 I purchased another HF 1720# frame kit. The assembly went about as expected until it came time to mount the hubs after repacking the bearings. Then I ran into the same problems as described above but with some twists:

Problem: There is a mismatch between the axle and hubs preventing the hubs from being mounted to the axle. One hub fits OK to one end of the axle, but not the other end. The second hub fits neither end of the axle. This suggests that

(1) the bearing race on the defective hub may not be fully seated (although it is visually difficult to see) and
(2) the spindle on one end of the axle is machined too short (clearly visible).

When the good hub is mounted to the good end of the axle, there is no problem inserting the cotter pin. However, when the same hub is mounted on the shorter axle end, it requires excessive tightening and hammering the cotter pin in place leaving the bearing over stressed.

The bad hub can not be mounted to either end of the axle. On the short end of the axle, the castle nut can only be installed a few turns.

In general I found the quality control of this newer version of this kit to be far less than what I experianced with the original kit purchased several years ago. I am waiting to see what HF customer service has to say. Anyone have any luck with similar HF trailer issues?