wheel bearings

[John Anderson]

Hello, I have a 20 foot Jayco travel trailer.  How often should I get the wheel bearings repacked?  I only tow the trailer about 2000 miles a year on camping trips.  I'm told by the dealer that I need to do it every year but that gets expensive,  I will do it if it's necessary, but I would like to find out if it's really necessary on annual basis, thanks, John Anderson

[agesilaus]

That's the normal interval, believe me you don't want to have one seize.

Why is it expensive, a little axle grease is all it takes. Youtube will show you how to do it.

[sandsys]

We didn't do it on our first travel trailer. Limped into a small town on a Sunday evening when the garage owner just happened to be there. When he took everything apart, our wheel bearings looked like gun powder. That's one of those "don't do what we did" lessons.

[rickeieio]

From your opening message, it would seem you're not comfortable doing this yourself.  If that's correct, bite the bullet and have it done, or ask around to see if someone can help you through it.  It's not difficult, but if done incorrectly, it can get very inconvenient when a bearing fails.

[Kirk W]

It is very difficult to pin down what an action has prevented, and that is true for any preventive maintenance. With wheel bearing there are many variables that can either extend or shorten the useful life of the grease inside. Heat is the enemy of most lubricants but there are many other factors. The probability of needing to do so every year is more of a guess than a fact. This is one of the choices that is much like the age that tires need to be replaced or your transmission serviced. None of those recommended times mean that something bad will happen immediately after that time, but only that it is pretty safe to say that bad things will not happen if the recommendation is adhered to.  

[lappir]

13 hours ago, rickeieio said:

From your opening message, it would seem you're not comfortable doing this yourself.  If that's correct, bite the bullet and have it done, or ask around to see if someone can help you through it.  It's not difficult, but if done incorrectly, it can get very inconvenient when a bearing fails.

I think the key is to either do it yourself at least once or have it done by a trusted professional and let them tell you how often they think it should be done after they have preformed the task. 

I found my brand new trailer with not enough oil in my oil bath bearings after my first trip. My mechanic said it shouldn't be an issue when he topped them off and that was 10 years ago. I did have to replace one inside seal since then, but don't remember if that was one of the lowest ones or not. 

With the quality of many of the builds coming out in various examples, I think it's prudent to inspect even the wheel bearings very soon after getting a new vehicle, trailer or what ever you have on wheels. 

 

Rod

[Ray,IN]

The Dexter Axle recommendation to repack and inspect wheel bearing annually or at 12,000 miles is  a preventative measure to make sure slightly damaged bearings are caught before having an expensive failure that might also ruin the spindle, cause an accident or complete loss of a wheel.

I lost a wheel from a flat-bed trailer while hauling a tractor due to neglecting that recommendation.

the job is not difficult, just messy-bit that's why vinyl mechanics gloves are sold.

[bobsallyh]

Another good idea is to carry a spare bearing assembly including races, already grease packed in a zip lock bag and then in a box. Even if you feel you can't do it yourself, it can bail you out with road service. Twenty years full timing, weekenders prior, it got me out of a pickle, two times, it was caused by an overheated brake. Just make sure you get the correct bearings.

Edited April 11 by bobsallyh

[lappir]

Two years ago at the HDT Rally we had to do some bearing work. Luckily there were folks prepared with new bearings, others with the proper tools and a Muffler Shop was found to press out and reinstall the races and to the surprise to most of us they packed the bearings at the same time. Not sure what the cost was, but I think we were happy to miss part of the mess. 

Even then we all got a bit of grease on our hands and clothing. Marks of honor in my book.

 

Rod

[Steven@146]

Just my thoughts. Yes check and repack the bearings just after purchase. As someone said you don't know how or if they did it correctly during manufacture. Yes generally they say once per year as a standard. But since you only put 2000 miles on the rig, if the bearings were done correctly with a quality grease, you could probably go a couple years between greasing and inspection. 

However, grease setting in non rotating bearings can get hard and dry out reducing the lubrication of the bearings when they do start rotating. Then to if you travel in very hot parts of the country, the bearings and grease will get a work out.

As someone said you don't want to destroy a hub/spindle because of a seized or overheated bearing, then you will have to change the whole axle.

I do ours every year, inspect/repack the bearings and replace the grease seal, and don't forget to inspect the brakes shoes, magnets and drums. Or pads, calipers, spindles in the case of disc brakes.

We travel 5000-10,000 miles per year. I use Red-N-Tacky grease and pack by hand, I don't use the EZ-lube hubs. I don't trust anyone else to do it. A too tight or too loose hub nut will destroy the bearings also. It's not hard to do, really no special tools, easy to learn how. It takes a little labor taking the tires off and pulling the drums/spindles but it's worth every minute.