Wheel bearing advice
Is there a right/wrong way on maintenance as far as replacing bearings/seals.......age (1x/yr or every 3 years etc) OR miles??? Both myself and a co-worker would like to know what you folks all think ...
Forum Discussion
mtofell1 wrote:MFL wrote:
My opinion...bearing service is either done way too often, or just completely ignored, until there is a failure. I do the bearings very soon after purchase, when new, and right away if trailer is purchased used.
Once I have inspected the bearings, and packed them well, with quality grease, they are good for 4-5 years, in my use. The seals should be replaced any time they are removed obviously.
This is my exact methodology - do them good when the trailer is new or new to me so I know it's done well and they can go a while. I don't put on a ton of miles so I have no problem going 4 or 5 years but do check temps while traveling. I've heard it's much more miles dependent than time so if I were lucky enough to be putting on 10-15K/year I'd probably repack/inspect every year or two.
When I purchased my previous fifth wheel , I ordered it, and went to Indiana to pick it up. The return trip was 1600 miles. There were no issues on the trip, and those bearings went 5 years before I did anything to them, and there was never a problem with them. If I hadn't went that 1600 miles knowing there were no problems ,most likely I would done them a lot sooner .
