Nubs on stabilizer rod worn down. Can these be replaced?

[TheLostBoy]

Does anyone know if the threaded rods in stabilisers can be replaced? The nubs (or whatever they're called) on the rods that my crank slides over are worn down so far that the crank keeps slipping over it and I'm afraid one day I'm going to be stranded one day because I can't retract my stabilisers.

[TheLostBoy]

Yep, I thought that I had the right thread, until I tried putting them on further, and at that point I was at the welders so I kind of didn't have a choice at that point.

Gdetrailer wrote:

TheLostBoy wrote:
I ended up welding a nut onto the end. Seems to work well (though the only acme nuts I found didn't fit quite right and threaded on crooked which causes quite the wobble on the drill).

Which is what I expected to happen and why I suggested this route..

Gdetrailer wrote:
The nut only has to be a "close fit", it most likely will not screw on due to different threads and might be better to find a nut that is slightly smaller diameter hole than the shaft and then drill the nut to fit tightly on the screw (slide over screw shaft) then weld in place.

Too large of a nut opening and it will be difficult to center the nut on the shaft for welding and you will end up with a wobbly out of center nut.

Once welded, get some grease or oil on the screw shaft, dry shaft is most likely why the nubs worn out.. Takes more effort to turn the screw without some lubrication and that extra effort wears out the nubs..

While ACME threads have "standards", the issue is not all of them interchange with each other easily..

SEE HERE

[TheLostBoy]

Ahhhh.......I wish I had read this first. Yeah, that would have worked better. Too late now. Maybe on the next trailer.

CharlesinGA wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
The nut only has to be a "close fit", it most likely will not screw on due to different threads and might be better to find a nut that is slightly smaller diameter hole than the shaft and then drill the nut to fit tightly on the screw (slide over screw shaft) then weld in place.

Too large of a nut opening and it will be difficult to center the nut on the shaft for welding and you will end up with a wobbly out of center nut.

Once welded, get some grease or oil on the screw shaft, dry shaft is most likely why the nubs worn out.. Takes more effort to turn the screw without some lubrication and that extra effort wears out the nubs..

This is the best idea. Use a nut that is 3/4 hex and drill out the threads till it just slides over and weld it on the end. 3/4 is the size commonly used on stabilizers and you can buy hand cranks and drill adapter sockets in that size. Camco makes a couple of them.

Charles

[Gdetrailer]

TheLostBoy wrote:
I ended up welding a nut onto the end. Seems to work well (though the only acme nuts I found didn't fit quite right and threaded on crooked which causes quite the wobble on the drill).

Which is what I expected to happen and why I suggested this route..

Gdetrailer wrote:
The nut only has to be a "close fit", it most likely will not screw on due to different threads and might be better to find a nut that is slightly smaller diameter hole than the shaft and then drill the nut to fit tightly on the screw (slide over screw shaft) then weld in place.

Too large of a nut opening and it will be difficult to center the nut on the shaft for welding and you will end up with a wobbly out of center nut.

Once welded, get some grease or oil on the screw shaft, dry shaft is most likely why the nubs worn out.. Takes more effort to turn the screw without some lubrication and that extra effort wears out the nubs..

While ACME threads have "standards", the issue is not all of them interchange with each other easily..

SEE HERE

[CharlesinGA]

Gdetrailer wrote:
The nut only has to be a "close fit", it most likely will not screw on due to different threads and might be better to find a nut that is slightly smaller diameter hole than the shaft and then drill the nut to fit tightly on the screw (slide over screw shaft) then weld in place.

Too large of a nut opening and it will be difficult to center the nut on the shaft for welding and you will end up with a wobbly out of center nut.

Once welded, get some grease or oil on the screw shaft, dry shaft is most likely why the nubs worn out.. Takes more effort to turn the screw without some lubrication and that extra effort wears out the nubs..

This is the best idea. Use a nut that is 3/4 hex and drill out the threads till it just slides over and weld it on the end. 3/4 is the size commonly used on stabilizers and you can buy hand cranks and drill adapter sockets in that size. Camco makes a couple of them.

Charles

[TheLostBoy]

I ended up welding a nut onto the end. Seems to work well (though the only acme nuts I found didn't fit quite right and threaded on crooked which causes quite the wobble on the drill).

[canoe_on_top]

A dry lube like bicycle chain lube is better than grease. Grease will collect dirt.

[Bobbo]

My preference would be white lithium grease, but any grease is better than no grease.

[TheLostBoy]

Microlite Mike wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
If you have enough thread there, screw on 2 nuts, then jam them together. Work same as welding, but if you need to take it apart you can

Shaft has acme threads on it. Standard nuts won't fit however oversized nut s can be welded on.

Thank you! Acme was what I was looking for. I've ordered four of them up and will try the welding option.

For lubrication, what should I use? Would standard grease be fine?

[JIMNLIN]

I use center drills for starting a drilled hole in round stock.

[Gdetrailer]

JRscooby wrote:

profdant139 wrote:
JRScooby, that is a great tip about grinding a flat so the drill won't walk -- I will remember that the next time I have to drill through a rounded piece of metal.

Drill will walk on flat, that is why god invented center punch. But center punch is also sometimes a problem on round stuff

X2!

One of my favorite "go to" tools is a automatic spring loaded center punch..





No hammer needed, just press hard once point is in place and the spring loaded internal hammer drives the point home..

Even with that punch, a small flat spot on anything round makes life much easier :B

One of the possible problems not addressed with drilling round material is keeping the drill hole centered.. Real easy for a hand held drill to drill off center at an angle..

[JRscooby]

profdant139 wrote:
JRScooby, that is a great tip about grinding a flat so the drill won't walk -- I will remember that the next time I have to drill through a rounded piece of metal.

Drill will walk on flat, that is why god invented center punch. But center punch is also sometimes a problem on round stuff

[profdant139]

JRScooby, that is a great tip about grinding a flat so the drill won't walk -- I will remember that the next time I have to drill through a rounded piece of metal.

[Gdetrailer]

The nut only has to be a "close fit", it most likely will not screw on due to different threads and might be better to find a nut that is slightly smaller diameter hole than the shaft and then drill the nut to fit tightly on the screw (slide over screw shaft) then weld in place.

Too large of a nut opening and it will be difficult to center the nut on the shaft for welding and you will end up with a wobbly out of center nut.

Once welded, get some grease or oil on the screw shaft, dry shaft is most likely why the nubs worn out.. Takes more effort to turn the screw without some lubrication and that extra effort wears out the nubs..

[TheLostBoy]

Yeah, I'm going to see if I can find a nut that will fit first (that seems to be the hardest part) and find someone who can weld as I'd much rather have a socket to lift and lower these than the flimsy peg crank I have now, but my second option will be drilling a hole with a pin. Thanks for all the tips!