Travel trailer and 5ers wheel bearings

It's an apple and oranges situation. Outside of be bearings there is a lot of difference. For starters, one is a safety item. Imagine the lawsuits involved in bearing failures on a steering axle on a vehicle carrying voting people.

Safety trumps cost in a motor vehicle. Low cost is frequently among the highest considerations when designing a trailer.

Because people meddle with them to much. Where I worked we had about 8 or 10 equipment trailers with 3 and 4 ton axles always on the road and usually loaded. We never had a wheel bearing go bad.

So my fifth wheel is an '06 and probably do 7 weekends a year with one Florida trip in there way back when it was new. By the standard I waited way to long to check my wheel bearings but did have one wheel pulled to inspect things in 2010 while some warranty work was being done.

This past spring I decided to replace bearings, seals, race whether it needed it or not. Parts were very inexpensive and $20.00 got me a harbor freight race install kit and for another $14.00 got a hearing packer.

So my point is 8 years with the way I travel and I found one out of four rear seals leaking some grease out and all the bearings looked good with most of the grease looking ok but in need of replacement or re-packing.

I think out of the whole job I was more worried about over tighting the nut than anything else. Should have gone on and replaced the whole brake backing plate assembly while I was in there.

Agree Apples & Oranges, but also wheel bearing quality was better years ago. USA brand bearings are usually better than China made bearings...... just sayin...

Having said that I have owned & pulled trailers for 30+ years & currently own 5 different trailers and have never to date had a wheel bearing go bad....:)

K Charles wrote:
Because people meddle with them to much. Where I worked we had about 8 or 10 equipment trailers with 3 and 4 ton axles always on the road and usually loaded. We never had a wheel bearing go bad.

I am convinced you are 100% right. Hit them with an IR gun - if you see consistent temps you are fine.

Becauuuuse, they put the cheapest bearings they can get in them from Chine.
Jacking the trailer or Fifth Wheel getting it in and out, of spots and hard corners is bad on not only tire belts and sidewalls but the bearings. I think most Towables could use higher capacity bearings too.
On our vehicles
The casset bearings they have been putting on new vehicles are not lasting as long. I had to put new bearings in front on our F150.
Only time I ever had to put bearings in my old Fords or Dodges was when we took them through water many times. Of course we repacked them just about every time we changed brakes. Can't do it on these and they are weaker bearings.
I haven't looked lately but 3/4 and 1 tons sstill have heavy duty bearings?

Ever stop to think how much larger and heavier today's trailers are than those of the past? I would bet that the average gross weight is double that of trailers towed 20 years ago. You cannot compare a 20 foot travel trailer to a 35 foot 5th wheel trailer.

Oil bath bearing kits are one way to avoid annual wheel bearing greasing and have peace of mind. Cost is not that high for the conversion.

In general people today are oblivious to the maintenance needs of vehicles. The older vehicles required constant attention but now people think that there is really such a thing as lifetime lubrication. My truck's front end needs grease added every 3,000 miles and the wear would be accelerated if I waited until I had the crankcase oil to have it done at a shop. How many people take the time to read their vehicle's owner guide and put together a maintenance schedule instead of waiting until something breaks or starts making loud noises?

Most Americans do not realize that the Chinese produce products at three quality levels for export. The best is the German quality and below that is Japanese quality and the lowest quality is what is usually imported into the USA and sold at places like Wal-Mart and Home Depot and Harbor Freight. The German level products produced in China for sale in Europe are better than anything I have seen produced in this country in terms of quality and performance. Of course I do not see all the gear purchased by the military for ships and jets and rockets and bombs which may be top notch (unless you are one of the families at the receiving end).

Most people do not keep their vehicles long enough to see the "lifetime lubrication" wear out. I am talking passengers cars - not trucks nor trailers. Many people put 150K without any issues from the bearings on cars/SUVs/CUVs.