Trailer: 2011 Keystone 25RSGVWR: 7500#Axles, bearings, brakes, etc. have never been serviced. (the way I purchased from original owner)Mileage: Approx. 10,000Considering servicing my own bearings, seals, and potentially brakes. I'm pretty handy and have plenty of tools. I have never serviced travel trailer bearings before. Boat trailer bearings, seals, races, hubs, YES......but not travel trailer axles, bearings, seals, brakes, magnets.A few questions I have been pondering:Are there any good step by step procedures or videos you can refer me to?Are brake drums turned?When are brake shoes replaced?Are magnets replaced? How do you inspect and what to look for in terms of wear, required thickness, etc?Where can I source Timken bearings and quality USA seals?Many thanks!

Baja Man wrote:Are there any good step by step procedures or videos you can refer me to?Yep: Here's my videoThis is helpful too, where I dismantled everything to look at the brakesBaja Man wrote:Where can I source Timken bearings and quality USA seals?Look locally for bearing supply houses. I buy from two local stores, either Brown Bearing or McGuire Bearing

Don't assume you "need" new bearings, although I will often just replace rather than clean them to re-pack, myself, it's cheap. Napa will have, or just order online. Consider SKF as equal to Timken. If ordering online, lots of "fake" good bearings. I got some (for a 4 wheeler that NO dealers apparently carry because well, who knows) in a name brand box and the box was actually a poor forgery of the real name brand. Sort of comical and they were like 1mm wider so snap ring wouldn't go back in.I'm sure there's 100 threads on here and 1000 YooToob videos, but the process is quite simple and should be pretty easy with even a nominal amount of mechanical aptitude. Couple key things.1. Don't fill the whole hub cavity with grease. Some will say pack the bearings and that's all the grease needed. I prefer to fill the hub at least 25%? full of grease in addition to packing the bearings. 2. If you replace bearings you should replace the races. you can drive them in out and back in with hand tools and wood blocks generally. 3. Magnets, I don't know the actual criteria. Have replaced some, but generally if brakes just aren't grabbing hard and they should be.4. Shoes and drums. If it aint broke or wore out, don't fix it. I wouldn't turn the drums unless you feel they're warped or you have a brake shoe that grooved the drum. If the drums are off, I'll scuff them real well with (wire wheel, emory cloth, sandpaper). Restoring friction and getting rid of any glaze helps. And is necessary if you replace brake shoes.Finally, if you need more new components than not, buying complete new hub/brake assemblies "can" be more economical and quicker than replacing individual components.

If you've done bearings on a boat trailer, they work the same way on a TT. Bearings come out, replace the seals, grease, install and adjust. If you look under the trailer there should be a sticker on the axle tube that identifies the make and model of the axle, chances are it's either Lippert or Dexter. The load rating of the axle generally determines brake and bearing size.If the bearings aren't scored, pitted, or otherwise damaged, I wouldn't replace them. Use a hi quality grease and you'll be fine.Brakes operate like typical drum brake assemblies. If the ones on the TT now aren't self-adjusting, I highly recommend replacing them with the Dexter self-adjusting assemblies. You'll be able to eyeball both the shoes and magnets and see if they worn to the point of replacing. If you decide to replace the shoes, generally you buy whole assemblies that come pre-assembled with shoes, springs and magnets. Just clip the brake wires behind the backing plate and remove the 5 bolts holding in the brake assembly and remove the whole works. Regarding the drums, there are very few places that resurface drums anymore. With electric brakes, the magnet rides on the inside face of the drum, and the magnets will score the face just like the shoes do to the inside circumference. Turning the drums meaning turning both the show surface and the magnet surface. The few old-school shops that still turn drums wouldn't do a trailer drum because they can't turn the magnet surface. If there surface is not badly scored or grooved, just re-use the drums. If they need replacing, then just get new ones.A good source for trailer parts is e-Trailer. last time I did brakes and bearings I got the brake assemblies, new drums, bearings and seals for under $500, and this was on a 10k GVWR TT with two 6k axles.

Not much different from any other trailer bearings. Inspect the brakes and magnets, especially the wires. Best practice is to replace the seals.Buy a Lisle 34550 Bearing Packer. Under $30 and it worth the money!Shoes will likely fall apart from age before wearing out.In the "Be Prepared" area, buying a couple of spare magnets and an extra set of seals is not a bad idea.

Baja Man wrote:Where can I source Timken bearings and quality USA seals?Don't bet on all Timken bearings being made in the USA !

Axle Bearing Service - Dos and Dont's??? | Good Sam Community

42 Replies

Grit_dog
Navigator II
Feb 25, 2022
Don't assume you "need" new bearings, although I will often just replace rather than clean them to re-pack, myself, it's cheap. Napa will have, or just order online. Consider SKF as equal to Timken. If ordering online, lots of "fake" good bearings. I got some (for a 4 wheeler that NO dealers apparently carry because well, who knows) in a name brand box and the box was actually a poor forgery of the real name brand. Sort of comical and they were like 1mm wider so snap ring wouldn't go back in.
I'm sure there's 100 threads on here and 1000 YooToob videos, but the process is quite simple and should be pretty easy with even a nominal amount of mechanical aptitude.
Couple key things.
1. Don't fill the whole hub cavity with grease. Some will say pack the bearings and that's all the grease needed. I prefer to fill the hub at least 25%? full of grease in addition to packing the bearings.
2. If you replace bearings you should replace the races. you can drive them in out and back in with hand tools and wood blocks generally.
3. Magnets, I don't know the actual criteria. Have replaced some, but generally if brakes just aren't grabbing hard and they should be.
4. Shoes and drums. If it aint broke or wore out, don't fix it. I wouldn't turn the drums unless you feel they're warped or you have a brake shoe that grooved the drum. If the drums are off, I'll scuff them real well with (wire wheel, emory cloth, sandpaper). Restoring friction and getting rid of any glaze helps. And is necessary if you replace brake shoes.
Finally, if you need more new components than not, buying complete new hub/brake assemblies "can" be more economical and quicker than replacing individual components.
deltabravo
Nomad
Feb 25, 2022
Baja Man wrote:
Are there any good step by step procedures or videos you can refer me to?

Yep: Here's my video

This is helpful too, where I dismantled everything to look at the brakes

Baja Man wrote:

Where can I source Timken bearings and quality USA seals?

Look locally for bearing supply houses. I buy from two local stores, either Brown Bearing or McGuire Bearing

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Axle Bearing Service - Dos and Dont's???

42 Replies

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