Choosing Compatible Replacement Hubs for Bass Boat Trailer Based on Bearing Set Used

Question:

Hi.. I have a bass boat single axle trailer I had a hub issue.. I am replacing both existing hubs and doing away with the disc brakes as they have never worked to begin with from the day I bought it a few years ago. My current hub is a 5 on 4-1/2inch bolt pattern 15inch tires. Both inner and outer bearings are L68149 bearings. Im not positive what the axle rating is but I believe its in the 2000 lbs. range. Could you help me figure out exactly what hub assemblys I need to replace both sides? Thanks in advance!

asked by: George H

Expert Reply:

Thank you for providing details about your single-axle boat trailer.

The hubs we offer in a 5-on-4-1/2-inch bolt pattern and for 15-inch wheels that use inner bearing # L68149 are all idler hubs which do not allow use of brakes or hub/drum assemblies for drum brake applications. However, none of these hubs takes outer bearing L68149. All are intended for outer bearing # L44649. All such idler hubs are shown on the linked page and all are rated for 3500-lb axles.

These two bearings have very different inner diameter measurements: 1.378-inches for the L68149 and 1.063-inches for the L44649. This means that if your spindle uses the same bearing as both inner and outer then the spindle would have to be a straight type, rather than a tapered type like the one in the diagram. No matter what, a new hub MUST use the same bearings as those on your trailer now or the hub will not properly fit the spindle.

I suggest you re-check the bearing part numbers to confirm. Or if you want to you can take precise measurements of the spindle where the bearings ride. Please refer to the linked diagram for illustration of where to measure the spindle, points C and D, for the inner and outer bearings, respectively.

You'll need a precision digital caliper to measure to the nearest thousandth of an inch - three decimal points - like 1.063-inches. With your actual spindle dimensions we can try to match up new hubs that use bearings of those dimensions.

If no compatible hubs are available you'll need to change out your spindles (a qualified professional welder will need to do this as it requires special equipment) that can take the hubs you want.