Wheel bearings

Aqua-Andy wrote:

Actually they do. If you disassembled that failed wheel bearing from your Avalanche you would find of all things, two tapered bearings filled with grease. The trick is they use quality parts and not Chinese ****. GM uses Timken bearings as OE. So replace your bearings with a quality product and use good grease, you should be good for years. Other posts claim there is a difference weather on a truck or trailer, there really is not.

In function it's true that there's no difference between a bearing in a truck or trailer. Regardless if it's in a truck or a trailer a bearing allows two surfaces to slide past each other while reducing friction. However, the big difference it that the bearings on modern vehicles are sealed and are not serviceable. The bearings are supplied with a lifetime of grease and are permanently sealed. This helps keep dirt, moisture, and even water under pressure out of the bearing which dramatically extends the life of the bearing.

Trailer bearings on the other hand are designed to be serviceable. Seals are designed to be removable and are less absolute than ones in sealed units. Over time small amounts of grit, moisture, and air defeat the seal and push into the bearing cavity where it mixes with the grease reducing its effectiveness. This is why I'm a fan of completely removing the bearing, cleaning, and repacking it with clean grease over systems like EZ lube. Pumping in new grease doesn't get rid of all of the contaminates from the old grease or grease that has failed completely.

It's true that quality bearings are much better. They're manufactured with better metallurgy and tighter tolerances. They stand up to neglect much better than the cheaper ones. But they too will prematurely fail if they aren't looked after properly. Really you could get quite a bit of life out of the cheap bearings that come with these trailers if you look after them and keep them properly lubricated.