Wheel Bearing Question

Shadow Catcher wrote:
My take on this. Most cars do not require repacking bearings yearly, if ever. They do however use high quality bearings and often use synthetic grease. Yes there are different grades of bearings. I replaced the Chinese originals in our Dexter with SKF and properly packed them with Amsoil synthetic. Over packing can lead to over heating (the BIG fault of EZ lube). I will adjust brakes and check hub temps and I carry the old bearings and a set of seals properly packed as back up.
I think the redo yearly is a CYA.

I agree. This idea has always bugged me. nobody ever thinks of repacking their cars wheel bearings every year. And it's wheels are subjected to the same if not tougher conditions than a trailers. I have put more than 100,000 miles on most sets of car bearings with no problems.

I think the Yearly re pack for trailers is a holdover/carryover from boat trailers where the wheels get submerged in water salt or fresh on a regular basis. I cannot find a single reason to do this yearly re pack. I do regularly inspect for evidence of a leak of grease or if the wheel is running hot.

This is the trailer equivalent of the 3000 mile oil change. We have just accepted it as gospel without any real scrutiny of the facts. The real benefit goes to the people who sell all the grease and bearings and do the shop work.

A set of good bearings and good seals should last a very long time.