Hard to say, all the original trailers imported with Macs required either modification or replacement to conform to UK regs. Not all trailers were necessarily treated the same.
The best thing to check first is see if there's any brand name on the hub caps. There's a good chance they're Indespension. Even then there are a lot of sizes and variants, and it can take a trailer specialist to identify exactly what you need. It may be necessary to take a hub off to find the size of the inner bearing, and whether there is an extra grease seal as well.
It's all a bit of a minefield, I strongly recommend taking the trailer without boat to a trailer servicing specialist. Once you've identified the parts then you know what to order again next time. While doing this it's well worth finding the part numbers for the brake shoes and brake cables too - you never know when those might need replacing!
—
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Re trailers, I have had 3 West Mersea Mac 26 X trailers -all single axle. I have had no trouble with axles, but tyres and brakes - common and a motorway blowout ! One of my trailers had an uprated 1.8 tonne axle instead of the standard 1.6 tonne as supplied with the boat. I believe all the axle and brakes etc are made by AL-KOBE - and may be available which may be an option for you. I agree West Mersea trailers service not the best, Western Towing better and I believe free delivery and all parts can be seen on their web site. Regards David Phillips. Mac 26 X.
With regard to the general subject of trailers, I have just posted a message under "General Discussions" - "Help with a trailer problem" for anyone needing a trailer specialist, which you may find interesting.
I believe most 26Xs were sold in the UK with West Mersea trailers (as was the one I owned), and the import trailers scrapped. Mersea used Al-Ko axles & brakes. Al-Ko gear is solidly made but expensive to replace, especially the bearings.
The importers appeared to switch policy with the Ms, and used the frame of the import trailer but replaced the axle & braking system with a UK one, the ones I've seen being Indespension.
I've also had problems getting any sense out of Mersea, and I agree that Western Towing are a good source of both parts and advice.
—
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
I have a little more to add to this;-
The actual bearings will vary depending on the original but if you can extract the old bearing and wipe off all the grease you should be able to identify the bearing number. New bearings can generally be obtained from most trailer / caravan suppliers and are likely to be around £10.00 each. If you are launching into salt water then for peace of mind changing the bearings on an annual basis will help to prevent a potential disaster on the road. It is also worth checking tyres as trailer tyres tend to perish before they wear out thus increasing the chance of a blow out. For caravans the recommendation is to change tyres every 5 years. This would be sound advice for boat trailers.
Rick is correct about the M trailers as the aluminium frames that come from the US are both lightweight and strong. The original axles and hubs are however unbraked so the axles and hitch were replaced in the UK.
Trailer legislation changed in 2012 so that all trailers constructed after this date require either Type Approval or an IVA (Individual Vehicle Assessment). To achieve this on a new trailer you would need to complete all the paperwork, supply certificates for all the components such as brakes and submit for a test at a VOSA test centre (Unsurprisingly a fee is also payable). These regulations do not however apply to existing trailers that are being modified or repaired thankfully.
Supplementing what Colin states about bearing identification, it can also be helpful to state if the bearing manufacturer's name is stamped on the bearing, this will enable the supplier to cross-reference the part number quicker. In some large towns there are companies specialising in selling bearings direct, as well as those to be found online.
—
Navigation is a series of plots. In fog the plot thickens...
Just to add that the advice on matching bearing no.s etc. doesn't apply if you have Al-Ko hubs (e.g. Mersea trailer). Al-Ko use a proprietary one piece sealed bearing, and only Al-Ko make replacements. It also takes a 3-ton press to replace the bearing in the hub! They cost around £50 each, so with fitting you can reckon at least £125 per axle. Oh and you also have to replace the hub nuts, they are a single-use self locking design. It would be a great system if the "sealed" bearings were actually sealed against immersion, but they're not and water does get in meaning that if you launch regularly you'll be lucky to get 2 years out of them.
—
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
In fact you can match the bearings online. But Quality ones cost is pretty much the same as Alko ones. If you strip then, they will go on for some years. but its a pain if you dunk a lot. When going distance, I used to carry a small press, but a club hammer and suitable drifts works at the roadside too.
One of my axles uses taper rollers and that what I'd use if had the choice, less water ingress/ easier maint/roadside replacement.
Keep the brakes from binding cures most problems. as a worn bearing will still function. an overheated one through dragging brakes womt for long.
Got a local garage to fit my 4 bearings but at a cost of £37 per set + fitting. I could have got them much cheaper but was in a hurry to get the boat out of the water.
The bearings for my 2009 26M trailer are:
44649/44610
48548/48510
W26216237 R23(DOUBLE SEAL I THINK)
They are imperial sizes so I guess theses parts were on it when shipped from the USA.
The trailer has a Bradley(UK) hitch coupling but the bolts were not tight and the whole thing wobbled about so I replaced the 4 bolts. They were a hell of a job to removed as the nyloc nuts had rusted solid.
