Trailer Bearing Re-Pack

Lynnmor wrote:
I posted the photo of the bad bearing as bait for comments, but only hooked one. The bearing was only in use for one very long trip. The grease turned completely gray from metallic fines that came from the groove you can see and from the inner race that had a ridge from incomplete grinding. Just another Cheap Chinese Bearing that I am glad I found before a disaster. By the way, four other bearings were showing signs of imminent failure for a total of five of the eight bearings. I replaced all with made in USA Timken bearings. Those that choose to ignore the issue, good luck, I'll try to keep considerable distance from all trailers on the highway.

It's kind of what I have been worried about and saying with my OP. Why after picking up the trailer from the factory and later seeing workmanship issues would I trust the guy that put in my bearings to have been done correctly? Check and verify, then I will know manufacturer of the bearings, numbers for extra set, as well as the amount of grease they used. Re pack them and put on a schedule, or heck, join those other 10,000 as someone else noted that never do anything to their bearings and live on the edge when towing. At least I will know at that point that they were done correctly. And mind you, I will have that extra set sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and I can fix the issue, then join the other 10,000 that re-pack on a schedule. Endless possibilities

I posted the photo of the bad bearing as bait for comments, but only hooked one. The bearing was only in use for one very long trip. The grease turned completely gray from metallic fines that came from the groove you can see and from the inner race that had a ridge from incomplete grinding. Just another Cheap Chinese Bearing that I am glad I found before a disaster. By the way, four other bearings were showing signs of imminent failure for a total of five of the eight bearings. I replaced all with made in USA Timken bearings. Those that choose to ignore the issue, good luck, I'll try to keep considerable distance from all trailers on the highway.

Dave H M wrote:
i would be interested in what your final answer is after getting all this "good" advice.

I think I will lean to the open up, observe, re-pack and then I know what I have. Check yearly after that. I have one wheel hub that is warmer than the others by feel so it's always made me wonder. Now i'll take everyone's advice, and check them all starting with that wheel first. Thanks everyone

SweetLou wrote:
At what interval do you re-pack the bearings?

Did mine at 2 years from new and needed one bearing set.
Next pack was 10 years later when I replaced drums with disk, all was fine.
I will check again in 10 years if I still have it.

If you have drum brakes hand pack them!!!

If you have disk brakes with EZ Lube enjoy and use the system. With disk brakes you can see if grease is coming out the back seal.

Can't trust the axle manufacturer, TT manufacturer or dealer on this stuff that it was ever done right.

First TT we owned wouldn't brake properly from day one. Dealer kept blaming our brake controller, but a new one made no change. After a year of arguing with the dealer, days before the warranty expired they took it all apart and found blown seals and grease on the brakes. Do not know if the dealer had pumped in grease.

{Our 2nd TT got taken back under warranty after finding major frame issues on 2nd day of ownership.}

Now on our 3rd TT, we took it to the dealer for some warranty work after the first season of use (has a 2 year warranty). Asked them to please remove the drums and inspect brakes and seals. They said all 4 seals were blown and they wanted $1K to repair it. WTF? I phoned Al/Ko and they said it would get fixed under warranty and that they would talk to the dealer. I also phoned the dealer, told them what Al/Ko said and they said they would take care of it. At end of 2nd season, I found one bearing was running much warmer than the others. I took the drums off to find that there was insufficient grease and not only that, there was two colors of grease meaning that the dealer never replaced the seals at all. Total BS lie on needing new seals (fraudulent actually). I also found that the nuts were over-tightened - not good. During PDI, the dealer had pumped in a couple of squirts of grease and called it good. I installed all new Timken bearings and for past 2 seasons, zero issues. If the seals & bearings had been left alone from the beginning, we could have had a failure anywhere, at any time while on a trip.

I'm of the opinion that the grease zerks are a bad idea. Inspecting even a new trailer is a good idea. It's so easy to pull a drum off to inspect both the brakes and seals/bearings, why not do it once a year or may two depending on mileage. Not all Ch*nese bearings are going to fail, but enough of them do that I'd rather have top quality ones. Some say US-made Timken bearings are hard to find but I had no trouble getting them locally. I carry one spare set along with some grease.

After 3 TTs in just 3 seasons and so many other problems in addition to above, I've become a hardened and cynical RV owner. :R

Looks like you need to step up your maintenance. :)

Do whatever makes you happy, I'll just continue to maintain my equipment.

i would be interested in what your final answer is after getting all this "good" advice.

fj12ryder wrote:

mkirsch wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Easy lubes are easy to not blow seals. Pop the caps off before greasing.

You kind of have to pop the caps off to get to the grease fittings...

Not really, it's the difference between taking the rubber plug out of the cap, or removing the cap with the rubber plug in place. Taking the cap off makes it easier to see when new grease comes out.

Absolutely CORRECT! I love my EZ Lubes.