Repacking the wheel bearings

Inspecting brakes every 7 years???? Scary...

Remember....

There's reasons why many regions are forcing mandatory annual brake inspections on trailers. They are forcing the law because people don't understand the reasons to do it annually. When inspecting (clean and replace worn out parts) brakes, then repack the bearings with fresh grease at same time. Easy DIY task - since hubs are off anyway. And, it saves lives as well...

And when selling your trailer, remember to tell possible buyers you do annual brake inspections and bearing care. Tell them you do it every 7 years and see how fast they run away.... LOL!!!

I pack my bearings every few years if I feel like it. They should be good for thousands of miles so no I wouldn't pack yours every year. Now if it was a boat trailer that the bearings get submerged then I would repack often.

IMHO, no.

My trailer is 30 YO and I have repacked my bearings a total of 1 time. The only reason I did it that time was because I had to do a complete brake job so I did the bearing at the same time. The bearings showed no signs of problems at all. I palmed a little more grease into them and called it good. That was like 15 years or so ago and I put about 3 to 5K worth of trips a year on it. I looked at them about 7 years ago and the bearings were fine but the brakes needed new magnets. Put new magnets on and off we go.

Hell, even airplanes that are slammed down on runways at over 100 MPH are only checked once a year. Do what you want. It's your money. :)

Inspect & repack bearings minimum 1 x per year. And while wheel drums are off, also inspect & clean brakes as well. And if necessary, replace worn out brake parts. Perform both tasks at same time. To save costs, one can easily do both tasks themselves. I do all my trailers (utility, boat, RVs) myself and save hundreds of dollars each year.

NMDriver wrote:
Rule of thumb "if you burn your thumb by touching the hub, check the bearings"

Seriously, if they are not getting to hot to touch then they are fine. Get into the habit of checking them for overheating at each stop. Use the back of your hand and if you can feel the heat radiating off of the hub, before you touch the metal then it is to hot.

Get an infrared thermometer. Quick to check temp on anything, just point, click and read the display. No need for potential burn ward visit.

Oasisbob wrote:
When was the last time you did the bearings on your tow vehicle? You get my point?

Bearings in most vehicles these days are either sealed hubs or in an oil bath provided by the axle. Sealed hubs aren't serviceable and oil bathed bearings get refreshed then the diff oil is changed.

I would still have the bearing inspected and repacked regularly. Grease is just an oil suspended in a thickener. The oil is doing all of the protecting. As the grease sits, the oil bleeds out of the grease exposing sections of the bearing. Even with good seals small amounts of moisture gets into the hub, allowing corrosion to take place on the metal's exposed surface. Another good reason to pull the bearing is that some signs of imminent failure can't be determined by touching a hub. Irregular wear patterns, pitting, etching, chipping, corrosion, etc are things that are best evaluated by eye or touch.

I inspect mine once a year, but go ahead and replace the grease while I have them out. There's 8,760 hours in one year. I think I can spend a couple of them looking after the bearings. An ounce of prevent is worth a pound of cure. I would look into doing to inspecting and repacking yourself. You don't have to be a forensic metallurgist in order to inspect bearings. Just keep a couple a spare bearings around as a reference of what it should look like. If you don't like what you see then toss the old and put in the new.

You should be fine. I tow often and do them every two years as I check the brakes. They are always well lubricated. When was the last time you did the bearings on your tow vehicle? You get my point?

As a minimum I would remove the grease cap and inspect the cap and what you can see of the bearing and axle nut.

I did that on my small utility trailer a couple years ago and one of the grease caps had water in it. Needles to say I repacked both bearings that year.

I do this anytime the trailer has set for more than a couple months.

I do the same for my 5th wheel.

It's real easy to repack bearings. I had an old EVO Harley that had to be repacked at every tire change (about every 6000 miles or so). Since I mounted and balanced my own tires I repacked those bearings. You need to be sure that you don't have sealed bearings. My 2017 has tapered roller bearings but.. The mechanic at Campingworld said don't touch them for ten years. At most, with regular usage, one squirt from the grease gun every two years or so. My plan is to not mess with them for the next ten years.

If you feel uncertain about them and don't have a grease fitting to add some grease then I would pull those brake drums/hubs and repack the bearings. Use the extra heavy duty grease, the green stuff. You can buy it at Walmart. You will need new seals and cotter pins as well. There's youtube videos about how to do this job.