Wheel Bearing Maintenance
- Thread starter Pinklady
- Start date
jnbhobe
Well-known member
I do mine about every three years, that is around 35K for me. I also know how and by who they were done, ME !! Factory says 12 mo. or 12K.
1231ChaseB
Well-known member
I guess if this was a boat trailer and it was put in the water regular i would think yearly would be good ! But JMHO every year is over kill ! If the grease is NOT coming out at the seal's then it is still in there !
chaseb
chaseb
With those never lube equipped axles, you have to be careful to not pump in too much grease, which will easily blows by the seals. My last new coach, I pulled the drums off becuase my brakes didn't work very well. I found the grease all over inside the drums. I think I will repack mine by hand, and not use the grease fitting.
caissiel
Senior Member
I do mine when hecking the brakes. Done them 3 years ago. Last trailer brakes lasted over 12 years. So no rush to check them as I already had to do them when trailer was new by myself and I know it was done right. I do check hub and wheet temp when traveling where there is heat there is trouble.
At work we had equipment that lasted 20 years with grease lub without ever taken appart. Never lub bearings never need repack so does mine.
DO not forget to turn wheels when using zerks on the hubs or the seals will be ruined as mine was when new.
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At work we had equipment that lasted 20 years with grease lub without ever taken appart. Never lub bearings never need repack so does mine.
DO not forget to turn wheels when using zerks on the hubs or the seals will be ruined as mine was when new.
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porthole
Retired
From new, I think I would do them after the first season just to make sure they were done right. After that - most likely I would trade the trialer before repacking again (provided I was the re-packer the first time)
I have yet to check the bearings on the Cyclone. They were replaced when the disc brakes were installed when new. I have the up most confidence that the bearings were packed and installed correctly by MOR/ryde.
I have yet to check the bearings on the Cyclone. They were replaced when the disc brakes were installed when new. I have the up most confidence that the bearings were packed and installed correctly by MOR/ryde.
The best info you got was from porthole. Repack them yourself soon after purchase using synthetic grease and do it by hand. I would never recommend using the grease gun approach. Reread what post #6 said. He checked them and the drums were full of grease. Where do you think the grease came from??? By forcing grease into an already full axle hub and the inner seal blew out and allowed the grease to get on the shoes and drums. That is a very questionable system. By pass it and do it by hand then you will know that it's done correctly. The bearings are under a greater stress than normal because we don't always know the exact loading that we are placing on it. By using synthetic grease, which will outlast regular grease 10 fold, and doing it ourselves then you know it's correct.
JMTCW
TeJay
JMTCW
TeJay
JohnDar
Prolifically Gabby Member
I take my rig to the dealer in the spring, before our season starts and have them repack the wheel bearings along with their brake inspection. I also have them check the appliances, particularly the fridge. Last year, I had them run the SealTest on the rig (no problems found). To say doing it myself sitting in the storage yard would guarantee it's done right would be questionable.
JohnDar,
Your point is well taken. As a retired teacher I never had the extra $$$$ to pay others to do much of my stuff around the house and vehicles. Soooo I taught/learned my self how to do most everything that needed to be done. As we became more financially secure I have paid to have some things done and it is nice. Then there's still the added issue of finding someone who will do the work close to my standards. With my background in the automotive repair area I usually try to get to know the techs that may be working on my vehicle. I always try to not come off as a, "Know it all." because I realize how that would probably be received. Several years ago our brand new (1,000 miles) Honda CRV had an obvious rear wheel bearing noise. Under warranty I took it into the dealer, explained a little of my background and told them that I was fairly sure it was the RR wheel bearing. I was assured by the service manager that they almost never go bad and he was sure it was something else. I picked the vehicle up two hours later after they changed the RR wheel bearing. The service manager never said a word nor did he apologize for his lousy judgement.
If a person can do some of the required preventive maintenance, as many seem to be able to do on this forum, that would be the preferred approach. If you have the knowledge nobody will do a better job on your rig than YOU. If you can't or choose not to do the service you're good to go if you have a service facility that you know and trust. If you don't have a good choice for a service facility gaining some basic knowledge about the service may help in maybe determining if they can/will perform the proper maintenance. I usually start with a few pointed questions. 1. Do you use synthetic wheel bearing grease? If no then why not??? 2. How do you determine the correct wheel bearing adjustment. 3. When you perform a complete brake replacement do you machine the drums?? 4. When doing a brake job do you replace the retracting springs or self-adjusters?? I believe I know the most correct responses to these questions based on my experiences so If they answer these questions satisfactorily then I would allow them to perform the service.
