MFI trailer issue, bad hub?

[salmon alley]

Hi all. I have a 2006 MFI painted trailer for my ‘07 230SX.
I typically boat 1-2x/ year, always in freshwater. It’s 5 miles to the launch, so I don’t put tons of miles on the trailer. I grease every year via the Bearing Buddies, but have never repacked bearings nor changed out any hubs.
What I have recently noticed is that the starboard rear wheel (the one with the disc brakes) no longer appears parallel to the wheel in front of it. The lower part of the wheel appears to be deviated toward the outside (away from midline).
All 4 wheels seem to have the same amount of “play” in them (minimal) when I do the standard bearing check.
There appears to be grease on the hub of the tire in front of the deviated one, but the deviated tire hub is dry.
See photos to compare right side with left side. Thoughts?
Thanks in advance for your help!
I can post additional photos if they would be helpful.

 

[dgfreeze]

You need to jack that wheel up off the ground before going anywhere else with the trailer. Once it's off the ground, grab the wheel and see if there's any bearing play. If there is, hopefully it's just new bearings, and you're good. If there isn't any excessive play, you probably are dealing with a bent axle.

 

[salmon alley]

You need to jack that wheel up off the ground before going anywhere else with the trailer. Once it's off the ground, grab the wheel and see if there's any bearing play. If there is, hopefully it's just new bearings, and you're good. If there isn't any excessive play, you probably are dealing with a bent axle.

Thanks for the reply.
I did jack it up and it didn’t feel like it had any more play than the other wheels.
How does one confirm a bent axle?
If it is bent is the Trailer toast or can the axle be replaced?

 

[dgfreeze]

That pretty much confirms it's a bent axle. If the bearings are good, and the wheel spins on that bent axis, then that means the axle is bent. You can replace the axle. You have two options: a complete axle, with new brakes, calipers, and hub; or a beam only, which requires you to remove the brakes, calipers, and hub from the current axle, and install them on the new axle beam. A beam only is exactly what it sounds like; an axle beam with the spindles welded to it, and that's about it. The spring perches are normally welded on, but not always. Just be aware that your axle is disc brakes. Most common trailers have drum brakes, which wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'd recommend sticking with disc. I'd recommend finding a trailer repair shop near you, and talking to them about what it would take to get the axle replaced. They'll need to get some measurements off the old axle to order a new one, and the new one may or may not be a square tubing. Could be a round tube, which shouldn't matter either way.

Also, side note, if you're towing it with the tongue much higher than the back, get that fixed so it's level. When the trailer is towed with the tongue too high, it bottoms out the suspension, and significantly increases the risk of bending an axle. Not saying that is what happened here, but wanted to make you aware in case.

 

[salmon alley]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.
I’ll definitely check the tongue height. I did find a place locally which services trailers and dropped it off for them to assess.
I will try to post the eventual resolution.