What are the good quality bearings for a TT?

[myredracer]

Timken or SKF are as good as they get? A frame shop told me few years the name of a good one made in Japan but can't remember the name.

This is the first time for me to be ordering bearings and seals for our TT. Do I just need the part number off our axles and go onto the bearing and/or the Alko's website? Do they come as a kit with nut, cotter pin etc?

A bit unclear on the info. on our axle sticker. Says axles are 4400 lbs and are T52D-H9. Alko's website says T52 axles are rated 5K lbs?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

This site is from down under but the info is good and compact for the Fort Worth Texas products. Been using LE since 1972. When I had a Willy's pickup and it spent the winters with the front tires submerged in snow melt and after 80,000 miles the bearings looked like I just packed them impresses me. Same for tie-rod ends, axle knuckles, drive shafts, spring hangers the 284 lube points on a Willys.

When water comes in and out the doors the vehicle is submerged.

This stuff made others lubes into sick jokes. BTW out of the majors CHEVRON is not the lube leader. Shell is. Sometime when you have a moment Google

SHELL FOUR BALL WEAR TEST
or
TIMKEN OK LOAD TEST

Chevron makes great urea-based gasoline additive. But LE's lubes are so superior to others it isn't funny. But they are a ----- to get to.

http://www.lubeng.com.au/3750-3751-3752-ALMAGARD-Vari-Purpose-Lubricant.php

[Ozlander]

Mystic JT-6 Hi Temp Grease #2 is what they sell at Walmart.
Been using it for years.

[NinerBikes]

Thank you smkettner, for that link... noted.

When I got in a pinch, up in Boise, ID, I went to a Napa and bought a grease gun for the TT, and this to fill it with.

Al-co axles on the TT. 4800# version, I believe.

Napa Auto parts, and Sta Lube.

[time2roll]

NinerBikes wrote:
Chevron ultra bearing grease, red stringy

Does not seem to meet Dexter specs for dropping point

http://www.dexteraxle.com/Bearing_Lubrication_Chart.pdf

I use Mobil 1

http://www.mobil.com/usa/Mobil_1_Synthetic_Grease.aspx

[RAS43]

NinerBikes wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The best wheel bearing and chassis grease is a hassle to get

Lubrication Engineers Almagard 3752

But CHEVRON copied this grease seemingly right down to the molecular level. Their grease is also a deep red color. It lasts forever. Amazing stuff. It is so far better than anything else it makes competition a cruel joke.

Chevron ultra bearing grease, red stringy

While I am a long time Chevron user I don't believe that Ultra is the best choice for wheel bearings. Even Chevron states this in the product description above. Chevron Delo EP or Black Pearl EP is their recommendation. I use Chevron Delo EP.

[westend]

myredracer wrote:
Thanks for all the comments.

Tomorrow I am going to go visit a frame & axle shop I really trust. Might get them to get the bearings for me so I know I'll get exactly the right ones and hopefully some USA made ones or equivalent.

I've read that Timken or SKF bearings can be made in a number of various countries. One poster even said the one half of his bearings were stamped Mexico and the other half Japan.

Thanks, NTN sounds like an option. Except on their home page, they say that they have over 68 plants worldwide. :S Maybe it was NTN that was mentioned to me by the frame shop.

What I'm finding for metal parts is that the country of origin isn't as crucial as the company that puts their name on them. Indian and Thai brass being the exception to that rule.
I would trust that Timken or SKF has quality control in place to insure a good product and keep their name with reliability in the same sentence.

[NinerBikes]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The best wheel bearing and chassis grease is a hassle to get

Lubrication Engineers Almagard 3752

But CHEVRON copied this grease seemingly right down to the molecular level. Their grease is also a deep red color. It lasts forever. Amazing stuff. It is so far better than anything else it makes competition a cruel joke.