One last point. When routine service is performed more often than is normally necessary I believe you are opening yourself up to possible problems. Anybody can make a mistake. It is still my belief that servicing wheel bearings more than every 30,000 to 35,000 miles or every 2-3 years is not necessary. When we had front wheel bearings that required service we only did it when we did a brake job which was usually 35,000 to 40,000 miles. I also realize that we may overload our bearings. If a bearing is overloaded I don't believe servicing them every year will prevent them from going bad because they were overloaded. So if they worked for a year (overloaded or not) then they should work for another year. Excessive heat generated by overloading is going to destroy the hardness of the bearings and that will probably happen before the first year is up. Performing an inspection of the brakes is worth some piece of mind. JMTCW
TeJay
Your point is well taken. As a retired teacher I never had the extra $$$$ to pay others to do much of my stuff around the house and vehicles. Soooo I taught/learned my self how to do most everything that needed to be done. As we became more financially secure I have paid to have some things done and it is nice. Then there's still the added issue of finding someone who will do the work close to my standards. With my background in the automotive repair area I usually try to get to know the techs that may be working on my vehicle. I always try to not come off as a, "Know it all." because I realize how that would probably be received. Several years ago our brand new (1,000 miles) Honda CRV had an obvious rear wheel bearing noise. Under warranty I took it into the dealer, explained a little of my background and told them that I was fairly sure it was the RR wheel bearing. I was assured by the service manager that they almost never go bad and he was sure it was something else. I picked the vehicle up two hours later after they changed the RR wheel bearing. The service manager never said a word nor did he apologize for his lousy judgement.
If a person can do some of the required preventive maintenance, as many seem to be able to do on this forum, that would be the preferred approach. If you have the knowledge nobody will do a better job on your rig than YOU. If you can't or choose not to do the service you're good to go if you have a service facility that you know and trust. If you don't have a good choice for a service facility gaining some basic knowledge about the service may help in maybe determining if they can/will perform the proper maintenance. I usually start with a few pointed questions. 1. Do you use synthetic wheel bearing grease? If no then why not??? 2. How do you determine the correct wheel bearing adjustment. 3. When you perform a complete brake replacement do you machine the drums?? 4. When doing a brake job do you replace the retracting springs or self-adjusters?? I believe I know the most correct responses to these questions based on my experiences so If they answer these questions satisfactorily then I would allow them to perform the service.
One last point. When routine service is performed more often than is normally necessary I believe you are opening yourself up to possible problems. Anybody can make a mistake. It is still my belief that servicing wheel bearings more than every 30,000 to 35,000 miles or every 2-3 years is not necessary. When we had front wheel bearings that required service we only did it when we did a brake job which was usually 35,000 to 40,000 miles. I also realize that we may overload our bearings. If a bearing is overloaded I don't believe servicing them every year will prevent them from going bad because they were overloaded. So if they worked for a year (overloaded or not) then they should work for another year. Excessive heat generated by overloading is going to destroy the hardness of the bearings and that will probably happen before the first year is up. Performing an inspection of the brakes is worth some piece of mind. JMTCW
TeJay
GOTTOYS
Well-known member
I too agree agree with Porthole. Mine were greased very well from the factory when I checked them..They greased the bearings, blew it past the seals, greased the brake shoes, magnets, brake drums...If I had never taken a look at it and would have just pumped more grease into it, I would never have gotten my brakes working properly...Don
JohnDar
Prolifically Gabby Member
Well, from reading all of these posts, maybe getting my bearings repacked annually is overkill, based on the limited towing we do. Granted, the "manual" says every 12 months or 12,000 miles, but I likely could stretch it out to every two or three years and get away with it. But I did learn the expensive way what happens when bearings are neglected for an extended period on our pontoon trailer. It's lucky if it moved a 100 yards each year since 2003, until two years ago, when I needed to pull it 5 miles. Destroyed one bearing completely to where the wheel almost came off and the other three needed to be replaced, as well.
But, if I can afford to have someone else do the work that I'm not comfortable with, skilled at, or equipped for, it's the way it is. Whatever your personal financial situation or skill set background is may dictate otherwise for you.
But, if I can afford to have someone else do the work that I'm not comfortable with, skilled at, or equipped for, it's the way it is. Whatever your personal financial situation or skill set background is may dictate otherwise for you.
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Had ours done about 13000k and a little over a year, by a place that Dexter recommended for service/ installs. He said they were in good shape. He repacked and new seals, plus adjusted brakes, for $162.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TTT,
That's not a bad price for the work and if they last for another trip and then additional trips up to the next service interval then they did a good job because nothing broke. The only thing they can screw up if they hand pack the bearings and install the seals correctly is the wheel bearing clearance. It should be .001 to .003.
