Wheel Bearings

Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. :)

At least that's the way it should be. It does seem like the axles and wheel bearings are assembled pretty slap-dash so the condition of your wheel bearings could be questionable. I just checked mine after 6 years and they were fine. Other people have had problems immediately upon receipt of their trailer. Pretty much a toss up.

By the manufacturer's book? Every year.

By my book? First repack within 18 months. Then once you know it was done correctly it should go 6+ years or 30,000+ miles. Just did mine at 10 years and maybe 25,000 and all looked fine. Adjust manual brakes annually if you feel compelled to do something.

1st time as soon as you get the unit, once properly packed every few years. I went 8 years on mine once I did it properly and they were still good.

Esacnj wrote:
How often should they be packed?

Depends who you talk with, I repack and have all the brakes and drums checked every other year, then I don't have to try and keep track of the milage. Cheap price for peace of mind.

fj12ryder wrote:
Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. :)

.

Always wondered about that. I've had a number of vehicles hit 200k miles and never once repacked the bearings.

Esacnj wrote:
How often should they be packed?

Personally, I just greased my via the EZ Lube system every year. At 10 years, I had the wheels pulled, brakes checked and bearings and seals completely replaced. Old bearings and seals showed no issues. Given, I'm a "low miler" and just don't tow all that much.

Lyle

valhalla360 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. :)

.

Always wondered about that. I've had a number of vehicles hit 200k miles and never once repacked the bearings.

Most vehicles these days use sealed hub assemblies, which are run to failure, as you CAN'T repack the bearings. The axle manufacturer for my TT (Dexter) recommends 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Everybody has their own preference and reasoning for how they maintain their trailer. I do all my own maintenance, including the bearing maintenance. The way I look at it, for the time and money I spend doing the bearing maintenance and brake check each year, it is extremely cheap insurance for a problem-free camping season.

As others have stated, the bearings come from the factory with the minimum amount of grease in them, so no matter how long you go between packing them, start out by doing so right away.

You'll get all kinds of advice here, some very good, some very questionable. In one thread, someone argued you never have to repack them, simply pop the grease cap, put a dab of grease in the cap itself (no, these were not ez-lube!) and you'll be good to go. Whatever you decide, remember not everyone is offering sound advice.

If you have Lippert axles with the EZ lube feature you might want to do an initial repack. The folks over on the Grand Design forum are having all kinds of issues with the Lippert prefilled/blown seal grease covered brakes issue.
I can't imagine that Grand Design is the only MFG with crapy Lippert grease issues.
As far as how often to repack. I go every other year. I do my own. I put about 4000+/- miles on them in a year.

I was informed and shown for my 5vr, every 6k or 2 years.