Wheel bearing maintenance interval
I’ve seen posts that say to repack every 12 months or 12,000 miles...since I only tow a little over 1,000 miles per year, do really have repack every 12 months? Does the wheel bearing grease degrade...
Forum Discussion
fj12ryder wrote:
No, and No. Repack every few years when you get the urge. This, of course, presupposes the fact that you know the bearings were greased properly when you first bought it.
IMO doing it annually is completely unnecessary. Other people have other opinions. Mine have been greased once and checked once, in 9 years.
In PA, we do not have that "luxury" since every trailer that is 3,001 lbs GVWR and higher are required an Annual PA State Inspection.
That Inspection requires the mechanic to pull one of each sides of the trailer and inspect the brake assy.
SO, just to make sure the mechanics are not cheating me, I PULL ALL drums, check the action and measure/inspect the brake linings BEFORE I drag it to the inspection station.
In the process, I clean out the old bearing grease and refresh with new grease.
This is called being "proactive", this way I do not get surprised nor can the mechanic play games trying to pad the bill.
I also take my trailers to an inspection station where I can stay with the trailer and tow vehicle (some do not allow customer in the inspection area). This way I can observe the mechanic and make sure they set the bearings correctly.. You would be surprised just how many mechanics that went through the certification process do not know how to set the bearings properly!
Had one young new mechanic last yr that had never seen drum brakes and did not know how to set the bearings.. I had to teach the mechanic, hopefully will remember how to do it for the next trailer customer!
In most cases, once a yr or every 12,000 miles which ever comes first is what Dexter used to recommend for inspecting brakes and at that time it is not all that much problem to simply remove extra old grease and refresh with new grease while you have it apart..
