When we talk about vehicle maintenance, most people immediately think about their car. They know the engine oil needs changing, the brakes wear out, tyres need replacing and a warning light on the dash shouldn’t simply be ignored.
But there is often something sitting in the driveway, beside the shed or tucked around the side of the house that receives nowhere near the same attention.
The trailer.
It might be a horse float used on weekends, a boat trailer waiting for summer, a camper trailer that comes out during the school holidays, a caravan used for family trips, a car trailer, or simply the trusty box trailer that gets called into action whenever somebody is moving house.
Whatever its purpose, the trailer is still a piece of road going equipment.
It has tyres. It has wheel bearings. Depending on its size and design, it may have brakes, suspension, electrical components and other moving parts. It carries weight, travels at highway speeds and is subjected to water, dirt, heat, vibration and long periods of sitting unused.
Yet trailers are very commonly forgotten when it comes to routine servicing.
At Power Curve Automotive in Nambour, we service a wide range of trailers for customers across the Sunshine Coast, including horse floats, car trailers, boat trailers, camper trailers, caravans and box trailers.
One of the most important things we want trailer owners to understand is simple:
Don’t wait until you’re packed and ready for the trip before thinking about the trailer underneath everything.
Why Does a Trailer Need Servicing?
A trailer may not have an engine requiring an oil change every 10,000kms, but that doesn’t mean it is maintenance free.
In some ways, trailers can actually be easier to neglect because there isn’t always an obvious reminder that a service is due.
Your vehicle might display a service reminder on the dash. You might notice the odometer ticking over. You use it every day, so you quickly become familiar with changes in the way it sounds or drives.
A trailer is different, it may sit untouched for weeks or months at a time. Then one Friday afternoon, it suddenly needs to be loaded with camping equipment because the family is heading away. The boat goes on because the weather is finally right for a weekend on the river. The horse float gets hooked up for an event. A friend asks to borrow the box trailer because they’re moving house.
The trailer goes from doing absolutely nothing to carrying a significant load at highway speed. That is exactly why its condition matters.
Bearings can deteriorate. Grease can become contaminated or lose effectiveness. Brake components can wear, seize or break. Tyres can deteriorate with age even when the tread still looks acceptable. Electrical connections can corrode. Suspension components and mounting points can develop wear.
Some of those issues aren’t particularly obvious while the trailer is sitting in the yard. They become very obvious when something fails on the Bruce Highway.
The Photos That Tell a Much Bigger Story
The images accompanying this article are a good example of why physically inspecting trailer components matters.
From the outside, you can’t necessarily see what is happening inside a hub or brake assembly. Once components are dismantled, however, the condition can tell a very different story.
Damaged bearing components, broken springs and deteriorated brake hardware aren’t cosmetic issues. These components are part of the system responsible for allowing the wheel to rotate correctly and, where brakes are fitted, helping control the trailer safely. This is also why servicing is about more than simply walking around a trailer and looking at the tyres.
A visual check is useful, but some important components need to be properly inspected to understand their actual condition. Finding deterioration in the workshop gives you options. Finding it after a wheel bearing has failed on the highway gives you considerably fewer.
Wheel Bearings: Small Component, Big Consequences
Wheel bearings are one of the most important areas of trailer maintenance. Their job sounds straightforward, allow the wheels to rotate smoothly while supporting the load carried through the hub, but consider what they are being asked to do.
A loaded caravan, horse float, boat trailer or car trailer can place significant demands on its wheel bearings. They may operate for hours at highway speeds while dealing with heat, load and vibration.
Boat trailers introduce another challenge because hubs can regularly be exposed to water during launching and retrieval. If water finds its way into the bearing area, it can contaminate grease and contribute to corrosion and premature deterioration.
The consequences of a bearing problem can range from noise and excessive movement through to significant hub, axle and wheel damage.
In severe cases, a failed bearing can contribute to the loss of a wheel. That is not something anyone wants to discover halfway through a family holiday.
Regular inspection gives us an opportunity to assess bearing condition before the situation reaches that point.
"But I Hardly Use My Trailer"
This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding trailer maintenance. Low kilometres don’t automatically mean everything is in perfect condition. A trailer that travels 30,000kms a year obviously experiences wear. But a trailer that only comes out a few times each year has its own maintenance considerations.
Components can deteriorate with time as well as kilometres. Grease doesn’t remain perfect indefinitely, moisture can enter components, corrosion can develop, rubber components can age, tyres can deteriorate from age, weather and UV exposure, brake components can become stiff or corroded. Long periods of sitting can also mean that developing issues aren’t noticed.
If you drive your vehicle every day, you are much more likely to notice a new noise, vibration or change in behaviour. You don’t have that same ongoing feedback from a trailer sitting behind the shed. This is why we don’t recommend assuming that “hardly used” means “doesn’t need checking.”
