Today, we're going to take a quick look at Dexter Axles, Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly, part number 42656. This hub and drum is designed to work with 5200-pound and 6000-pound axles. Basically, any spindle that requires a 2-1/8 or 2-1/4 inter-diameter grease seal. Its got a 6 on 5-1/2 bolt pattern. There are six studs and if we're able to accurately measure from the center of one stud directly across to the center of the other, we'd get 5-1/2 inches. The races are included and they're already pressed inside where they need to be.
You will need to add bearings. Inner bearing part number is 25580. Outer bearing is 15123 or you can simply use the bearing kit, part number BK3-100 or BK3-110 according to the seal dimensions that you need to use with your spindle. This drum has a gross capacity of 3000 pounds. So when you pair it up with another drum with the same part number, you'd have your 6000-pound capacity.
Now, we'll flip it over and take a look inside the drum. We'll take our depth here and we'll get about 2-1/4 inches. Go across the diameter inside and we get 12 inches, which means that this drum is set up for use with 12-inch by 2-inch brake assemblies. And that's it for our quick look at Dexter Axles, Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly, part number 42656.
Cleaning and Replacing Hubs and Bearings
First off we will go ahead and take off the dust cap. In this case it is a bearing buddy. Next is taking out the locking pin, the cotter pin that goes through the center here. Once you have that lock washer off, just go ahead and take off the nut and pull your whole hub off. Now we are going to go ahead and inspect the hub and bearings here.
Remove and Reinstall a Trailer Hub Review
First off, we will take off the hub, then take off the nut on the inside, and we will pop the whole hub off and take it to the workbench and clean it up from there. You can see there is a lot of rust in there, there is a lot of condensation. Basically water got in there through either condensation or a seal leak. We definitely need to take it apart and clean it up. This has whats called a tang washer. Instead of a regular cotter pin that goes up and down, it has a little piece of metal that goes between the notches here and you have to push this back, flat, so you can take off the nut. And the whole thing just slides off. Sometimes if it gets caught on the hub here you can beat it to get it to come loose. We will go ahead and clean this spindle off here, and then we will put our hub back on. Give it a test fit first to make sure it all slides on pretty good and then go ahead and take it back off. What is good is to take a thin layer, it doesnt have to be much just a little bit, to kind of help the parts slide on a little bit more than they used to.
Trailer Hub Inspection Demonstration
We get many many questions on how to make sure trailer hubs and brakes are safe for travel. Here Joe addresses some of those questions demonstrating how to thoroughly inspect the hubs, breaks and bearings. I know many of us take the performance of these assemblies for granted but if you are planning a long trip or just make short trips around town you should be aware of their condition. I like to say it is time well spent when it avoids break downs on the side of the highway.
