Alabama Chrome and a Pop Can

We hadn't used the raft in a couple months and something had me saying, "hmm, I wonder if we should repack the bearings"

Thank god we did

The guys at the local tire shop said they'd give it the college try and see what they could do to save the unit.  I was resigned to the fact that after all the trips to steelheadland, BC, North Idaho, here and there had finally caught up with us and I was going to have to cough up a 5 or so Benjamin's

The bearing cap had come off and internally it was a mess.  The axel was metal on metal and it wasn't looking good.  Swear word, swear word, swear word.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Swear word, swear word again.

To my surprise, they salvaged it and for a small fee they repacked the bearings and we're good to go.

No way.

The only thing was the axel ground out the area where the bearing cap clicks into.

A quick tip from a trailer shop in town and we were off.  Who knew a pop can cut in half saddled up with some Alabama chrome is the perfect stand in for a bearing cap?

We were going fishing, and necessity is the mother of invention, right?

What other fishing hacks have you discovered, share them here.