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solismaris's avatar
solismaris
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015

My bearing failure story

This weekend I had a bearing failure on my trailer. I had no idea until somebody flagged me down with frantic hand gestures. I knew something was wrong but didn't know what. I looked in my mirrors but didn't see anything unusual. Fortunately there was an exit just ahead so I slowed down and got off, into a parking lot.

When I got out to look I immediately saw the problem. One wheel was smoking, spattered with grease, and the wheel was crooked on the spindle. But it was still there, and not on fire! It took 5 hours but I finally found somebody to come and repair it (2 hours to find somebody and 3 hours for them to repair it). They were able to save the spindle, and they successfully replaced the bearings (took them 3 trips to the parts store to get it right!). They weren't able to save the brake; it was pretty much destroyed on that wheel, but at least I was able to get where I needed to go.

For those who've experienced this before, how close do you think I was to something more catastrophic, such as the wheel falling off or the trailer catching on fire?

And how could I have discovered this earlier? I do make a habit of checking the hubs but had only gone 2 hours, hadn't stopped yet, and there was no excess heat detected on my previous trip a month earlier.

Given the difficulty of finding a mobile repair service, and the troubles they had in finding the right parts, I wondered if I could carry spares and do it myself if it happens again? But seing the troubles they had in getting the badly mangled and heat-welded parts off, I believe it would have been beyond my ability. Even if I carried an extra hub already packed with a seal it wouldn't have helped me, as it took them over an hour just to remove damaged parts off the old spindle.

61 Replies

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  • SkiSmuggs's avatar
    SkiSmuggs
    Explorer
    Dec 22, 2015
    midnightsadie wrote:
    heres your answer , every stop you make, touch the hub, if its HOT ,you got a problem.

    Every stop also means when you get to your campground too. I had a similar failure, but had stopped at a rest area 45 minutes from the CG to find smoke rolling out of the left rear wheel. The wheel was close to falling off and both the hub and spindle were damaged. Took 10 days to get the axle replaced.
    Had I checked when I got to the campground the night before, I would have found a hot hub and could have saved the axle. Prior to spring, I need to put batteries in my infrared gun and use it. I also installed the TPMS system I had purchased and never used. Kept an eye on it the 2500 miles to home.
  • ssia2485's avatar
    ssia2485
    Explorer
    Dec 22, 2015
    If the axle is out of line it will put stress on the outer bearing and overheat it. You never see the rear bearing go bad on a trailer. Carry extra bearings and seals plus the grease. I also have the part numbers for the bearings I use on my phone. NAPA has a good supply of bearings for Dexter axles. Its good to carry some spare lug nuts too
  • 72cougarxr7's avatar
    72cougarxr7
    Explorer
    Dec 18, 2015
    I have had nothing but good luck with Amsoil grease.
    Valvoline Synpower synthetic grease is good stuff too, when I repacked my travel trailer bearings last summer, that's what I used.
    I normally pack my trailer bearings every 2-3 years.
  • fj12ryder's avatar
    fj12ryder
    Explorer III
    Dec 11, 2015
    "But THE MAN IN THIS THREAD WHO ASKED ME ABOUT SALT WATER RESISTANCE may have been interested." "Maybe that one flew over your head."

    I guess I did miss that one, in fact I couldn't find it when I searched through the thread. Maybe it flew right out of the thread. :)

    Really, no need to shout for emphasis.
  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Dec 11, 2015
    The good red greases are so tacky they are impossible to rub off. Even soap and water is taxed, I use liquid dish soap on my hands. This grease does NOT RUN THROUGH seals and foul brakes unless it is blatantly gobbed into the bearing cavity to ridiculous excess.

    I do not know about LUCAS. Since I was promised stars and got peanuts with their fuel injector cleaner (versus Techron) I am a bit leery of them. What a double dose of expensive Lucas cleaner did not touch in 100 miles a single dose of Techron cleared up in 15-miles. I do not like heavily promoted items that turn out to be utter KRAP. I am not encased in a wrapper with a handle sticking out of my ---.
  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Dec 11, 2015
    CAR MANUFACTURER philosophy is so utterly different from consumers I will not bother to comment...

    "Gawwdd Dammmm!" been doin' this for 339-years and I have never had this happen to me! Whaddya mean $1,161 dollars for repairs! That's outrageous!"

    I'm too cheap to assume a "Don't Worry Be Happy" attitude when GUARANTEEING no problems is so inexpensive and easy.

    "Taker back! It's guaranteed for life! Need new bolts and nuts! The threads on these are getting worn out! I wonder if Les or Gil is in the store? They know the moment they see me walk through the front door yet another free replacement will be waiting on the counter. Gotta stop for a fill up".

    Some "better stuff" is marginally better. The grease I recommend is not counted among them. I paid over a THOUSAND DOLLARS for a constant velocity front axle U joint failure THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. It wasn't thrown in the ocean. But THE MAN IN THIS THREAD WHO ASKED ME ABOUT SALT WATER RESISTANCE may have been interested.

    Maybe that one flew over your head.
  • fj12ryder's avatar
    fj12ryder
    Explorer III
    Dec 11, 2015
    Considering I don't intend to drop my toyhauler into the ocean at the end of 40 lb. test line, the need to keep my wheel bearings protected to that degree is probably not necessary. Seems unlikely that most car manufacturers use Almagard 3752, and I've never had a wheel bearing go bad in probably 40 years and several hundreds of thousands of miles. So maybe Almagard 3752 may not be strictly necessary for the majority of drivers who avoid driving into the ocean. :)

    I imagine if I ever repack a wheel bearing again I will probably use what I used the last time: some kind of grease that came in a tube. :) Still going strong too, amazingly enough.
  • Puddles's avatar
    Puddles
    Explorer
    Dec 11, 2015
    MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
    Scroll Down halfway to ALMAGARD 3752
    You can follow the bouncing ball and buy single tubes online now

    http://products.lelubricants.com/category/all-industrial-greases


    CHEVRON RED GREASE NLGI No 2

    https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=77100&docFormat=PDF

    Forget what you read on the PDF page about Black Pearl wheel bearing grease. Chevron outright stole this formula from L.E. and Red Grease will spit in Black Pearl's face. Chevron has never been good at grease except for their stolen formula, Red Grease.