Hi Gerard
Hard to say, all the original trailers imported with Macs required either modification or replacement to conform to UK regs. Not all trailers were necessarily treated the same.
The best thing to check first is see if there's any brand name on the hub caps. There's a good chance they're Indespension. Even then there are a lot of sizes and variants, and it can take a trailer specialist to identify exactly what you need. It may be necessary to take a hub off to find the size of the inner bearing, and whether there is an extra grease seal as well.
It's all a bit of a minefield, I strongly recommend taking the trailer without boat to a trailer servicing specialist. Once you've identified the parts then you know what to order again next time. While doing this it's well worth finding the part numbers for the brake shoes and brake cables too - you never know when those might need replacing!
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Re trailers, I have had 3 West Mersea Mac 26 X trailers -all single axle. I have had no trouble with axles, but tyres and brakes - common and a motorway blowout ! One of my trailers had an uprated 1.8 tonne axle instead of the standard 1.6 tonne as supplied with the boat. I believe all the axle and brakes etc are made by AL-KOBE - and may be available which may be an option for you. I agree West Mersea trailers service not the best, Western Towing better and I believe free delivery and all parts can be seen on their web site. Regards David Phillips. Mac 26 X.
With regard to the general subject of trailers, I have just posted a message under "General Discussions" - "Help with a trailer problem" for anyone needing a trailer specialist, which you may find interesting.
I believe most 26Xs were sold in the UK with West Mersea trailers (as was the one I owned), and the import trailers scrapped. Mersea used Al-Ko axles & brakes. Al-Ko gear is solidly made but expensive to replace, especially the bearings.
The importers appeared to switch policy with the Ms, and used the frame of the import trailer but replaced the axle & braking system with a UK one, the ones I've seen being Indespension.
I've also had problems getting any sense out of Mersea, and I agree that Western Towing are a good source of both parts and advice.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
I have a little more to add to this;-
The actual bearings will vary depending on the original but if you can extract the old bearing and wipe off all the grease you should be able to identify the bearing number. New bearings can generally be obtained from most trailer / caravan suppliers and are likely to be around £10.00 each. If you are launching into salt water then for peace of mind changing the bearings on an annual basis will help to prevent a potential disaster on the road. It is also worth checking tyres as trailer tyres tend to perish before they wear out thus increasing the chance of a blow out. For caravans the recommendation is to change tyres every 5 years. This would be sound advice for boat trailers.
Rick is correct about the M trailers as the aluminium frames that come from the US are both lightweight and strong. The original axles and hubs are however unbraked so the axles and hitch were replaced in the UK.
Trailer legislation changed in 2012 so that all trailers constructed after this date require either Type Approval or an IVA (Individual Vehicle Assessment). To achieve this on a new trailer you would need to complete all the paperwork, supply certificates for all the components such as brakes and submit for a test at a VOSA test centre (Unsurprisingly a fee is also payable). These regulations do not however apply to existing trailers that are being modified or repaired thankfully.
Supplementing what Colin states about bearing identification, it can also be helpful to state if the bearing manufacturer's name is stamped on the bearing, this will enable the supplier to cross-reference the part number quicker. In some large towns there are companies specialising in selling bearings direct, as well as those to be found online.
Navigation is a series of plots. In fog the plot thickens...
Just to add that the advice on matching bearing no.s etc. doesn't apply if you have Al-Ko hubs (e.g. Mersea trailer). Al-Ko use a proprietary one piece sealed bearing, and only Al-Ko make replacements. It also takes a 3-ton press to replace the bearing in the hub! They cost around £50 each, so with fitting you can reckon at least £125 per axle. Oh and you also have to replace the hub nuts, they are a single-use self locking design. It would be a great system if the "sealed" bearings were actually sealed against immersion, but they're not and water does get in meaning that if you launch regularly you'll be lucky to get 2 years out of them.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
In fact you can match the bearings online. But Quality ones cost is pretty much the same as Alko ones. If you strip then, they will go on for some years. but its a pain if you dunk a lot. When going distance, I used to carry a small press, but a club hammer and suitable drifts works at the roadside too.
One of my axles uses taper rollers and that what I'd use if had the choice, less water ingress/ easier maint/roadside replacement.
Keep the brakes from binding cures most problems. as a worn bearing will still function. an overheated one through dragging brakes womt for long.
Got a local garage to fit my 4 bearings but at a cost of £37 per set + fitting. I could have got them much cheaper but was in a hurry to get the boat out of the water.
The bearings for my 2009 26M trailer are:
44649/44610
48548/48510
W26216237 R23(DOUBLE SEAL I THINK)
They are imperial sizes so I guess theses parts were on it when shipped from the USA.
The trailer has a Bradley(UK) hitch coupling but the bolts were not tight and the whole thing wobbled about so I replaced the 4 bolts. They were a hell of a job to removed as the nyloc nuts had rusted solid.
Gerard
Gerard ~ Oran na Mara ~ M26
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