John,
You know why the pontoon boat failed?? Submerging the axle in water twice a year or more and leaving the water in the hub. That's why the boat trailer industry adopted the, "Pump the sucker full of grease" procedure to maybe displace the water in the axle so the bearings might not rust.
As far as the industry adopting the 12 months or 12,000 miles bearing service interval I believe they are trying to cover their butts. In my 35 years in the class room I never had a bearing failure following bearing service provided the students did it correctly. I always checked each and every job before it left the shop. I also questioned each student as to the procedures to assure that they were done correctly. I did have one student respond when I asked how tight he tightened the axle nut and he said, "As tight as the impact wrench would allow me." Needless to say we had a failure to communicate. The procedure was corrected and he was also watched more closely. Hey they are kids but they were a lot of fun to work with. When you serviced faculty vehicles you had to be very careful and we were.
I believe the classic student screw up happened one day when I asked a student to finish a rear brake job that we had started earlier in the day. He was not the sharpest knife in the drawer so I was careful what I asked him to do. The job was all but done except the drums and wheels. He finished, took the vehicle out came back and said that the brakes didn't work very well. I had him put it back on the lift and when we took the tires off and he forgotten to install the drums. We had to watch that one very closely until he graduated at the end of that year. Rest assured he never went into the field as a technician.
Love those stories.
TeJay
That's not a bad price for the work and if they last for another trip and then additional trips up to the next service interval then they did a good job because nothing broke. The only thing they can screw up if they hand pack the bearings and install the seals correctly is the wheel bearing clearance. It should be .001 to .003.
John,
You know why the pontoon boat failed?? Submerging the axle in water twice a year or more and leaving the water in the hub. That's why the boat trailer industry adopted the, "Pump the sucker full of grease" procedure to maybe displace the water in the axle so the bearings might not rust.
As far as the industry adopting the 12 months or 12,000 miles bearing service interval I believe they are trying to cover their butts. In my 35 years in the class room I never had a bearing failure following bearing service provided the students did it correctly. I always checked each and every job before it left the shop. I also questioned each student as to the procedures to assure that they were done correctly. I did have one student respond when I asked how tight he tightened the axle nut and he said, "As tight as the impact wrench would allow me." Needless to say we had a failure to communicate. The procedure was corrected and he was also watched more closely. Hey they are kids but they were a lot of fun to work with. When you serviced faculty vehicles you had to be very careful and we were.
I believe the classic student screw up happened one day when I asked a student to finish a rear brake job that we had started earlier in the day. He was not the sharpest knife in the drawer so I was careful what I asked him to do. The job was all but done except the drums and wheels. He finished, took the vehicle out came back and said that the brakes didn't work very well. I had him put it back on the lift and when we took the tires off and he forgotten to install the drums. We had to watch that one very closely until he graduated at the end of that year. Rest assured he never went into the field as a technician.
Love those stories.
TeJay
porthole
Retired
TeJay - I've been reading several of your posts on bearings and find myself in agreement with your logic. I have a 2012 Big Country 3590 with a little over 8000 miles on it (bought it in April 2012) and what to do about my wheel bearings is beginning to concern me since we are planning a long trip to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks.
What would you advise? My inclination is to have PPL in Houston service my bearings/brakes before we leave but 'over-maintenance' is of concern to me also (not the cost). BTW, What temps should the hubs run on a typical summer day (90-100 degrees). Any advice you could give would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
What would you advise? My inclination is to have PPL in Houston service my bearings/brakes before we leave but 'over-maintenance' is of concern to me also (not the cost). BTW, What temps should the hubs run on a typical summer day (90-100 degrees). Any advice you could give would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
icechex,
If you have to have somebody perform the service here's what I'd do. I would expect that they remove all wheels and bearings. Hand pack and no grease guns. When the technician removes the bearings do not allow them to wash the bearings with solvent for two very important reasons. A good tech will examine the grease that is present in each bearing. Wipe the grease off some and examine the grease in the rag. If there are any little sparkles in the grease the bearings are bad. THEY MUST BE REPLACED. Secondly using solvent can be bad if all of it is not removed. The solvent will compromise the new grease. Insist on using synthetic grease and hand pack the bearings. Provide it if they won't. That stuff is 10 X's better. Next line the inside of the hub with about a 1/4" layer of grease. The only reason is to provide a moisture barrier. Filling the hub with grease acts as a heat dam which prevents heat loss from the bearings and brakes. Besides the fact that the grease will be exactly where you put it in 2,3,5,or 10 years. It does not flow so why put it there.