Trailer Brakes Need Attention Too
Depending on the trailer and its braking system, there can be several components requiring inspection and maintenance. Brake shoes and friction material wear over time, springs and retaining hardware can deteriorate or break, adjustments may be required, wiring and electrical components can develop faults.
The images from this trailer show just how important those small pieces of hardware can be. A spring might not look significant when you’re holding it in your hand, but it forms part of a much larger mechanical system.
If components are damaged, missing, incorrectly adjusted or unable to operate as designed, the performance of that system can be affected. This becomes particularly important with heavier trailers.
When you’re towing a caravan, loaded horse float, car trailer or boat, you aren’t simply asking the tow vehicle to move additional weight. That combination also needs to slow down and stop predictably.
Having a powerful tow vehicle doesn’t eliminate the need for the trailer itself to be properly maintained.
Don't Forget the Tyres
Trailer tyres deserve far more attention than they often receive. One of the traps with trailer tyres is looking only at tread depth. A tyre can have plenty of tread remaining and still be unsuitable due to its age or condition.
Trailers that spend long periods outside can expose tyres to sunlight and weather. Because they may travel relatively few kilometres each year, the tread can continue looking good long after the tyre has aged significantly. When checking trailer tyres, we’re interested in more than simply whether there is tread remaining.
We want to consider their general condition, signs of cracking or deterioration, unusual wear patterns and whether there is anything else suggesting that further attention is required.
The spare tyre shouldn’t be forgotten either. Having a spare hanging from the trailer is useful only if that tyre is actually in serviceable condition when you need it.
Horse Float Servicing
Horse floats deserve particular attention because of what they’re carrying. When you put a horse into a float, you’re transporting a living animal that can shift its weight as the vehicle accelerates, brakes and corners.
A breakdown isn’t simply an inconvenience for the driver. You potentially have an animal waiting inside a float beside a busy road while you’re trying to organise repairs or recovery. For that reason, preventative maintenance can be particularly valuable for horse float owners.
Depending on the individual float, areas such as wheel bearings, brakes, tyres, suspension, lights and general running gear should all form part of the maintenance conversation.
If the float hasn’t been used for some time and you’re preparing for an event or longer journey, having it inspected beforehand can provide valuable peace of mind.
Boat Trailer Servicing
Boat trailers have one particularly challenging part of their job description, they regularly go into water.
The tow vehicle may stay relatively dry, but the trailer’s wheels, hubs and other components can be exposed during launching. Salt water environments are especially harsh, but fresh water doesn’t mean maintenance can be ignored either.
Water intrusion and corrosion can affect components over time, and boat trailers may also spend extended periods sitting between trips. Then summer arrives…
The weather is finally good, the boat is fuelled, everyone is ready to get onto the water. That isn’t when you want to discover that the trailer has a wheel bearing problem. If the boat hasn’t been out for some time, considering the condition of the trailer before the first big summer trip is worthwhile.
Caravan and Camper Trailer Servicing
For many Sunshine Coast families, the caravan or camper trailer represents freedom. School holidays arrive, the vehicle gets packed, the fridge is loaded, bikes are attached and everyone is ready to escape for a few days or weeks. But caravans and camper trailers can carry substantial weight and travel considerable distances.
A trip might involve hours of highway driving followed by regional roads, rough surfaces or unsealed tracks. The trailer running gear is working the entire time.
Servicing before a significant trip gives us an opportunity to identify wear or deterioration while the caravan or camper is still at home rather than hundreds of kilometres away. It also allows time to organise repairs if something is found. That’s an important point.
Don’t leave the inspection until the afternoon before departure.
If a component needs replacing or parts need to be ordered, finding out a week or two beforehand is much easier than discovering it when the fridge is already packed.
Car Trailer Servicing
Car trailers can place significant loads on their running gear, particularly when transporting 4WDs, project vehicles, race cars or other heavy vehicles. Because they may only be used when needed, they can fall into the same maintenance trap as other trailers, they sit. Then suddenly they are required to carry a vehicle for several hundred kilometres.
The fact that the trailer hasn’t travelled recently doesn’t tell you that its bearings, brakes or tyres are ready for the job.
If you’re preparing to transport a vehicle, especially over a significant distance, inspecting the trailer beforehand can help identify problems before adding the load.
Box Trailers Need Servicing Too
The humble Australian box trailer may be the most forgotten of all, they’re everywhere.
They carry garden waste to the tip, furniture during house moves, building materials, motorcycles, camping gear and everything in between. Because many box trailers are relatively simple, it’s easy to assume there isn’t much to maintain.
But they still have wheel bearings and tyres. Depending on the trailer’s size and configuration, there may also be brakes and other components requiring attention. And because a box trailer might be lent to friends or family, you don’t necessarily know how it has been loaded or treated every time it has been used.
Before hooking up the old box trailer for a big job after it has been sitting for a long time, giving it some attention can be a very sensible decision.
