Repacking the wheel bearings

[Saskatchewan]

We have a lightweight single axle travel trailer we don't use all that much each year. Last year we put around 25 hours of highway travel on it. It as the same the previous year. Is it necessary to get the wheel bearings repacked after so little use?

[Huntindog]

RCMAN46 wrote:

jimlj wrote:
Me? I stop every two miles and check the hub to see if it is over ambient temperature. If it is I stop for two hours and allow it to cool down..

Every time I stop for fuel or a pit stop I go around the rig and I look at all of the tires and touch each bearing hub on the trailer.

If I find one that is significantly hotter than the others I do not wait for it to cool off to continue but find a safe place to remove the hub a determine what is wrong.

I stop every 4-5 miles on the way to work every day to do the same for my car. Having a heck of a time keeping a job, as punching in on time has been a problem. The good news is that I have not had a bearing failure.

[RCMAN46]

jimlj wrote:
Me? I stop every two miles and check the hub to see if it is over ambient temperature. If it is I stop for two hours and allow it to cool down..

Every time I stop for fuel or a pit stop I go around the rig and I look at all of the tires and touch each bearing hub on the trailer.

If I find one that is significantly hotter than the others I do not wait for it to cool off to continue but find a safe place to remove the hub a determine what is wrong.

[jimlj]

Me? I take grease with me and if I'm driving over 20 miles I stop on the side of the road and re-pack the bearings. I stop every two miles and check the hub to see if it is over ambient temperature. If it is I stop for two hours and allow it to cool down. I only use NASA approved grease they use on the sperving bearings on the disgronifier coupler. I've never had a problem using this method in over 50 miles of towing. (just kidding)

I'm old enough to have owned and driven several cars with the same type of bearings my TT has. I never thought twice about going years and years between packing the bearings. Usually it got done when the drum was removed to check the brakes. There is a '66 Mustang in the garage right now that had new brakes put on it when I bought it 10 years ago. I packed the bearings at that time and have not thought twice about it since. If they are done properly, I don't think 10,000 miles is too far between having the bearings greased. I'm in the "I could care less when it was last done" crowd when buying a used trailer. I'm going to check it when I get home and not worry for many years.

[facory]

It is good practice to have the wheel bearing both cleaned and repacked every year. Also at that time the brakes should be checked and adjusted if needed. It is low cost insurance that your trip will be trouble free and that if you need the brakes they will be there.

[jfkmk]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

jfkmk wrote:
Why is it scary? Do or did you pull the hubs every year on your TV? Why not? Scary! LOL
The bearings on my tv are sealed, no maintenance bearings. Basically run to failure. No maintenance required.


You do realize that the bearing system is a sealed system don't you?
Er...no they're not.

What's scary is running a bearing that you have no idea when it's going to fail. Sealed bearing are just that; sealed. You have no idea whether 5 miles left in them or 100,000 miles left in them.

Not true. The sealed hub assemblies start making quite a bit of noise, especially when you go around corners, as they start to fail.

I don't know what kind of axels you have on your trailers but every single one of mine has a lip seal on the rear of the hub and a interference fit hub cap on the front. Some even have a tiny O ring on the hub cap that keeps micro contaminants out. So ya, that's a sealed system whether you think so or not.

Yes, I have bearing seals on my axLEs, but they're not truly sealed. Fine particulate contaminates can get to the bearings.

Place, as in ranch. I have a lot of axels and a lot of bearings. Never had one bearing failure ever on well over a dozen trailers I have owned over my life.


Your money, your
Obviously, I don't know your ranch. I am willing to bet, however, that none of the trailers and their associated axLEs and bearings see the mileage and extended highway speeds an rv sees.
Not sure why you say "scare away". I never said I was scared of anything. Do I maintain my trailer? Absolutely. Do I think it's worth an hour a year plus <$10 to ensure I don't have any bearing or brake issues for the season? Absolutely. Yup, it's my $10 and 1 hour. Small investment. :B

[falconbrother]

#1nobby wrote:
I'm an aircraft mechanic. We are all about preventative maintenance.

That being said....I do it myself and then monitor my mileage.

Cheap a** Chinese bearings need a little more love....so for me 5 years or 10,000 miles.

