John, I can agree its good to know what to look for and what parts on a trailer can fail!
and I will add a little more to this topic!
AS there are many wear parts on trailers, the brand doesn't matter!
and these wear parts are something many take for granted are JUST GOOD! and don't inspect as they should! ( lots of folks with aluminum trailers the more so from my experience they feel aluminum doesn't rust so all will last forever LOL, no bash meant)
As a wear part , if you actually learn about trailers are meant to be inspected annually, as all trailers should be on all wear area's , which include welds;,s any pivoting point, any place there are two different types of metals making contact!( pivot pins, bolts and hard ware, and axle mounts are most common)
and on about any moving part on the trailer, are wear parts!
all the more so pivot pins and the holes the pins run through,
on most all tilt trailers these pl;aces can wear out, egging out, the holes is very common or just weaken over time.
I even had one tilt trailer that had a crack that developed at the hole where pin went thru, had I NOT checked trailer often it would have lead to a major issue, as that is all that holds trailer to the vehicle! as the trailers coupler hold onto that beam! I found it doing an inspection and replaced it with a more stout one, , figured if replacing why not improve on things!
SO< like I said, NO bash here, but all brands of trailers can have and DO have wear parts that need inspections , as don't forget we tow these things in very harsh conditions , with road salt and them chemical solutions they spray are all METAL eating chemicals and elements!
aluminum doesn't rust, but it has other issues that can develop over time and exposure to vibrations and use, that can lead to it failing , just like metal can rust , aluminum welds are known to crack over time, pending quality and placement of them
and don't forget tires?
they have dates on them for a reason, just cause they got as lot of thread left doesn't mean there actually GOOD tires still, age alone can be a cause of a tire failure even if they LOOK good! and as stated before they also have speed ratings, sine so many these days like to tow at hi speeds!
and last bearings and brakes, all wear parts!
HOW long a trailer lasts like most things comes down to how well you take care of it or not, there not made to last forever on there own, and are full of parts that wear out, rust and need adjusting and replacing! to be safe and reliable!
and I'll add this too, WHERE you park a trailer makes a big difference on how things last, big difference in parking a trailer indoors and outside exposed to elements, as well as parking it on say concrete as to parking it on grass, trapping moisture UNDER a trailer leads to faster rusting and corrosion issue's
more a trailer is exposed to moisture temp changes, or even pending storage of it, how long it sits between uses!
the more you should inspect it IMO!,
So again, NO bash here, but if most folks did good annual inspections, most failures would be caught in advance
