Beware Mario's Trailers

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

I recently (16 month sago) purchased a brand new top of the range galvanised tandem Car Trailer from Mario's Trailers.

To date it has travelled around 3000-4000km in that time, I used it about two weeks ago and a wheel bearing failed with the wheel coming off at 100km/hr as I was cruising along.

To cut a long story short I eventually got the trailer home at great expense (was around 150km from home). I did not think too much off it till a few days later I checked the other bearings and all were about to do the same, all bearings were no name brand made in China. It also damaged the stub axles requiring a new axle.

I contacted Mario's trailers and asked for the axle to be replaced due to their use of inferior parts and was told that it was my fault for not maintaining the trailer, and that there was nothing wrong with their bearings. After some discussion they refused to acknowledge any wrong doing. I ended up replacing the axle, all trailer hubs and all bearings with quality items all at my expense.

To say I am not happy is an understatement, if they had told me they were going to use rubbish bearings i would have payed the extra for decent quality bearings, they are putting life's at risk doing this, it's only a matter of luck no one got hurt or killed and that there was minimal property damage.

Just something to keep in mind when buying a new trailer. Personally I would avoid these people like the plague.

[Itsme]

I usually service my trailer after every big trip, if doing local run arounds then service every 12 months regardless of mileage.
I've always seen a lot of failures with trailer wheels & believe in more regular servicing than a car, most people often fail to check their trailers.

[Dr Terry]

Unfortunately the use of Chinese parts is rampant throughout the auto industry.

I wouldn't blame Mario's Trailers solely or directly (although they could have handled the situation a little better) because they may not have known about the source of the parts. Their parts man probably just orders bearings or complete hubs, from the same supplier he has always relied upon. You will probably find that even the part number has remained the same.

I don't know about warranty on the parts or complete trailers but regardless of that, you should be checking or repacking trailer bearings every 12 months at the least.

If that had been done, a partially failed bearing would've been noticed giving both you & Mario Trailers a chance to replace them & make a warranty claim.

You would expect Timken style wheel bearings to last longer, but with most of this stuff now being manufactured in 3rd world countries, we get what we pay for.

Dr Terry

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Bearings were checked and adjusted at rego time (12 month old), checking them is not the point, using cheap Chinese parts is the point and the trailer manufacturer refusing to acknowledge any fault for using inferior no brand no name parts manufactured in a third world country with no quality control.

I have other trailers, my main trailer is around 18 years old, and still uses the original wheel bearings that are still good, the trailer has done trips around Australia, and in the last fortnight has travelled close to 2000km without missing a beat.

I know about maintenance and servicing, been servicing my own cars and trailers for 30 years and have never had a bearing fail, or never been stranded on the side of the road.

No wheel bearing should fail after 3000km, The trailer has four bearings sets, one has failed completely and the other three were about to, I doubt if they used Timkin or similar bearings there would be an issue with a brand new trailer.

[Express]

I tend to believe a manufacturer should know where their parts are sourced from and would definitely know what they are paying and therefore what you’d expected for that price.

I also believe from a manufacturer’s perspective a failure of this type under these circumstances should have been addressed better.

Now when someone searches Mario’s Trailers they’ll see a post discussing the failure of cheap Chinese parts.

[Tonz]

Surely you have a Dept Fair Trade/ Consumer Affairs in your state what about NRMA have a chin wag with their legal eagles and see where you go from

[Stefan]

Surely you have a Dept Fair Trade/ Consumer Affairs in your state what about NRMA have a chin wag with their legal eagles and see where you go from

Website says 12 month warranty, why would Mario replace a part after 16 months?

Don't trailers need an independent roadworthy at rego renewal?

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Express

I tend to believe a manufacturer should know where their parts are sourced from and would definitely know what they are paying and therefore what you’d expected for that price.

I also believe from a manufacturer’s perspective a failure of this type under these circumstances should have been addressed better.

Now when someone searches Mario’s Trailers they’ll see a post discussing the failure of cheap Chinese parts.

Exactly my point, I only started this thread as Mario's Trailers completely washed their hands of this, if they had replaced the axle and used quality parts we would not be here discussing this.

