Approx how many miles do you get on a set of bearings?

[profdant139]

I have a very small trailer -- 2500 lb, fully loaded. I get my bearings repacked and inspected every year. (Probably could do it myself, but I want some professional eyes on the hardware.)

I tow around 10,000 miles a year. We don't go much over 62 mph. We do a lot of very rough road travel -- on rocky forest roads --at very low speeds.

I had around 70,000 miles on my bearings. The mechanic did the annual inspection and said that the bearings were shot -- he showed them to me, and they were. So I got them replaced. Not cheap, but gotta do it. (This is the same mechanic who has taken care of my family's vehicles for 28 years -- honest as the day is long. Often tries to talk me out of needless repairs -- "those brakes have plenty of life left in them -- wait till next year on the brake job.")

My question is this -- assuming proper maintenance, roughly how many miles does a set of bearings usually last? Is the number lower on a single axle unit?
Should I replace them every 50,000 miles? I don't mind spending money for safety, but I don't want to spend money for no good reason.

Your advice and experiences will be greatly appreciated!

[furballs]

Currently on my fourth relatively large TT And I do my own wheel service. Fortunately there is a store nearby that specalizes in bearings, seals and surrounding stuff.I was told last time I was in there that Timken bearings are now made in China. In any event, after seeing a bearing failure (somebody else) in a rest stop, I don't EVER want be in that situation. The inner bearing was fused to the axle stub. Bearings, races and good grease don't cost that much. I grease every year and just replace the whole shebang every three years. There is a video at Dexter axle's web page that lays out the whole procedure including bearing preload procedures.

[All_I_could_aff]

I bought my hybrid in 2012 when it was 13 years old. Upon getting it home I jacked up both sides and checked for bearing play. I then removed the grease cap from each side and saw what I believed to be fresh clean red grease.
After joining this forum and hearing all the horror stories of bearing failures and improper installation and maintenance techniques, I ordered a complete set of bearings, seals, and races. I installed them using high-quality grease, and haven’t opened them up ever since. That was six years ago, but I only travel between 2,000 and 3,000 miles per year.

[tewitt1949]

I've had my trailer for 23 years and many thousand miles. Same bearings no problems. I have cleaned and repacked them a couple times, but that it.

[EnzoColorado]

profdant139 wrote:


I understand why you tow only 3000 miles a year -- you live in Colorado, so there is no need for you to drive a thousand miles (like I do) just to get to Colorado! 😉

True enough. We haven't left Colorado yet on any trips. We're going to Utah in October which will be our longest trip by far.

[profdant139]

Enzo, this is my regular mechanic, who also happens to be a trailer guy. If you tow only 3000 miles a year, you may not need an annual bearing inspection and repack and lube and ritual sprinkling of holy water, which is what I always get.

But we tow ten thousand miles a year, in very rough conditions, and we have only a single axle. The one axle means that there is that much more impact on each set of bearings.

I understand why you tow only 3000 miles a year -- you live in Colorado, so there is no need for you to drive a thousand miles (like I do) just to get to Colorado! 😉

[EnzoColorado]

We have about 6000 miles on our trailer now in two years we owned it. Have never done anything to the bearing. Where do you take this thing to get it worked on? Regular mechanic? Camping World?

[Grit_dog]

Lynnmor wrote:

aftermath wrote:
First off, good for you regarding checking and packing the bearings each year. Like you said, it isn't expensive and you can stay on top of things before they go south.

I purchased a 1979 Starcraft tent trailer in 1989 and had it for 17 years. I checked them every year and they were in great shape when it left us in 2005. I repurchased this same trailer in Jan of 2017 for my daughter. It had been neglected and I needed to do quite a bit of refurbishing. When I got to the wheels and bearings, they were just fine and I am very sure that the interim owners did not service them like we had done. As a matter of fact one of the wheels was getting pretty close to being dry. The bearings themselves were good. So, how long do they last? We are going on 39 years with ours.

Of course they were good, 39 years ago we didn't have the junk that is prevalent today. I have had bearings that were defective from new and to answer the question of "how many miles do you get on a set of bearings", my answer would be from zero to God only knows.

Ahhh, the good old days....lol. I remember re packing front wheel bearings every couple of years and replacing a couple as well with my dad.
Sooo much better than these new tangled bearings that are sealed and you don't have to touch them for like 200,000miles!
(Note sarcasm)

[Grit_dog]

Sheesh, single axle trailer, 70kmiles. New bearings are cheap insurance. If replacing them is expensive, I'd find a new shop. I'd expect 2-3 hours labor charge and the cost of the bearings is insignificant.

