lost an entire wheel and drum

[Road_Phantom]

I made a turn into a shopping center parking lot, looked back and saw one of my trailer wheels lying in the middle of the road. We have a 2011 Cougar half-ton 5th wheel. The brakes, including backing plates were replaced new last summer. I greased the bearings via the outer zerk fittings this Feb. All this and the bearing failed, breaking the drum. the wheel came off along with the broken drum.
I blame this in part to the size drum they put on these light weight trailers. Mine are ten inches across the inside center. We are careful to load light for trips, despite the 2900 lb carrying capacity which leaves me to believe the Dexter axles are way under par for this trailer which weighs about 7000 empty.

[RAS43]

John&Joey wrote:
I swear I'm an old soak also, but for Pete's sake at least I can see a better way of doing things. You guys got to step up your game to at least this century.

Clicky

This conversation started because the OP lost a wheel/drum assembly on an easy lube axle. I may be an "old salt" also but sometimes new technology isn't what it is supposed to be. Hand lubing and inspecting still has merit. I have Dexter Never Lube axles and don't feel comfortable not being able to look at the bearings.

[azrving]

My sons ez lube bearings lasted 6 years with regular greasing. The oldman caught it in time when I asked if he had ever removed and inspected

[time2roll]

John&Joey wrote:
I swear I'm an old soak also, but for Pete's sake at least I can see a better way of doing things. You guys got to step up your game to at least this century.

Clicky

Marketing is great and at the same time why do the ez-lubes have problems 10 to 1 over manually packed bearings?

Proper hand pack should last the life of the shoes.

[azrving]

I do mine every year because we snowbird and there is no room for a bearing failure or damaged axle. If there is anything noticeable I replace them. $75.00 for four kits and Lucas red sticky grease. A proper inspection isn't just looking at the cups, everything must be cleaned and look at all the rollers and beyond them to the inner race surfaces. The cup is the outer race but there is also an inner surface inside the cage assembly that is often overlooked.

[John_Joey]

I swear I'm an old soak also, but for Pete's sake at least I can see a better way of doing things. You guys got to step up your game to at least this century.

Clicky

[RCMAN46]

Since about 1980 most cars and light trucks have sealed bearings that do fail on occasion.

But when I had vehicles before the 1970 model year and drum brakes I would pull the drums every two years to check brake linings, clean and repack the bearings with new grease seals.

About the same schedule I do with my trailer.

[BarneyS]

Hammerboy wrote:
You hand packers, how often do you have it done? Do you go by time or miles? This is something I've never done and don't want to experiment with either without someone experienced showing me first.

Dan

Nothing to be afraid of! Very simple process that just takes a bit of time. It is something you should learn to do if you are going to tow a trailer.

Click here for a detailed post, complete with pictures, on how to accomplish the task. 🙂
Barney

[wilber1]

Do cars and light trucks even have packable bearings anymore? I do my 5th wheel every two years.

[garyemunson]

On my 4x4 truck, I go 5 years between packings (only put about 5K a year on it). Trailer wheels turn much faster and are probably under much greater load compared to the bigger bearings on the truck so I'll do them every 2 years regardless of miles. Both my truck and the several trailers I had weigh about the same and the front bearings on the truck are much bigger (diameter and width) than trailer bearings. Pack them as good as you can, it'll find it's way to where it is needed. If you've never done one, have someone who has show you what a properly tightened bearing feels like.

[GordonThree]

John&Joey wrote:
For all of you that have to inspect the bearings. First do you really know what you're looking at :h. Second are you sure you're filling every nook and cranny with grease that is not under pressure? And third, do you also do this amount of effort on your car/truck. If so how many miles do you rack up before pulling the bearings on your daily drivers?

Sealed bearings on my car and truck, Did my car at 120k miles - that took forever, the dealership can do it next time if I still own the car. The truck is under warranty, if it has bearing issues while I still own it, that's Fiat's problem.

[GordonThree]

Hammerboy wrote:
You hand packers, how often do you have it done? Do you go by time or miles? This is something I've never done and don't want to experiment with either without someone experienced showing me first.

Dan

Watch a few videos on youtube, it's not that hard, honest. The trickiest part in my opinion is the castle nut.

After about 25,000 miles I took a look at my bearings, and found some heat-stains or whatever they're called on a few rollers, so I went to NAPA and got a new set for both wheels. I've put another 16,000 on since then? Probably will look at them again spring of 2018.

The actual packing is easy but messy. Get a tub of grease, scoop some into the palm of your left hand, and then scoop through the grease with the bearing raceway. Turn and repeat several times, until plenty of grease is jammed into the raceway. Sit that one down and cover with a shop towel, and do the next one. You want to keep dust and debris from blowing and getting stuck in the fresh grease, you'll have to clean it and start over if this happens.

[John_Joey]

For all of you that have to inspect the bearings. First do you really know what you're looking at :h. Second are you sure you're filling every nook and cranny with grease that is not under pressure? And third, do you also do this amount of effort on your car/truck. If so how many miles do you rack up before pulling the bearings on your daily drivers?

[Hammerboy]

You hand packers, how often do you have it done? Do you go by time or miles? This is something I've never done and don't want to experiment with either without someone experienced showing me first.

Dan

[garyp4951]

I had a boat trailer wheel and hub come off, destroying the spindle, and had to get a flat bed wrecker.
This was caused by just pumping grease in every year, and not inspecting the bearings.
I would never use a grease fitting to fill my hub, and bearings. I also have a 20 year old ski boat trailer that has oil bath bearings that are original.

[time2roll]

Road Phantom wrote:
The brakes, including backing plates were replaced new last summer.

Poor workmanship.
Should last at least 10 years or 50,000 miles if done properly.

And the sooner you stop using the grease gun the better.