Deleted Chevron link, not suitable for use in trailer bearings, dropping point of lube is not 413F, it's 374F, not high enough, like when the brakes are on, with extended down hill drives.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The best wheel bearing and chassis grease is a hassle to get

Lubrication Engineers Almagard 3752

But CHEVRON copied this grease seemingly right down to the molecular level. Their grease is also a deep red color. It lasts forever. Amazing stuff. It is so far better than anything else it makes competition a cruel joke.

[brulaz]

NinerBikes wrote:
I was going to ask, instead of worrying about good bearings, what is good, or the best lubricant to pack the bearings with. Red "Farm" Grease, the kind used everywhere on the farm, where bearing failure during harvesting season isn't an option?
...

The fairly expensive Mobil 1 Full Synthetic axle grease I like is bright red. Maybe that's it?

Couldn't find it the other week so substituted some semi-synthetic but haven't tried it yet.

[myredracer]

Thanks for all the comments.

Tomorrow I am going to go visit a frame & axle shop I really trust. Might get them to get the bearings for me so I know I'll get exactly the right ones and hopefully some USA made ones or equivalent.

I've read that Timken or SKF bearings can be made in a number of various countries. One poster even said the one half of his bearings were stamped Mexico and the other half Japan.

Thanks, NTN sounds like an option. Except on their home page, they say that they have over 68 plants worldwide. :S Maybe it was NTN that was mentioned to me by the frame shop.

[NinerBikes]

I was going to ask, instead of worrying about good bearings, what is good, or the best lubricant to pack the bearings with. Red "Farm" Grease, the kind used everywhere on the farm, where bearing failure during harvesting season isn't an option?

Many years ago, in cased bearings for skateboarding... Japanese bearings were very good, but the best bearings, rolling resistance wise, came out of Germany. It was noticeable, certainly, the glide effect on German bearings being the best, we tested many a skate board truck and wheel, by bearing brands, in the mid 1970's. Whether it was bearings or grease lube that the germans used, I don't know, but they rolled out the farthest, consistently. They were priced accordingly.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

NTN is a first-class Japanese bearing. Europe makes superb bearings.

Like anything else made in China a foreign entity overseer is vital to produce a quality product. 99.9% of what I see has good bearings and garbage lubricant.

[RJsfishin]

First of all, if proper maintenance is done, bearings are lifetime. There is no good reason to ever replace wheel bearings, unless they are rough or burnt from lack of grease, or water getting in them.
Second, there are no junk bearings sold in the united states, and probably goes for any other country in the world too. Don't blame your inexperience in relaceing bearing races, or adjusting bearings, onto cheap junk bearings !!
Thirdly, unless you are experienced in replaceing pressed in bearing races, don't !!! Improperly installed or adjusted bearings, can easily cause a catastrophe on the hiway, or at best a new axle.

[jodeb720]

Having just been through an ordeal with AlKo axles, bearings and drums, I can tell you that the maintenance is more important that the source. My 4400# axle bearings have been greased annually by me since I purchased my cougar. I greased them before the first time I took it out on the road (once I got it home) and they were under packed from the factory!

But, after 20,000 miles, I have no galling or burn marks on the axle (point of clarification - I have ez lubes which I refuse to use/trust).

My BIL has a different axle on his Echo lite and we just repacked/regreased his bearings and he has some marks because he's never done anything to the bearings.

If the bearings were **** on my rig, the maintenance I apply annually has made up for the inferior quality.

As it turns out, I had a problem with my brake controller and it destroyed my drums by applying voltage to the magnets and wearing down the inside of the drums.

Etrailer couldn't get the drums for me (correctly I might add) and Best Trailer tried, but for some reason, the AlKo part numbers and drums don't match up properly.

As it turns out I ordered two new axles (6000#) not AlKo's to replace my 4400#'s because I can't get parts for the 4400's correctly!

AlKo was bought out by Dexter last year FWIW... I think that's part of the problem.

Again, Maintenance is more important that the source of the bearings.

[coolbreeze01]

You may or may not need bearings. In any event, bearings typically have numbers stamped on them.