Wheel Bearings

valhalla360 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:


I'm not sure why trailers don't typically use sealed bearings. Some do, but most don't. Perhaps it's because they may be used for boat trailer applications, and I don't think they do well in a submerged application.

I do wish I could service the bearings in my vehicles. I think the last serviceable bearings I had were on my 71 Challenger. I serviced the bearings every 30k or so, and never had a failure in more than 200k mikes, and that was 1971 technology.

Most of the vehicles I've had with the sealed bearings have failed at one point. Very expensive to have them replaced, and not too cheap even when I've done the work myself.

Truthfully, my annual repacking and maintenance is probably overkill. However for the ridiculously small amount of money and time I spend doing this, for me it is worth the assurance of not having an issue for the rest of the season.

While it seems silly to use a lower quality product because it's convenient, the boat axle application does make sense.

I've been driving for over 30yrs and I've never done the bearings on a vehicle and I've never had a failure. Likewise, I've not heard of any friends or family having issues...so no thanks to switching back.

Do you have a shop with a hoist and pnuematic tools? If I do it myself, the cost isn't much but it's a couple hours and a messy job. It's not the end of the world but it's a couple hours of a messy job that I would rather have back.

Absolutely no need for a hoist or pneumatic tools to repack bearings. Yeah, the job could take a couple of hours but really isn't too messy. Nitrile gloves keep me clean, and a bearing packing tool makes the job easy.

The only bearings I've ever had fail are the no maintenance hub assembly type. And I've had many fail.

One thing I don't understand are folks who nnot only don't maintain their vehicles, trailers, etc. but then try to convince others it is the right thing to do.