A Trailer Breakdown Can Become Much More Than an Inconvenience
Picture the start of a family camping holiday… The vehicle is packed. The caravan or camper is loaded. You’ve organised time away from work, booked the site and spent the morning getting everyone out the door.
Then a trailer wheel bearing fails on the highway. The holiday hasn’t just been interrupted. You now need to work out whether the trailer can be repaired roadside, whether it needs recovery, where replacement parts can be sourced and what happens to everything you’re carrying.
Now change the scenario. You’re moving house and the box trailer is full of furniture, you’re towing a horse, you’re transporting a customer’s vehicle, or the family is finally getting the boat onto the river after waiting all winter.
The circumstances are different, but the underlying lesson is the same.
Preventative maintenance is usually far easier to manage than an unexpected failure.
Warning Signs Your Trailer May Need Attention
Not every trailer problem provides a clear warning, which is why routine inspection matters. However, there are signs worth paying attention to.
Unusual noises from a wheel or hub, excessive heat around a hub, abnormal tyre wear, looseness or movement at a wheel, poor braking performance, pulling or unusual behaviour under brakes, lights that operate intermittently, visible corrosion or components that simply don’t look right are all reasons to investigate further.
You should also pay attention to how the trailer feels from the driver’s seat. If something has changed, don’t automatically assume it’s the tow vehicle. A vibration, noise or change in towing behaviour can originate from the trailer.
If you’re unsure, have it inspected.
Before a Long Trip: Give Yourself Time
We regularly talk about pre-trip inspections for 4WDs and tow vehicles, and the same principle should apply to the trailer.
If you’re heading away for the school holidays, don’t wait until the final day to start thinking about maintenance, ideally, plan ahead.
That gives the workshop time to inspect the trailer and, importantly, gives you time to make informed decisions if anything is identified. It also avoids turning routine maintenance into an emergency.
The goal isn’t to create a huge list of unnecessary work before every holiday. The goal is to understand the condition of what you’re towing.
Sometimes an inspection confirms everything is in good condition, sometimes we find maintenance that should be planned, and sometimes we find something that needs attention before the trailer goes back onto the highway.
Knowing which category you’re dealing with is valuable.
The Tow Vehicle and Trailer Work as One Combination
Another important point is that the tow vehicle and trailer shouldn’t always be considered separately. Once they’re connected, they form a combination.
The condition of the tow vehicle’s tyres, brakes, suspension and steering matters, so does the condition of the trailer.
If you’re preparing for a significant towing trip, particularly with a caravan, camper, boat or heavy trailer, it makes sense to think about the complete setup.
At Power Curve Automotive, this fits naturally with the work we already carry out for Sunshine Coast 4WD and towing customers.
We work with vehicles used for touring, towing, family travel and work. Our focus is not simply on replacing parts, it is on helping customers understand what we find and make informed decisions about their vehicles and equipment.
When Should You Have Your Trailer Serviced?
There isn’t one universal interval that suits every trailer. A trailer’s design, age, usage, operating environment, loads carried and manufacturer’s requirements all influence the maintenance it needs.
A boat trailer repeatedly exposed to salt water has a very different life from a box trailer stored in a shed.
A caravan travelling thousands of kilometres each year has different usage from a horse float that only travels locally.
Rather than assuming a generic interval is appropriate, consider how the trailer is actually used and follow the relevant manufacturer’s maintenance requirements.
One particularly useful time to arrange an inspection is before a major trip or after an extended period of storage. If you can’t remember the last time the trailer was serviced, that’s probably a good reason to start the conversation.
Trailer Servicing in Nambour and the Sunshine Coast
At Power Curve Automotive, trailers aren’t an afterthought. We understand that the trailer may be an important part of your work, your hobby or your family’s plans.
It might carry your horse, it might carry your boat, it might be your home away from home, it might transport your vehicle, or it might be the old box trailer that everybody in the family seems to borrow.
Whatever its job, when it is connected to your vehicle and travelling at highway speed, you want to know that the components underneath it are in suitable condition.
We service horse floats, car trailers, boat trailers, camper trailers, caravans and box trailers for customers in Nambour and across the wider Sunshine Coast.
Our approach is the same one we take with our vehicle servicing:
Inspect properly. Show you what we find. Explain what it means. Help you make an informed decision.
Because the best place to discover a deteriorating bearing or damaged brake component is in the workshop, not on the side of the highway.
Before the Next Adventure, Check the Trailer
As summer approaches and the next round of school holidays gets closer, plenty of trailers around the Sunshine Coast are about to come out of hibernation.
Boats will be heading back to the river and coast. Campers and caravans will be packed for family holidays. Horse floats will be on the road. Box trailers will be loaded for house moves, tip runs and weekend projects.
Before you hook yours up and head off, think about when it was last serviced. The trailer might not have an odometer or a service reminder flashing on the dashboard, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need maintenance.
Check it before the next trip.
A little time spent inspecting and maintaining the trailer now could mean a lot more time enjoying where you’re going and a lot less time dealing with a breakdown on the way there.