What's the fascination with trailer bearings?

I felt the same as you, but I thought I better check them periodically anyway. One day at a rest stop I noticed one hub was warmer, not by a lot, just warmer than the other 3. Over the next week or so it started getting noticeably warmer.

I had a mobile RV repair service check it out. Sure enough, that bearing was getting ready to fail and showed signs of burn marks. Yes, the man showed me what was wrong.

You don't have to buy a temp gun, but I think it's folly to not check them. I don't know what kind of rig you're talking about, but mine is a heavy fiver with 4 wheels. And I dry camp a lot, often in strong winds, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that dust gets in there. It gets in everywhere else.

Trailer axles carry a lot more weight than a car or truck. A simple check and prevention can save you a lot of roadside grief. I think automatic replacement every year is a bit much, mine lasted about 5 years.

So I've seen many, many posts over the years about checking hubs with IR guns for excessive heat. I've even seen posts where people check their hubs every stop

Before reading RV Net:

Many miles on a 1995 TT and never checked them.

Never thought about water leaks

ST tires

Roads are to steep

Somebody stealing stuff at campsite

ETC...

Probably at some point, because they never used to check them, they had a trailer bearing finally go bad on them. In Alaska, you usually see several open trailers sitting along the road from Anch to Fbks without a wheel hub when hunting season rolls around. These are trailers used once a year (maybe even not for many years), they overload them with four wheelers, hunting gear, and then head off down the highway at 70+ mph. Then the same thing when the first good snowfall hits and people get out the snowmachine trailers for the first time in a long time.

What I find interesting is tires. Some talk about checking their air pressure every day. That's not a bad thing to do at all - a blow out on a MH or TT can be expensive, but when you ask them if they check the air every day on the car or truck they drive every day when home, you never hear back from them.

Or, when they ask what to do with the tires when the RV is in storage such as should they raise the tires off of the ground, should the tires touch the grass, should the tires be stored on wood or concrete vs gravel or pavement. If you ask them how they stored the car or truck they left at home for six months while traveling, they don't answer.

Why are only RV tires important?

I do check mine when I stop, but it's more a part of getting out of the MH and limbering up. After whopping the same tires with the same hammer for a long time, I don't need an air gauge to know if the pressure has changed a couple of pounds or one tire is much different than another. A quick touch of my hand to a wheel hub is enough to know if I have a heat problem.

Bill

When I brought my TT home I checked the bearings, found 2 overstuffed and the other 2 were ok. Fixed the problem now no more worries. Tires on the other hand get a the guage before I leave and an eyeball during the trip. Common sense goes a long ways to saving time for other stuff like poking the campfire.

Turtle n Peeps, if you ever have a wheel bearing go bad on you, then you'll answer your own question. Getting stuck in the middle of nowhere is no fun, and repairs can be quite expensive.

t and P Over 12 trailers in life works out to 5 years or less on bearings. At that rate I would be surprised if you had any trouble with bearings or tires.

2oldman wrote:
I felt the same as you, but I thought I better check them periodically anyway. One day at a rest stop I noticed one hub was warmer, not by a lot, just warmer than the other 3. Over the next week or so it started getting noticeably warmer.

I had a mobile RV repair service check it out. Sure enough, that bearing was getting ready to fail and showed signs of burn marks. Yes, the man showed me what was wrong.

You don't have to buy a temp gun, but I think it's folly to not check them. I don't know what kind of rig you're talking about, but mine is a heavy fiver with 4 wheels. And I dry camp a lot, often in strong winds, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that dust gets in there. It gets in everywhere else.

Trailer axles carry a lot more weight than a car or truck. A simple check and prevention can save you a lot of roadside grief. I think automatic replacement every year is a bit much, mine lasted about 5 years.

A few questions for you.

#1. Do you do your own bearing work?

#2. So why did the bearing began to fail? (bearings just don't decide to fail. What was the root cause?) Blown seal? Lack of grease? Contamination? Too tight of spindle nut?

#3. When was the bearing checked last and who did the checking?

#4. Do you also check your TV hubs during the day while towing or not? If not, why not?

As far as trailer being heaver: That has nothing to do with it. Bearing and hubs are designed for the amount of weight that they carry. That's why a 3/4 ton pickup hub has a bigger bearing than a 1/2 ton pickup hub. And a class 8 big rig has way bigger bearings than that of a pickup truck. Same way for trailers and their axel and hubs. A 20' TT won't have the same axel or bearings that a 36' heavy TT will have.

1. no
2. don't know
3. repacked in 2009. Rv service facility
4. no. never had a failed bearing on a car or truck. don't worry about it

One would hope RV mfrs install axles that are capable, but as we all know, sometimes they don't put the best quality stuff on.

I hand check both my fiver and trucks wheels at every stop. When I had my F350 I did this and found my left front wheel very hot. Luckily only an hour away from the house. Dropped the fiver and went back home and found the caliper was locking up. Replaced both front calipers, pads and lines

If I hadn't checked more than likely would have seized on the interstate and been stuck. It only takes a minute to walk around the vehciles and ensure all is good.

Car or trucks don't get the same sideways pressure put on them on every turn like dual axle trailers do. Just makes sense to me to check them now and then. I do a visual check and feel the hubs every time we stop and get out of the truck when towing - both the trailer and the truck. Found a valve stem on the front tire of the truck about ready to explode one time.
Barney