What's the fascination with trailer bearings?
So I've seen many, many posts over the years about checking hubs with IR guns for excessive heat. I've even seen posts where people check their hubs every stop. :E My question is why? I have never ...
Forum Discussion
rwbradley wrote:3oaks wrote:
Arguing over how often to clean and inspect wheel bearings is like arguing over how often to change engine oil in an automobile. Endless debate. :R
As to the original question, What's the fascination with trailer bearings?, I believe the simple answer is:
I would rather do preventative maintenance in my driveway than to do emergency repairs on the shoulder of a highway.
But the difference here is in the case of changing oil, your owners manual says specifically change it every x miles. That is fact. Arguing about if that is enough or if higher end synthetics provide additional benefit is opinion. I have yet to see anything resembling fact (other than the previous poster lc0338) about how frequently to repack bearings. This forum would be a heck of a lot more boring if trailer manufacturers put a maintenance schedule in the owner manual like car companies do.
My Dexter manual states to inpsect and repack the bearings every 12,000 miles or 12 months, whichever occurs first.
I agree with the incompetence of some junior mechanics assigned to do bearings, oil changes and tires. Fear of these juniors doing a proper job isn't justification for not doing the job (at least in my opinion). I do all this work myself because I enjoy it, I know it's done right, I do it at my house instead of towing it somewhere, it's on my schedule and they usually charge a ridiculous amount for the job.
I like the line about doing pm work instead of an emergency repair. Can't agree more!
