Grease and Bearing

Yes it's a 2013... bought in April.

Was your trl new? Bought a secondhand one 3 years ago and pulled the bearings last week. Ended up replacing 4 of 8 bearings due to lack of grease wear. I had been giving the eazylube shots of grease but unless the hub is full it just greases the rear bearing. Kicking by butt for not checking sooner, don't know what I was thinking, but glad I did them now. Lesson learned is never to assume that the previous owner did them.

Supercrewfan wrote:
This topic is interesting to me. I thought it would be good to have an RV place repack the bearings last Jan. Boy was that a mistake! Less than 50 miles later we were on the side of the road waiting for a repair service smelling the very hot smell of burnt bearings. The RV place had put all 4 bearings on to tight and we were lucky we were flagged over after the first one spewed grease out on the highway. The wheels would barely spin when the roadside mechanic tried to turn them, he had to reset all the cotter pins so we could drive to a repair shop. Now it sounds like I didn't need to have them repacked at all since I had had them done 2 years earlier with only a couple hundred miles driven in the meantime. Oh well, live and learn. Now if we hadn't let them put new tires on I would feel a lot better....never heard of the brand they used that they said were very good. Deestone???

Almost our story exactly. Had mine repacked Oct 1, 2012. Had 2 years on the bearings and 13k miles. Thought from all the posts here about needing it done every 2 years I should do it. Had a shop do them. On our return Sunday from Myrtle Beach blew the bearings on 220 just south of Ashboro. Had to be towed via a Low Boy to a Campground where a mobile RV tech replaced the backing plate, hub, bearings, seals and races. He checked the other ones and they were fine. My assumption was the shop did not tighten the nut enough but no way to prove that.

In the future I will inspect every 5 years. I think people on a forums like this are over zealous about everything and do things to the nth degree. Sticking with recommeneded from now on.

I would like everyone to consider that it is very easy to inspect a wheel bearing. A good trusted shop can inspect them very easily. If you are capable of removing a tire you also are capable of inspecting them.

I recommend that any used trailer purchased have the bearings inspected. I did not do this on a boat I bought. Everything was well maintained but I toasted a bearing and needed a new axle. I was also in the sticks so it was costly.

I also hear about new trailers having metal shavings when inspected or other indicators of a bad install. For this I recommend a temp gun or putting your hand on the bearing to feel.

I recommend making sure you check the inner bearing as well as the outer. You will be able to feel an issue before it happens. I have extra sets of bearings in case I have an issue and it takes about 20 minutes to replace the bearings and races. This is not a hard job to do at a rest stop or campground. It is even easier if you have a new hub with greased bearings already. It is almost as easy as a tire change.

Paul

bought a used 2008 rock wood 33" last july, took to fla and back, about 3000 miles. When I had it inspected, there were filings in the first wheel they took off. Ended up having to replace all four. So there is reason to keep an eye on them but I would think if they are checked each year when inspected, you should be able to determine if they need repacked/replaced.

These posts are really making me reconsider my own plans. I was planning to have the bearings pulled and repacked before we take a long trip next week. My tt is 8 years old, I've had it almost 5 years and never even added grease with the EZ lube feature.

If you can see the new grease moving, that's enough. Have fun :C

About 2 years ago I took my trailer to the tire dealer I deal with and they agreed to pull the wheels and check the wheel bearings as it had been about 5 years since being check. I told them just to put new ones in, but after pulling and cleaning, he showed them to me and said there was nothing wrong with any of them so he greased them and put them back on. I told him that I had been reading about needing to repack at least every two years or so and he said that was a crock of bull droppings. He said I was wise to check them every 5 years or so depending on mileage and usage (very dirty roads, etc) so I am going by that now.

My 5er is a '05 model and just did mine 2 years ago before a 5k trip. They didn't need to be done then. The brakes were even good to go.

This topic is interesting to me. I thought it would be good to have an RV place repack the bearings last Jan. Boy was that a mistake! Less than 50 miles later we were on the side of the road waiting for a repair service smelling the very hot smell of burnt bearings. The RV place had put all 4 bearings on to tight and we were lucky we were flagged over after the first one spewed grease out on the highway. The wheels would barely spin when the roadside mechanic tried to turn them, he had to reset all the cotter pins so we could drive to a repair shop. Now it sounds like I didn't need to have them repacked at all since I had had them done 2 years earlier with only a couple hundred miles driven in the meantime. Oh well, live and learn. Now if we hadn't let them put new tires on I would feel a lot better....never heard of the brand they used that they said were very good. Deestone???