Of course new grease seals. Adjusting the bearing clearance is very critical. Here's what I taught and always did. The job is complete and all that is remaining is bearing adjustment. Place the hub nut on and tighten by hand. Now using a 1/2" drive ratchet tighten the nut an additional 1/8 to a 1/4 of a turn or until the ratchet gets a little hard to turn. What you are doing is assuring that all races (if bearings were bad then new bearings and races will be installed) are properly seated against a shoulder in the hub. If for some reason they were not seated over tightening the hub nut will make sure. Now back the nut off about 1/4 of a turn. Now with your fingers tighten the hub nut while wiggling the tire and feel for the wobble. When the wobble just goes away you are set at between .001 to .003 bearing clearance. Place new cotter pins into axle and replace dust cover. If you have the style of axle nut that makes you loosen or tighten the hub nut so the cotter pin will line up with the hole in the axle always loosen and never tighten. I believe most systems have gone to a better design locking system. So where you set the hub nut is where it should stay for proper clearance. I learned that procedure from a Hunter alignment guy who worked at the Indy track on the Indy cars. If it's good enough for those guys then it's good enough for me.
If you have any other questions you can PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Actually if you have a few tools and can do any of this stuff I'd attempt it. I can talk you through some areas if you are confused or hesitant. I'm not real sure about the hub temps. Probably not much over 200 degrees on a hot day. Those bearings should stay fairly cool.
Happy motoring.
I just noticed that you are over in OK. Heck I'm about 100 miles from Tulsa here in NW AR. Bring your camper over and we can do your unit in my drive.
TeJay
If you have to have somebody perform the service here's what I'd do. I would expect that they remove all wheels and bearings. Hand pack and no grease guns. When the technician removes the bearings do not allow them to wash the bearings with solvent for two very important reasons. A good tech will examine the grease that is present in each bearing. Wipe the grease off some and examine the grease in the rag. If there are any little sparkles in the grease the bearings are bad. THEY MUST BE REPLACED. Secondly using solvent can be bad if all of it is not removed. The solvent will compromise the new grease. Insist on using synthetic grease and hand pack the bearings. Provide it if they won't. That stuff is 10 X's better. Next line the inside of the hub with about a 1/4" layer of grease. The only reason is to provide a moisture barrier. Filling the hub with grease acts as a heat dam which prevents heat loss from the bearings and brakes. Besides the fact that the grease will be exactly where you put it in 2,3,5,or 10 years. It does not flow so why put it there.
Of course new grease seals. Adjusting the bearing clearance is very critical. Here's what I taught and always did. The job is complete and all that is remaining is bearing adjustment. Place the hub nut on and tighten by hand. Now using a 1/2" drive ratchet tighten the nut an additional 1/8 to a 1/4 of a turn or until the ratchet gets a little hard to turn. What you are doing is assuring that all races (if bearings were bad then new bearings and races will be installed) are properly seated against a shoulder in the hub. If for some reason they were not seated over tightening the hub nut will make sure. Now back the nut off about 1/4 of a turn. Now with your fingers tighten the hub nut while wiggling the tire and feel for the wobble. When the wobble just goes away you are set at between .001 to .003 bearing clearance. Place new cotter pins into axle and replace dust cover. If you have the style of axle nut that makes you loosen or tighten the hub nut so the cotter pin will line up with the hole in the axle always loosen and never tighten. I believe most systems have gone to a better design locking system. So where you set the hub nut is where it should stay for proper clearance. I learned that procedure from a Hunter alignment guy who worked at the Indy track on the Indy cars. If it's good enough for those guys then it's good enough for me.
If you have any other questions you can PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Actually if you have a few tools and can do any of this stuff I'd attempt it. I can talk you through some areas if you are confused or hesitant. I'm not real sure about the hub temps. Probably not much over 200 degrees on a hot day. Those bearings should stay fairly cool.
Happy motoring.
I just noticed that you are over in OK. Heck I'm about 100 miles from Tulsa here in NW AR. Bring your camper over and we can do your unit in my drive.
TeJay
wdk450
Well-known member
I went to my tire store, Les Schwab Tires, and had the trailer bearings repacked in May for the 2nd time since I bought the rig in 2009. They charged $65 an axle, I believe. My RV servicer charged something like $250 overall before.
I then made the trip from No. Ca. to Elkhart and back with no bearing problems.
I then made the trip from No. Ca. to Elkhart and back with no bearing problems.
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