Wheel Bearings Packed? Yearly Maintenance

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Hard to say I guess.

CKNSLS wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:
Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a $20,000.00 trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

You were lucky. That 6 pumps did not supply the outer bearing with any grease, so it must have had enough when assembled.

I don't know if I was lucky or not-for $20,000.00 I expect grease in the wheel bearings. The last time I checked "axle grease" wasn't an option that I had to check off when I purchased my trailer. As a matter of fact-I don't know anybody who purchased a new rig and went and yanked off all the wheels inspecting for axle grease. I have reason to believe this is yet another FORUM myth perpetuated by a few guys on this forum. The myth being that NEW TRAILERS don't come with axle grease, probably the same guys who claim that Chinese tires are ALL BAD.

I don't think anyone is saying that no new trailers come with the bearings being greased. Any new trailer, from a $500 utility to a $30000 TT should certainly come with enough grease to go at least a couple of years.

I can say that after a year of use I repacked the bearings. While there was grease in the bearings, it wasn't quite the amount that I would have expected, so I can understand folks having problems.

But were you having problems before you took the wheels off? If not, then whatever grease was in there was apparently adequate.

No, I wasn't having any problems. Yes, the grease had been adequate at least up until that point. I'm not sure that would have been the case if I let it go another year though.

jfkmk wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:
Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a $20,000.00 trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

You were lucky. That 6 pumps did not supply the outer bearing with any grease, so it must have had enough when assembled.

I don't know if I was lucky or not-for $20,000.00 I expect grease in the wheel bearings. The last time I checked "axle grease" wasn't an option that I had to check off when I purchased my trailer. As a matter of fact-I don't know anybody who purchased a new rig and went and yanked off all the wheels inspecting for axle grease. I have reason to believe this is yet another FORUM myth perpetuated by a few guys on this forum. The myth being that NEW TRAILERS don't come with axle grease, probably the same guys who claim that Chinese tires are ALL BAD.

I don't think anyone is saying that no new trailers come with the bearings being greased. Any new trailer, from a $500 utility to a $30000 TT should certainly come with enough grease to go at least a couple of years.

I can say that after a year of use I repacked the bearings. While there was grease in the bearings, it wasn't quite the amount that I would have expected, so I can understand folks having problems.

But were you having problems before you took the wheels off? If not, then whatever grease was in there was apparently adequate.

CKNSLS wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:
Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a $20,000.00 trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

You were lucky. That 6 pumps did not supply the outer bearing with any grease, so it must have had enough when assembled.

I don't know if I was lucky or not-for $20,000.00 I expect grease in the wheel bearings. The last time I checked "axle grease" wasn't an option that I had to check off when I purchased my trailer. As a matter of fact-I don't know anybody who purchased a new rig and went and yanked off all the wheels inspecting for axle grease. I have reason to believe this is yet another FORUM myth perpetuated by a few guys on this forum. The myth being that NEW TRAILERS don't come with axle grease, probably the same guys who claim that Chinese tires are ALL BAD.

I don't think anyone is saying that no new trailers come with the bearings being greased. Any new trailer, from a $500 utility to a $30000 TT should certainly come with enough grease to go at least a couple of years.

I can say that after a year of use I repacked the bearings. While there was grease in the bearings, it wasn't quite the amount that I would have expected, so I can understand folks having problems.

Lynnmor wrote:

CKNSLS wrote:
Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a $20,000.00 trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

You were lucky. That 6 pumps did not supply the outer bearing with any grease, so it must have had enough when assembled.

I don't know if I was lucky or not-for $20,000.00 I expect grease in the wheel bearings. The last time I checked "axle grease" wasn't an option that I had to check off when I purchased my trailer. As a matter of fact-I don't know anybody who purchased a new rig and went and yanked off all the wheels inspecting for axle grease. I have reason to believe this is yet another FORUM myth perpetuated by a few guys on this forum. The myth being that NEW TRAILERS don't come with axle grease, probably the same guys who claim that Chinese tires are ALL BAD.

CKNSLS wrote:
Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a 20K trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

You were lucky. That 6 pumps did not supply the outer bearing with any grease, so it must have had enough when assembled.

Bought a brand new Eclipse Milan TT a couple of years ago. I hitched it up and the wife and I did a 8,000 mile trip around the country. Before I left Las Vegas-I pumped 6 times in each of the EZ lubes (2 axles).

The trip around the country had ZERO ISSUES and I checked the hubs every stop with my IR gun. They ran exceptionally cool. I did have the brakes adjusted half-way through the trip.

It seems to me if you buy a 20K trailer it should come with grease from the factory. Apparently mine did.

Previous trailer (PUP): Never did it. Never had a problem. Had the trailer for 8 years, and pulled it about 5k miles per year.

Current trailer: Got scared by some threads on here, and had the bearings repacked after just one trip. (Less than 600 miles on the trailer.) Good thing too - the factory hadn't greased one of them and it was already blueing. Since then I have it redone every 3 years along with a brake inspection.

I still tow about 5k miles per year. My trailer has EZ Lube hubs, but I always request a hand-pack with new seals and haven't ever used the EZ Lube feature. I'm just old-fashioned that way I guess.

Tvov wrote:
This thread gave me a chuckle. Most threads about greasing bearings have everyone talking about how you should grease bearings the minute you get home with a new to you trailer, regrease by removing and reinstalling every year, check temps at every rest stop, and half a dozen other warnings and maintenance things.

Now people are saying regrease every other year - or longer.

I am also surprised at some people saying regreasing the bearings by removing them is an "easy" job... Jacking up a trailer, removing wheels, removing hubs, removing bearings, cleaning everything, greasing the bearings, reinstalling bearings, reinstalling hubs, putting wheels back on, lowering the trailer - not that easy in my mind. And that is for only ONE wheel! lol! I guess compared to some other vehicle work it is an easy job.

Also, isn't there a difference between "Bearing Buddy" and "EZ Lube"?? I always thought Bearing Buddy was for boat trailers, with the primary aim to prevent water from getting into the bearings. EZ Lube, I thought, is designed to allow you to lube the bearings, BOTH inner and outer, by simply using the grease nipple and turning the wheel.

So, another "when and how to grease bearings" thread is born!

I think that a lot of people confuse the bearing buddy and the EZ lube system too. But using either system eliminates the bearing inspection. The inspection of the bearings is the way to catch a failure at home and not on the road side.

This thread gave me a chuckle. Most threads about greasing bearings have everyone talking about how you should grease bearings the minute you get home with a new to you trailer, regrease by removing and reinstalling every year, check temps at every rest stop, and half a dozen other warnings and maintenance things.

Now people are saying regrease every other year - or longer.

I am also surprised at some people saying regreasing the bearings by removing them is an "easy" job... Jacking up a trailer, removing wheels, removing hubs, removing bearings, cleaning everything, greasing the bearings, reinstalling bearings, reinstalling hubs, putting wheels back on, lowering the trailer - not that easy in my mind. And that is for only ONE wheel! lol! I guess compared to some other vehicle work it is an easy job.

Also, isn't there a difference between "Bearing Buddy" and "EZ Lube"?? I always thought Bearing Buddy was for boat trailers, with the primary aim to prevent water from getting into the bearings. EZ Lube, I thought, is designed to allow you to lube the bearings, BOTH inner and outer, by simply using the grease nipple and turning the wheel.

So, another "when and how to grease bearings" thread is born!