And I 100% agree that the manufacturer should be aware of the parts they use and where they come from, it is not hard or overly expensive to use quality bearings (the main wear part of a trailer). And yes I feel this should have been handled very differently by Mario's Trailers, I certainly would be treating reports like this seriously if I was building trailers.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Website says 12 month warranty, why would Mario replace a part after 16 months?

Don't trailers need an independent roadworthy at rego renewal?

Well it does state above that the bearings were serviced and adjusted at rego time, but it's probably a bit much to take in all at once.

Why would they?? Because they have used poor quality parts that are not fit for purpose, I recently had $6000 worth of work done on my family car 4 years after it went out of warranty, why?? Because the parts were not fit for purpose and the manufacturer took responsibility and fixed the issues they caused.

They even provided me with a hire car for three months while mine was off the road, it's something I call customer service and taking responsibility for your product, with second to none customer service. Unlike Mario's who refuse to replace parts that have done around 3000km, any reasonable person would consider that a brand new trailer with brand new hubs and bearings worth several thousands of $$ would last longer than 3000km.

[whitelion65]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPcZ1PPQMZ4

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by whitelion65

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPcZ1PPQMZ4

Yep and all that for the sake of a $25 set of quality bearings.

[Stefan]

I was helping a mate start a bathroom reno business, he had his heart in the right place, used quality materials, taps, tiles, most expensive membrane etc. Never won a job...too expensive. Explained he was using good taps tiles etc. No good, cheap is what people wanted.

I'm sure building trailers is no different.

No idea is Mario is cheap or not...

Easier to hire a trailer when I need one.

[Express]

Originally Posted by Stefan

I was helping a mate start a bathroom reno business, he had his heart in the right place, used quality materials, taps, tiles, most expensive membrane etc. Never won a job...too expensive. Explained he was using good taps tiles etc. No good, cheap is what people wanted.

What someone should have taught him was how to quote a job to suit the customer's needs.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Stefan

I was helping a mate start a bathroom reno business, he had his heart in the right place, used quality materials, taps, tiles, most expensive membrane etc. Never won a job...too expensive. Explained he was using good taps tiles etc. No good, cheap is what people wanted.

I'm sure building trailers is no different.

No idea is Mario is cheap or not...

Easier to hire a trailer when I need one.

Mario's trailers is not cheap but not overly expensive either.

Quality wheel bearings are $15-25 a set, not sure how much cheap Chines ones are, but I certainly would have paid the difference if I had known or been given a choice.

In the end cheap has cost me hundreds of $$ extra now and has put my car, my safety, other motorists and pedestrians safety and my property at risk, it also left me stranded on the side of the road for around 6 hours.

If you are happy to hire a trailer than that is fine, I would rather use my own, but how does that relate to Mario's trailers using inferior parts putting lives and property at risk??

Originally Posted by Express

What someone should have taught him was how to quote a job to suit the customer's needs.

If you keep talking sense on this forum someone will ban you If you are quoting for a bathroom in a 5 million $$ mansion would be differnet to quoting a bathroom for someone living in a unit in Villawood. One wants gold plated taps the other wants cheap lino floors

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Express

What someone should have taught him was how to quote a job to suit the customer's needs.

He learnt quick...experience is the best teacher. We all start with stars in our eyes wanting to provide the best product you can.

[blackf6]

You would expect the bearings to last longer. Depending on use. But in this day and age, good service is few and far between. You live and learn. Now your trailer will be better than new.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by DeJaVu GT

You would expect the bearings to last longer. Depending on use. But in this day and age, good service is few and far between. You live and learn. Now your trailer will be better than new.

Yes you do live and learn, the trailer now runs quality US made bearings that will probably last 10-15 years.

This is mainly a warning for anyone considering buying one of these, as I don't really want to see anyone else go through this, and I certainly don't want to be driving down the motorway and see someone towing one of these trailers, possibly killing me or a family member when one of the wheels goes flying.

