Wheel Bearing Maintenance

[rkassl]

When do most folks repack their wheel bearings, is it my time, like once a year or more like mileage?

Thanks!

[Bamaman11]

My new fifth wheel is showing signs that one seal is bad, and I intend to disassemble all 4 wheels next week. The problem is that Lippert is using really cheap Chinese seals and they're injecting a relatively thin axle grease that blows out the seals. Then the brakes get contaminated to where they don't work. It's a safety issue. I'm going to clean out the current grease and repack the bearings with Lucas red thick axle grease and install new axle seals.

[Oaklevel]

4-5 years on the camper longer on the other trailers.........

[laknox]

rkassl wrote:
When do most folks repack their wheel bearings, is it my time, like once a year or more like mileage?

Thanks!

For me, it was more on mileage. We simply don't go very far, or very often (dangit!). I'd hit the EZLubes every year with about 6-10 shots of grease and call it good. When I had all the bearings and seals replaced in 2014, after 10 years, the shop said they were all still in good condition, there was no noticeable slop and I'd had almost no grease leakage past the seals. The bearings and seals that went back in will outlast the FW, that's for sure. 🙂 Under $150 and included adjusting the brakes. That being said, if you tow 10k miles a year, yeah, a yearly repack might not be a bad idea.

Lyle

[ckwizard777]

I do it every spring, It's cheap insurance and peace of mind.

[DHCamper]

Badhabit wrote:
I read something on this and it made sense to me. If the trailer does a lot of sitting, the bearings will make marks on the race and therefore should be done once a year. If it does a lot of moving (fulltimers), you can go a lot longer between services. I was wondering this as why should a trailer be done annually while a automobile goes for years between servicing. That is how it was explained to me.

H

Not buying into the vibration thing much. Heat from friction wear and dirt are biggest enemy of bearings. I think the veterans here have the right idea with normal users going every other year. Adding grease into the hubs creates a concern about blowing past the seals, mostly because folks like to over do everything.

[Likes_to_tow]

RAS43 wrote:

Likes to tow wrote:
Every other year for me also. I replace the seals about every 4 years. Never do I use the grease fitting!! This is great for boat trailers that get submerged in water but it will hose down your brake shoes if the seal is not 100%.

Why would you go thru the trouble of repacking the bearings and not replace the seals? The seal has to be removed to remove the inner seal anyway and they don't cost much. Just curious.

I don't actually pull the inside bearing out to pack in more grease. I only visually inspect and feel for the amount of grease it has, then grab some more grease with two fingers, go through the seal and pull the grease off my fingers as I withdraw my hand. I do this several times. I wipe some of the excess off with a clean towel. The outside bearing is of course removed when I pull the hub and I go through the routine of packing it with "grease in the palm of hand" method. In pulling boat trailers for over 50 years...I have never lost a bearing. I only pull my 5th wheel about 2000 miles a year. Every other year seems to work good on the bearings and every 4 years on the seals. The seals never show leakage. If I pulled more miles I would step up the schedule.

[fj12ryder]

Not very likely unless the trailer/wheels are sitting there vibrating all the time. Simple weight is not going to hurt the bearing surfaces, but if there is frequent vibration it's a different story. Or maybe it it's sitting for a few years with no movement, there could be some issues with them.

[Badhabit]

I read something on this and it made sense to me. If the trailer does a lot of sitting, the bearings will make marks on the race and therefore should be done once a year. If it does a lot of moving (fulltimers), you can go a lot longer between services. I was wondering this as why should a trailer be done annually while a automobile goes for years between servicing. That is how it was explained to me.

H

[Shadow_Catcher]

I replaced the Chinese lo grade bearings with better and packed them in synthetic grease I pan on re packing them in about five years. One of the main reasons for doing bearings is checking brakes and adjusting them.

[kknowlton]

We do ours by mileage, which works out close to spring one year, fall the next year.

[RAS43]

Likes to tow wrote:
Every other year for me also. I replace the seals about every 4 years. Never do I use the grease fitting!! This is great for boat trailers that get submerged in water but it will hose down your brake shoes if the seal is not 100%.

Why would you go thru the trouble of repacking the bearings and not replace the seals? The seal has to be removed to remove the inner seal anyway and they don't cost much. Just curious.

[Likes_to_tow]

Every other year for me also. I replace the seals about every 4 years. Never do I use the grease fitting!! This is great for boat trailers that get submerged in water but it will hose down your brake shoes if the seal is not 100%.

[phillyg]

Every other year for me.

[PenMan]

Owner's manual says annually but I repack every other year. Never a problem but I do watch temperatures when towing.