MasterCraft Trailer snapped lugs.

Well I made the drive to Nevada this weekend to pick up my boat and it was an easy trip back towing the boat 760 miles. Anyway, yesterday I hear a nasty sound coming from one of the wheels and it turns out the bolt that holds the caliper on snapped so the caliper is hanging in the rim grinding. I go to take the wheel off and snap two lug studs since they are so rusted on, but luckily I still have 3 left. Anyway, a trailer shop wants $45 plus parts to replace the 2 studs. Just curious how hard it is to do that fix myself and what size studs I may need. Just curious if anyone knows the correct size to get. Also do I just hammer out the old ones. Seems like that is all there is to it, but then again, who knows.
Thanks

I have been there before...three times. I got rid of the cap style nuts and replaced them with the standard old nuts. Now I can give those exposed threads a shot of oil. The upgrade looks good on my galvanized trailer with galvanized steel wheels. Aside from the good looks, I heard the large cap style nuts we for added thread bit on aluminum wheels but perhaps someone can verify this.

I think its a good price considering someone will mess with it for maybe a couple hours. Have the rest of the the nuts removed because it's a good bet others may be frozen. You don't want to learn this on the side of the highway.

That is a good idea about using standard nuts instead of close ones. Also correct that I need to check all the others. I have to go to get a couple new tires soon and we'll see what happens when they take them off with an impact gun. I am probly going to try and punch one out when I get home and see what style they are. I may be able to fix it myself.

Sounds better than my trip a few years ago from Texas to Iowa where all of the lugs snapped on my port wheel of my single axle trailer) during the trip. It was about 3/4 of the way there, on a Sunday. Fortunately, I heard the problem in time to slow down to where I was going about 1 mph when the last lug snapped and the wheel came off. Good times.

What year is the boat/trailer? On my 2001 trailer I had nothing but problems with the "spring/clip" assembly on the calipers. If there is a metal spring (thin metal rod with 90 degree bends at the end) that keeps your caliper retaining clips tight.....you are in for a ride. I hope this isn't the case for you but I can offer some advice. What happens is either the spring pops off or the retaining clip breaks and then the caliper rides on the inside of the wheel making a horrible noise. You more than likely didn't break a bolt if this is the same scenario as mine.

Stud replacement is a piece of cake. No one can tell you the "correct size" because each hub can have different dimensions along a manufacturing line. Just hammer out the old one (hammer it with the closed nut on it so you dont damage the threads and take the stud to your local NAPA dealer. They will measure the various dynamics (length, diameter, thread, shoulder, etc) and you will literally just hammer in the new one. Pretty simple stuff just make sure the new one gets seated all the way. You also want to make sure that you check your new lugs regularly for tightness as it will produce some slack as the stud settles in to place.

The trailer is a 2001 with Torsion bar axles. Yeah, the caliper is held on by one bolt and it sheared off. The pads just seem to rest on these clips, I didn't see a spring although it may have flown off. Thing is i am afraid to take off another wheel to check until I make sure I can replace the studs. I am sure more will probly break off. Really wish I had a diagram of the brake assembly to look at.

I bet you lost the spring (which you can probably see on the outside of your other calipers). Once the spring is gone, the caliper hits the wheel and I bet after some time it sheared off that bolt. I promise you that you can replace the studs, that wont be an issue. All hubs have replaceable studs. If you get under the trailer you can look at the other calipers and I would suspect at least one of the still has the spring. If it is determined that we have the same problem, you should send me a PM and I can walk you through what I have done. Mastercraft knows of this problem and they stock these clips and springs by the 1000's because everyone has the same issue. I tow at least 120+ miles a weekend and it was not fun with that trailer. The right thing to do IMO is to replace all four calipers - which is what I was going to do but I got a new boat instead .

Where would the spring run from and to? I will take a look when I get home and see. Do I look at the top or bottom of the caliper?

it is a thin metal rod that runs on the outside of the caliper (opposite of where the pads are held). The rod runs from the top retaining clip across the outside of the caliper and clips into the lower retaining clip. One of the worst designs I have ever seen.

Phatboy, when you get a chance check your PM. Can I replace the calipers to the 2 bolt design? I have torsion axles and a guy at pacific trailers said they are a floating rotor or something like that. Just curious.

After a couple days research finally found the parts I needed and how to upgrade to a different system. Unfortunately my local distributor is out of the caliper clips I need. After fishing out the retaining wire last night I can see why they suck. Long weekend of repairs next weekend I guess.