People here are likely to own and use and buy car trailers, so let this be a warning, and I just checked this thread comes up on a Google search so might warn a few unsuspecting buyers, wheel bearings are cheap but the consequences can be life long.

Don't really know how these people sleep at night with todays litigation laws.

[msman]

most builders will quote bare trailer at lowest price using the cheapest parts.
then you add/upgrade what you want and the price starts going up.
japanese bearings +$xx
heavy duty hubs +$xx
narva lights/plugs +$xx
new wheels tyres +$xx
and so on

thats what all my locals do anyway.
Mario's should have made a sales pitch surely? money for them to make?

this thread reminds me need to check bearings on my trailer

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by msman

most builders will quote bare trailer at lowest price using the cheapest parts.
then you add/upgrade what you want and the price starts going up.
japanese bearings +$xx
heavy duty hubs +$xx
narva lights/plugs +$xx
new wheels tyres +$xx
and so on

thats what all my locals do anyway.
Mario's should have made a sales pitch surely? money for them to make?

this thread reminds me need to check bearings on my trailer

No sales pitch, I wish they had told me about the bearings and I would certainly have paid the extra, or swapped them out myself after buying the trailer, I also changed the side marker lights myself after buying the trailer as the ones on there did not even make it home before falling apart. I have also replaced the manual winch they fitted as it lasted getting one car up on the trailer before giving up, but I was not even worried about that and replaced those items within days of getting the trailer.

The bearings and damage they caused is what got up my nose and their response to it.

[XBROO]

Micheal I think I would have took the lights and the winch as a warning sign. Probably best to go around and inspect the welds also, I don't think I'd buy anything but fish and chips from a business called Mario's.

[MattSAU2XR8]

Agree with above - doesn't sound very professional :-)

On the topic of expected life though, it really seems that Mario should consider doing a recall since a lot of buyers might mot expect a wheel to fall off their trailer after 4000 kms use since it's pretty nearly unheard of for a wheel to fall of a car, or heaven forbid a motorbike, for at least 100,000 kms.

I do sympathise with Mario a little though - Govco really need to look at restricting importation of vehicle (and probably house and workplace) parts known to be inherently dangerous. This would be pretty simple - they could just call Mario, get his supplier's name, and offer them the option of either proving their bearings are of decent quality, or ceasing to sell them. Obviously the person doing the testing would need to buy an 'off the shelf' set rather than having a special set sent to him by the supplier...

If the dodgy suppliers were weeded out then there would be mechanism for competition to lead to their sale

[cs123]

How do you know the bearing failed because it was cheap Chinese ****? Could have been an adjustment issue, could have been an installation issue.

Not too keen to see a manufacturer being slagged off like this for a bearing failure 16 months after sale.

[MrEL]

I had a business building custom made trailers and metal fab.
Used the best of everything , built stuff bomb proof and to the customers wants.
Problem is the best costs more. People didnt want to pay for quality and they didnt want to wait for it to be built.
What do you carry on the trailer anyway? If you carry anything over about 1200kg you are technically overloading the trailer and voiding your warranty anyway.

[XBROO]

You couldn't call it a car trailer if it only carried a maximum of 1200kg

[XR398BOSS]

A few years ago we got a brand new Mario trailer at work. The boss asked me to see why the lights weren't working after a couple of weeks.
I could not believe how dodgey it had been built. I found a lot of unpainted steel and bird crap welds. The wiring was terrible, unprotected cable running tightly over sharp edges from steel that wasn't de-burred after cutting, and poor cable terminations. They even used scotch locks!!! Basically, we rewired the whole trailer because of the crap job they did.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by cs123

How do you know the bearing failed because it was cheap Chinese ****? Could have been an adjustment issue, could have been an installation issue.

Not too keen to see a manufacturer being slagged off like this for a bearing failure 16 months after sale.

Originally Posted by XBROO

You couldn't call it a car trailer if it only carried a maximum of 1200kg

Four out of four bearing after 3000km is a sure sign there is a problem, the hubs and axles are rated at 2000kg, it's only the brakes on the trailer in this case that nominate load capacity.