[Lynnmor]

aftermath wrote:
First off, good for you regarding checking and packing the bearings each year. Like you said, it isn't expensive and you can stay on top of things before they go south.

I purchased a 1979 Starcraft tent trailer in 1989 and had it for 17 years. I checked them every year and they were in great shape when it left us in 2005. I repurchased this same trailer in Jan of 2017 for my daughter. It had been neglected and I needed to do quite a bit of refurbishing. When I got to the wheels and bearings, they were just fine and I am very sure that the interim owners did not service them like we had done. As a matter of fact one of the wheels was getting pretty close to being dry. The bearings themselves were good. So, how long do they last? We are going on 39 years with ours.

Of course they were good, 39 years ago we didn't have the junk that is prevalent today. I have had bearings that were defective from new and to answer the question of "how many miles do you get on a set of bearings", my answer would be from zero to God only knows.

[aftermath]

First off, good for you regarding checking and packing the bearings each year. Like you said, it isn't expensive and you can stay on top of things before they go south.

I purchased a 1979 Starcraft tent trailer in 1989 and had it for 17 years. I checked them every year and they were in great shape when it left us in 2005. I repurchased this same trailer in Jan of 2017 for my daughter. It had been neglected and I needed to do quite a bit of refurbishing. When I got to the wheels and bearings, they were just fine and I am very sure that the interim owners did not service them like we had done. As a matter of fact one of the wheels was getting pretty close to being dry. The bearings themselves were good. So, how long do they last? We are going on 39 years with ours.

[Huntindog]

LVJJJ wrote:
Since 1988, we've had maybe 20 different TT's (still looking for the perfect floor plan). Never had to replace a bearing. Each used TT the first thing I do is repack the bearings, check and clean the brakes. Have had USA and Chinese and Mexican bearings with no failures. Now I've got an '05 Trail Cruiser (this may be the perfect floor plan for us, I hope), with Dexter easy grease bearings (grease gets to the back bearings thru a hole in the spindle). Even though they looked good and had lots of grease, repacked them anyway and filled up the hub.

Could it be that you just haven't kept any long enough?

The question is: How long do your bearings last?

[LVJJJ]

Since 1988, we've had maybe 20 different TT's (still looking for the perfect floor plan). Never had to replace a bearing. Each used TT the first thing I do is repack the bearings, check and clean the brakes. Have had USA and Chinese and Mexican bearings with no failures. Now I've got an '05 Trail Cruiser (this may be the perfect floor plan for us, I hope), with Dexter easy grease bearings (grease gets to the back bearings thru a hole in the spindle). Even though they looked good and had lots of grease, repacked them anyway and filled up the hub.

[profdant139]

There might be an easy way to resize those photos before posting -- maybe the Photo app which was designed by our moderator?

Check this out -- it is easy to use:

Thanks, 1492, for creating this app for us

[CharlesinGA]

Recently acquired a 2008 Dutchman/Thor FS180. It is destined to replace my motorhome until my desired trailer (25ft Airstream) is delivered by the Unicorns.

In the meantime, I determined that I will not use CHINA bearings in it. The ONLY front wheel bearing on a car that I have ever had fail was a CHINA made one. Yes, I have replaced a few "just because" but no failures except this one. So off the B&D Industrial. I got the eight bearings and races, for $132 with tax (near their cost) and these were USA Timkens. All of the CHINA **** went in the scrap bin. Packed properly with Amsoil Moly fortified grease. Should last a while.

I ended up at a trailer place to get the seals, and a stud/lugnut to replace one that had damaged threads. 25 ton Dake hydraulic press and an arbor press make short work of installing bearing races and seals.

For packing bearings I highly recommend this packer, it does a better job than hand packing (and I have hand packed hundreds of wheel bearings in both cars and airplanes), Lisle 34550



I do not like the way trailers use castle nuts and either cotter pins, or like the Dutchman (dang Lippert axles), the bend over tabs, as it is difficult to get the desired adjustment. The Fords I am used to have a plain nut, and a stamped steel lock device with a dozen "points" pressed into it, and some number of ears on it, so you set the nut where you want it, and then install the stamped lock, and keep trying different combinations until the holes and slots line up, all without moving the nut.



Anyhow, I will be able to tow with peace of mind that its a 99 44/100% chance of towing hundreds of miles from home without having a seized bearing destroying my axle and stranding me.

Charles