Wheel Bearings

[Esacnj]

How often should they be packed?

[fj12ryder]

valhalla360 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:


I'm not sure why trailers don't typically use sealed bearings. Some do, but most don't. Perhaps it's because they may be used for boat trailer applications, and I don't think they do well in a submerged application.

I do wish I could service the bearings in my vehicles. I think the last serviceable bearings I had were on my 71 Challenger. I serviced the bearings every 30k or so, and never had a failure in more than 200k mikes, and that was 1971 technology.

Most of the vehicles I've had with the sealed bearings have failed at one point. Very expensive to have them replaced, and not too cheap even when I've done the work myself.

Truthfully, my annual repacking and maintenance is probably overkill. However for the ridiculously small amount of money and time I spend doing this, for me it is worth the assurance of not having an issue for the rest of the season.

While it seems silly to use a lower quality product because it's convenient, the boat axle application does make sense.

I've been driving for over 30yrs and I've never done the bearings on a vehicle and I've never had a failure. Likewise, I've not heard of any friends or family having issues...so no thanks to switching back.

Do you have a shop with a hoist and pnuematic tools? If I do it myself, the cost isn't much but it's a couple hours and a messy job. It's not the end of the world but it's a couple hours of a messy job that I would rather have back.

Amen brother.

[Durb]

I have sealed nev-r-lube bearings on my trailer and I like them. I lift the wheels once a year and check for axial play and then I'm good to go. They are the coolest running bearings I have ever had in a trailer.

[valhalla360]

jfkmk wrote:


I'm not sure why trailers don't typically use sealed bearings. Some do, but most don't. Perhaps it's because they may be used for boat trailer applications, and I don't think they do well in a submerged application.

I do wish I could service the bearings in my vehicles. I think the last serviceable bearings I had were on my 71 Challenger. I serviced the bearings every 30k or so, and never had a failure in more than 200k mikes, and that was 1971 technology.

Most of the vehicles I've had with the sealed bearings have failed at one point. Very expensive to have them replaced, and not too cheap even when I've done the work myself.

Truthfully, my annual repacking and maintenance is probably overkill. However for the ridiculously small amount of money and time I spend doing this, for me it is worth the assurance of not having an issue for the rest of the season.

While it seems silly to use a lower quality product because it's convenient, the boat axle application does make sense.

I've been driving for over 30yrs and I've never done the bearings on a vehicle and I've never had a failure. Likewise, I've not heard of any friends or family having issues...so no thanks to switching back.

Do you have a shop with a hoist and pnuematic tools? If I do it myself, the cost isn't much but it's a couple hours and a messy job. It's not the end of the world but it's a couple hours of a messy job that I would rather have back.

[larry_barnhart]

MarkTwain wrote:

Esacnj wrote:
How often should they be packed?

Depends who you talk with, I repack and have all the brakes and drums checked every other year, then I don't have to try and keep track of the milage. Cheap price for peace of mind.

I do the same as you. Nice to have a look as you feel for brakes etc.

chevman

[fj12ryder]

^^^^^^Sounds like those inspections have caused more trouble than they've prevented. I think I'll stick to my every 6 years inspection. 🙂

[MarkTwain]

BEARINGS!!!
I have my bearings repacked every other year. Ironically I took my 5th wheel into Les Schwab this morning as we were getting ready for a month long trip. They called and told me that the front bearing was shot and the brakes were soaked in grease and that the brake spring was disconnected, the adjustment key fell out as well:(:(:(:. The good news is that they could fix and replace all needed parts. Got my trailer back in 1 1/2hrs:):) There was no indication that anything was wrong or broken prior to taking the RV into Les Schwab!!! I will continue my alternative year repacking of my bearings!

[laknox]

time2roll wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
I was asking why they don't use the same sealed bearings.

Dexter makes a Never Lube axle with cartridge bearings.

We used to have needles with a zerk fitting on them to grease junk like this that came on our farm implements. Just poke through the seal. Replace with =proper= bearings/seals when this type of junk fails.

Lyle

[time2roll]

valhalla360 wrote:
I was asking why they don't use the same sealed bearings.

Dexter makes a Never Lube axle with cartridge bearings.

[Fisher_Bill]

I would think that in very hot conditions the heat can break down the grease if it's sitting outside in the sun or if a brake heats up but I'll be honest, we just picked up our first fifth and I pulled it about 5 hours to get it home and then put about 6 hours for our first trip so I'm going to go through the entire system before we hit the road next month.

I did check the hubs for heat every time we stopped but I need to know first hand what's going on down there then I'll feel better for a while.

Sand, dirt or just getting kicked around can make a huge difference, I pull two boats to the coast and we have to go through and re-grease and replace parts on a fairly regular basis.

[allen8106]

Never touched mine in 5 years and had no problems. Last year I had them inspected and repacked by my local axle and frame shop. He told me the bearings looked perfect so he just repacked them in re-installed them.

[jfkmk]

valhalla360 wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. 🙂

.

