Hub dust cover replacement

[Mountainhwy4]

I have a NT 5x8 aluminum frame for my trailer, and one of the dust covers for the hubs fell off on our first trip!

I ordered a replacement set with a 1.98" inner diameter, but the dust cap won't stay on! Is there a larger size or some kind of trick to make it stay on?

We're doing a trip this weekend and I don't want to drive with an exposed bearing.

[Socal Tom]

If you are desperate, you can coat the sealing surface with RTV and then leave it alone for 24 hours and it should stay on. Did you try and get one from NT? You can also look for bearing buddies to replace the dust covers.

[friz]

Smash them a little out of round.

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[twisted lines]

I lost a bearing buddy on my boat trailer, put a sandwich bag and a rubber band on it until I could replace it, worked like a charm
May try a center punch lightly inside the hub face where the two meet

[Squigie]

RTV and smack it around a bit.

----

I borrowed my brother's cargo trailer in 2009. When I dropped it off, a dust cap had disappeared on the way back to his place.
We slapped some grease in there, duct-taped a cut down Sprite can (12 oz) over the hub, and ran it until it could be replaced.

Except, that never happened. He sold the trailer 5-6 years later, without ever replacing the dust cap.
As long as you have a way to keep the grease where it needs to be, it's fine.

A Sprite can is pretty far from 'ideal'. But the concept has worked for many people.

May try a center punch lightly inside the hub face where the two meet

No...
You modify the cheap, easily replaceable part; not the more important, more expensive part.

[western traveler]

I kept losing them off my boat trailer. We travel 2 miles of dirt roads to reach the pavement and some of the lakes around here are dirt roads as well. Solved it by finding the proper size cap and using the black RTV around the hub.
(I also bought spares)

[Mountainhwy4]

Ooh thanks, I'll try the black RTV! Just on the outside edge of the cap flange?

[western traveler]

Ooh thanks, I'll try the black RTV! Just on the outside edge of the cap flange?

Yes, it was recommended by the Napa folks I buy from and made a big difference for me.

[KCStudly]

I would try this:
1. Have a heavy steel plate at the edge of a bench, or an anvil, or something where you can place the lip of the cap against the edge of steel with the outside lip down on its side.
2. Use the peen end of a ball peen hammer and tap around the inside edge, rotating the strike zone so it is always in contact with the plate.

The idea is to stretch the lip without putting any hard dings or dents in it that would affect the seal. Shouldn't take much, maybe a few times around. If you can't get the hammer in there too well, you can use a piece of round bar steel (rounded over slightly at the tip) to reach in.

[friz]

This thread is like craftsmanship Rorschach test. Fun to see all the different solutions to a common problem.

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