    Wish I could find the Red Grease in a small can rather than a tube.

    Both greases are virtually the same, even in color. Have lots of rags handy as this stuff is sticky. I use Brake Cleaner to spray down bearings that have been cleaned in solvent. Lab clean. Pack the big and the small end accesses to the bearing, keep revolving and keep packing. The bearings should be impossibly stiff to turn by hand when you're finished. Then take a good look at them, with good spindles and races, you won't be seeing them again, soon. These greases spit water out of them. I have taken a bearing, packed it good, hooked a 40 lb fishing line to it and tossed it out into 80F ocean salt water. A month or whothehellknows how much later, I pulled it in, wiped the grit off the grease and the bearing was like new. Coat a rod, boil water, whip the water into a froth and then remove the rod. Has any of the grease dribbled off? I lubed Jeeps with this stuff then spent a year of submerging the chassis up to the floorboards crossing streams, fording winter slush puddles two feet deep and a year or so later TRIED to re-lube ball joints, u-joints, etc. One slight twitch of a grease gun handle had brand new looking red grease forced out of the seals. Two year old new looking grease. It does make an impression on a person.


    Hey Mex... been following this thread... looking in stores... Chevron hard to find here... can find Lucas NLGI #2 that's also red... do you have an opinion on that grease? Tks
  • jwmII's avatar
    jwmII
    Explorer
    Dec 10, 2015
    solismaris wrote:
    This weekend I had a bearing failure on my trailer. I had no idea until somebody flagged me down with frantic hand gestures. I knew something was wrong but didn't know what. I looked in my mirrors but didn't see anything unusual. Fortunately there was an exit just ahead so I slowed down and got off, into a parking lot.

    When I got out to look I immediately saw the problem. One wheel was smoking, spattered with grease, and the wheel was crooked on the spindle. But it was still there, and not on fire! It took 5 hours but I finally found somebody to come and repair it (2 hours to find somebody and 3 hours for them to repair it). They were able to save the spindle, and they successfully replaced the bearings (took them 3 trips to the parts store to get it right!). They weren't able to save the brake; it was pretty much destroyed on that wheel, but at least I was able to get where I needed to go.










    From your description it sounds like the bearing inner race spun on the axle. That could have damaged the bearing fit even though they got the bearing off and saved the axle. At your earliest convenience it would be a good idea to disassemble all that hub and wheel bearings and get several micrometer readings of your axle inner race fit. If that bearing spun on the axle the bearing fit might be somewhat undersize and you could have a repeat performance. While doing this check the axle bearing fit size for the outer wheel bearing too. It might mean replacing the axle. Not fun but better than another bearing failure.

    For those who've experienced this before, how close do you think I was to something more catastrophic, such as the wheel falling off or the trailer catching on fire?

    And how could I have discovered this earlier? I do make a habit of checking the hubs but had only gone 2 hours, hadn't stopped yet, and there was no excess heat detected on my previous trip a month earlier.

    Given the difficulty of finding a mobile repair service, and the troubles they had in finding the right parts, I wondered if I could carry spares and do it myself if it happens again? But seing the troubles they had in getting the badly mangled and heat-welded parts off, I believe it would have been beyond my ability. Even if I carried an extra hub already packed with a seal it wouldn't have helped me, as it took them over an hour just to remove damaged parts off the old spindle.
  • MEXICOWANDERER's avatar
    MEXICOWANDERER
    Explorer
    Dec 10, 2015
    Scroll Down halfway to ALMAGARD 3752
    You can follow the bouncing ball and buy single tubes online now

    http://products.lelubricants.com/category/all-industrial-greases


    CHEVRON RED GREASE NLGI No 2

    https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=77100&docFormat=PDF

    Forget what you read on the PDF page about Black Pearl wheel bearing grease. Chevron outright stole this formula from L.E. and Red Grease will spit in Black Pearl's face. Chevron has never been good at grease except for their stolen formula, Red Grease.

    Wish I could find the Red Grease in a small can rather than a tube.

    Both greases are virtually the same, even in color. Have lots of rags handy as this stuff is sticky. I use Brake Cleaner to spray down bearings that have been cleaned in solvent. Lab clean. Pack the big and the small end accesses to the bearing, keep revolving and keep packing. The bearings should be impossibly stiff to turn by hand when you're finished. Then take a good look at them, with good spindles and races, you won't be seeing them again, soon. These greases spit water out of them. I have taken a bearing, packed it good, hooked a 40 lb fishing line to it and tossed it out into 80F ocean salt water. A month or whothehellknows how much later, I pulled it in, wiped the grit off the grease and the bearing was like new. Coat a rod, boil water, whip the water into a froth and then remove the rod. Has any of the grease dribbled off? I lubed Jeeps with this stuff then spent a year of submerging the chassis up to the floorboards crossing streams, fording winter slush puddles two feet deep and a year or so later TRIED to re-lube ball joints, u-joints, etc. One slight twitch of a grease gun handle had brand new looking red grease forced out of the seals. Two year old new looking grease. It does make an impression on a person.

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