I do hope they didn't use Chinese bearings on these axles. That does make a difference. My best experience with tapered roller bearings is on Harleys. If you keep the OE HD bearings greased and packed they will virtually never wear out. I think they are Timkens. Nevertheless, American or German bearings are much better IMO.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

jfkmk wrote:
Why is it scary? Do or did you pull the hubs every year on your TV? Why not? Scary! LOL
The bearings on my tv are sealed, no maintenance bearings. Basically run to failure. No maintenance required.


You do realize that the bearing system is a sealed system don't you?
Er...no they're not.

What's scary is running a bearing that you have no idea when it's going to fail. Sealed bearing are just that; sealed. You have no idea whether 5 miles left in them or 100,000 miles left in them.

I don't know what kind of axels you have on your trailers but every single one of mine has a lip seal on the rear of the hub and a interference fit hub cap on the front. Some even have a tiny O ring on the hub cap that keeps micro contaminants out. So ya, that's a sealed system whether you think so or not.

Place, as in ranch. I have a lot of axels and a lot of bearings. Never had one bearing failure ever on well over a dozen trailers I have owned over my life.

Your money, your time; scary away. :B

[deltabravo]

old guy wrote:
if they build a TT that is so apt to have something go wrong and if they build them so nilly nelly what makes you think they packed the wheel bearings right the the first time when they put them together.

The RV manufacturers don't assemble the axles, they come assembled from the axle manufacturer, and are greased good (we hope)... but repacking the bearings on a new trailer, or at least inspecting them, is a very good idea.

[facory]

Check the brakes and clean/repack the bearings every year. You may not think they need it, but you will be surprised what can happen in only one year. Better safe than sorry.

[goducks10]

jfkmk wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
If I am the buyer, I couldn't care less if you inspected them every 20 miles or 20 years....

It would make a big difference to me. If you haven't done such simple maintenance like repacking the bearings in 20 years then, to me, there are other things you've ignored as well.

I wouldn't necessarily take what a seller was saying as the truth. Something like brakes and bearings are items that I would inspect after a sale. No different than some guy saying all fluids were changed recently in the used rig you're looking at. Unless they have a work order from a shop showing that it's been done, I'll assume it wasn't and plan accordingly.

[_1nobby]

I'm an aircraft mechanic. We are all about preventative maintenance.

That being said....I do it myself and then monitor my mileage.

Cheap a** Chinese bearings need a little more love....so for me 5 years or 10,000 miles.

[jfkmk]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

spike99 wrote:
Inspecting brakes every 7 years???? Scary...

Remember....

There's reasons why many regions are forcing mandatory annual brake inspections on trailers. They are forcing the law because people don't understand the reasons to do it annually. When inspecting (clean and replace worn out parts) brakes, then repack the bearings with fresh grease at same time. Easy DIY task - since hubs are off anyway. And, it saves lives as well...

And when selling your trailer, remember to tell possible buyers you do annual brake inspections and bearing care. Tell them you do it every 7 years and see how fast they run away.... LOL!!!

Why is it scary? Do or did you pull the hubs every year on your TV? Why not? Scary! LOL
The bearings on my tv are sealed, no maintenance bearings. Basically run to failure. No maintenance required.
What are you going to do when you get a trailer with sealed cassette bearings? How are you going to inspect them?
Then I guess you don't have to repack them

You do realize that the bearing system is a sealed system don't you?
Er...no they're not.
If you use a good quality grease it's there for life. And for all you nit pickers yes I know that "some" inferior greases will separate. I don't use those and my recommendation is you don't either.

I have hubs on my place that are over 50 YO. Pull the hub and guess what? Yep, grease still there. Bearings still there and in good shape.
Place???
Remember.......

There's reasons there are states that don't let you pump your own fuel. They are forcing the law because people don't understand how complex and dangerous it is to pump your own fuel!! SCARY!!!!

And it saves lives as well!!......... :B :B

[jfkmk]

spoon059 wrote:
If I am the buyer, I couldn't care less if you inspected them every 20 miles or 20 years....

It would make a big difference to me. If you haven't done such simple maintenance like repacking the bearings in 20 years then, to me, there are other things you've ignored as well.

[hawkeye-08]

If the bearings are done properly and you have light use, there is no reason to repack yearly, but I would not go beyond perhaps 3-4 years due to reasons posted above about making sure the grease is up to the task. I would also likely repack sooner if a longer trip was planned (maybe more than 100 miles from home)..