There was no adjustment installation issue apart from the fact that they are crap bearings. (I have saved all communication and receipts and photos in case they complain about this thread and others I have started, I will also be leaving feed back on other sites I have found) This thread was only started after the manufacturer refused to enter into any communication and blamed me for not servicing the bearings, the bearings were checked at registration time and the trailer had only done about 1500km at that time, the trailer has now done 3000km at most, and half of that would have been unloaded ie carrying no load at all.

A reasonable person would not expect to pay the best part of 5K for a trailer and a wheel to fall off after 1500km of effective use, this trailer has not been abused and most km's were done on motorways, no dirt roads or rough roads, the trailer has only carried rolling shells without interiors and drivelines, so a few hundred KG at best.

What I am saying is this trailer has had very little serious use and several hundred of the km's would have been carrying horse hay ie a 150kg round bail.

I am not an idiot and I know about maintenance and looking after my stuff, you will find my trailers, bikes, cars, etc etc are better maintained and serviced that 99% of the other stuff around. My general use, box/bike/camping trailer is 18 years old and still looks brand new and is perfectly maintained and does thousands and thousands of KM a year and a lot on dirt roads, never an issue with it.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by XR398BOSS

A few years ago we got a brand new Mario trailer at work. The boss asked me to see why the lights weren't working after a couple of weeks.
I could not believe how dodgey it had been built. I found a lot of unpainted steel and bird crap welds. The wiring was terrible, unprotected cable running tightly over sharp edges from steel that wasn't de-burred after cutting, and poor cable terminations. They even used scotch locks!!! Basically, we rewired the whole trailer because of the crap job they did.

Funny you should mention the scotch locks I got rid of most of them when I fitted new side marker lights (the original side markers literally fell apart by the time I got the trailer home), used a soldering iron and some heat shrinks (not that hard to do), also fitted a new plug as the one they had fitted also fell apart when I pulled it out the socket on the car.

My trailer if fully galvanised and the welds appear to be good, so might be the luck of the draw.

[The Yeti]

Bloody hell,

My 8x5 single axle box trailer is a Marios trailer

I couldn't tell you what brand the bearings are I've had it to QLD Canberra the beach house dozens of times in fact over the past 2 years I couldn't tell you a week it didn't cart something somewhere.

That said I have a regular routine where the week before Xmas I repack the wheel bearings and adjust it, that's because I really have know idea how many km's it's done in a year and I'm terrified of being that guy stuck on the highway with a missing wheel.

Thanks for the heads up though, I'll have a look for a brand on them in a few weeks when I give it its birthday, I'm not fussed if they are no names as long as they work ok (had the trailer since 2010 so if they were faulty I'd know by now

My biggest issue with the trailer is the poor quality lights and wireing, I didn't waste my time going back though I just scrapped the crap lights and replaced them with quality LED lights and descent wireing took less time than taking it back.

The paint was crap and missing in spots but I didn't notice this until I did the lights and at its birthday I gave it a POR15 blow all over

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

Bloody hell,

My 8x5 single axle box trailer is a Marios trailer

I couldn't tell you what brand the bearings are I've had it to QLD Canberra the beach house dozens of times in fact over the past 2 years I couldn't tell you a week it didn't cart something somewhere.

That said I have a regular routine where the week before Xmas I repack the wheel bearings and adjust it, that's because I really have know idea how many km's it's done in a year and I'm terrified of being that guy stuck on the highway with a missing wheel.

Thanks for the heads up though, I'll have a look for a brand on them in a few weeks when I give it its birthday, I'm not fussed if they are no names as long as they work ok (had the trailer since 2010 so if they were faulty I'd know by now

May be they used better bearings when your trailer was build, these Chinese no brand bearings may only be a recent thing (my trailer is not even a year and half old).

I would check them and replace with a set of Timkin or similar quality bearings, cheap insurance. I am even that fussy and since I do long trips I carry a spare set of bearings with me when ever I take the trailer on trips, did close to 2000km with my box trailer pictured above last week loaded with tools, generators and building materials to work on my acreage property.

Had a spare set of bearings in my glove box the whole time.

[Xauterus]

What brand of bearing did you end up fitting?