trailer bearing, seal & spindle questions
If comparing bearing temperature after a leg of a trip, how much higher would the temp. of a bearing compared to the other 3 (tandem axles) have to be to be considered running too much hotter - 10F, 5...
Forum Discussion
Hi Gil,
There are many opinions concerning proper bearing adjustment procedures, but I will give you mine. I would tighten the castle nut to about 50 lb. ft., to set the bearings. No you don't need to use a torque wrench to be exact. Then I would back the nut loose, finger tighten it, putting the cotter pin in the slot available, without having to tighten it further.
As far as heat gun temps, I would not worry about 10* variance. At 50* difference, I would be concerned, could have a brake dragging, or a too tight bearing. At 100* degrees, something is wrong, brake/bearing, needs attention.
It would be okay to use a used bearing in an emergency. Normally the bearing should be matched to the race it has been run on.
Myself, I would be sure to use the proper seals at replacement time. I called Lippert about mine, knowing I would be replacing them. I couldn't find exact replacement locally. They said an exact replacement would be hard to find, but they could send what I needed.
A little off topic, and I know also many opinions, but I think that some of the EZ-lube seal failures, are due to someone replacing the double lip original seals, with whatever the parts guy gives them. The next owner of the trailer has no idea what seals are installed when he uses the EZ-Lube feature.
Hope all goes well for you,
Jerry
There are many opinions concerning proper bearing adjustment procedures, but I will give you mine. I would tighten the castle nut to about 50 lb. ft., to set the bearings. No you don't need to use a torque wrench to be exact. Then I would back the nut loose, finger tighten it, putting the cotter pin in the slot available, without having to tighten it further.
As far as heat gun temps, I would not worry about 10* variance. At 50* difference, I would be concerned, could have a brake dragging, or a too tight bearing. At 100* degrees, something is wrong, brake/bearing, needs attention.
It would be okay to use a used bearing in an emergency. Normally the bearing should be matched to the race it has been run on.
Myself, I would be sure to use the proper seals at replacement time. I called Lippert about mine, knowing I would be replacing them. I couldn't find exact replacement locally. They said an exact replacement would be hard to find, but they could send what I needed.
A little off topic, and I know also many opinions, but I think that some of the EZ-lube seal failures, are due to someone replacing the double lip original seals, with whatever the parts guy gives them. The next owner of the trailer has no idea what seals are installed when he uses the EZ-Lube feature.
Hope all goes well for you,
Jerry