Always wondered about that. I've had a number of vehicles hit 200k miles and never once repacked the bearings.

Most vehicles these days use sealed hub assemblies, which are run to failure, as you CAN'T repack the bearings. The axle manufacturer for my TT (Dexter) recommends 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Everybody has their own preference and reasoning for how they maintain their trailer. I do all my own maintenance, including the bearing maintenance. The way I look at it, for the time and money I spend doing the bearing maintenance and brake check each year, it is extremely cheap insurance for a problem-free camping season.

As others have stated, the bearings come from the factory with the minimum amount of grease in them, so no matter how long you go between packing them, start out by doing so right away.

You'll get all kinds of advice here, some very good, some very questionable. In one thread, someone argued you never have to repack them, simply pop the grease cap, put a dab of grease in the cap itself (no, these were not ez-lube!) and you'll be good to go. Whatever you decide, remember not everyone is offering sound advice.

I wasn't suggesting not to do the scheduled maintenance.

I was asking why they don't use the same sealed bearings.
- Are they drastically more expensive?
- Can't handle the weight?
- Is it that RV's sit for weeks/months at a time (not buying this as I've seen lots of cars that sit for long periods without failing)?

I suspect long haul semi's don't go in every 2-4 weeks to have the bearings repacked (they can easily do 12k miles in a few weeks).

So what's different that RV bearings are so much worse?

I'm not sure why trailers don't typically use sealed bearings. Some do, but most don't. Perhaps it's because they may be used for boat trailer applications, and I don't think they do well in a submerged application.

I do wish I could service the bearings in my vehicles. I think the last serviceable bearings I had were on my 71 Challenger. I serviced the bearings every 30k or so, and never had a failure in more than 200k mikes, and that was 1971 technology.

Most of the vehicles I've had with the sealed bearings have failed at one point. Very expensive to have them replaced, and not too cheap even when I've done the work myself.

Truthfully, my annual repacking and maintenance is probably overkill. However for the ridiculously small amount of money and time I spend doing this, for me it is worth the assurance of not having an issue for the rest of the season.

[valhalla360]

jfkmk wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. 🙂

.

Always wondered about that. I've had a number of vehicles hit 200k miles and never once repacked the bearings.

Most vehicles these days use sealed hub assemblies, which are run to failure, as you CAN'T repack the bearings. The axle manufacturer for my TT (Dexter) recommends 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Everybody has their own preference and reasoning for how they maintain their trailer. I do all my own maintenance, including the bearing maintenance. The way I look at it, for the time and money I spend doing the bearing maintenance and brake check each year, it is extremely cheap insurance for a problem-free camping season.

As others have stated, the bearings come from the factory with the minimum amount of grease in them, so no matter how long you go between packing them, start out by doing so right away.

You'll get all kinds of advice here, some very good, some very questionable. In one thread, someone argued you never have to repack them, simply pop the grease cap, put a dab of grease in the cap itself (no, these were not ez-lube!) and you'll be good to go. Whatever you decide, remember not everyone is offering sound advice.

I wasn't suggesting not to do the scheduled maintenance.

I was asking why they don't use the same sealed bearings.
- Are they drastically more expensive?
- Can't handle the weight?
- Is it that RV's sit for weeks/months at a time (not buying this as I've seen lots of cars that sit for long periods without failing)?

I suspect long haul semi's don't go in every 2-4 weeks to have the bearings repacked (they can easily do 12k miles in a few weeks).

So what's different that RV bearings are so much worse?

[lmpres]

I was informed and shown for my 5vr, every 6k or 2 years.

[goducks10]

If you have Lippert axles with the EZ lube feature you might want to do an initial repack. The folks over on the Grand Design forum are having all kinds of issues with the Lippert prefilled/blown seal grease covered brakes issue.
I can't imagine that Grand Design is the only MFG with crapy Lippert grease issues.
As far as how often to repack. I go every other year. I do my own. I put about 4000+/- miles on them in a year.

[jfkmk]

valhalla360 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Every time you have the ones on your cars and trucks repacked. 🙂

.

Always wondered about that. I've had a number of vehicles hit 200k miles and never once repacked the bearings.

Most vehicles these days use sealed hub assemblies, which are run to failure, as you CAN'T repack the bearings. The axle manufacturer for my TT (Dexter) recommends 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Everybody has their own preference and reasoning for how they maintain their trailer. I do all my own maintenance, including the bearing maintenance. The way I look at it, for the time and money I spend doing the bearing maintenance and brake check each year, it is extremely cheap insurance for a problem-free camping season.

As others have stated, the bearings come from the factory with the minimum amount of grease in them, so no matter how long you go between packing them, start out by doing so right away.

You'll get all kinds of advice here, some very good, some very questionable. In one thread, someone argued you never have to repack them, simply pop the grease cap, put a dab of grease in the cap itself (no, these were not ez-lube!) and you'll be good to go. Whatever you decide, remember not everyone is offering sound advice.