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How often should bearings be repacked?
New User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Pull the hub off, take out the bearings, clean them to remove all the old grease(gasoline works great), then inspect all of the rollers to look for rust/wear. If they are ok, repack them with new grease and reinstall.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,362
Likes: 2
From: Juneau, ALASKA
bearings are not that expensive just replace them and be safe better than getting a tire seize on tthe road somewhere get bearing buddies and put on the trailer carry a grease gun with you or in a tool box on the trailer and regrease them every time you change the oil in your truck grease is cheap and if they are alwaays greased they will last for ever
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 264
Likes: 0
From: las vegas nv.
If they are full of grease, water and dirt can't get in. If you tend to overload or leave it sit for long periods of time,grease or re-greaseing is cheap insurance.Bearing buddy's are nice but I've seen them get jammed with old grease and not feed the grease in.Then a wrongly confident owner drags the trailer around until he notices something wrong. And I like whatever grease I can find with the highest "drop point" available.Of course I still haven't said how "often",But if you check anything often enough you get familiar with wants and needs.
FTE Chapter Leader
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,904
Likes: 76
From: Wayland, MI
As a rule of thumb, in the RV industry, it is best to remove and inspect the bearings at least once a year. Always clean and repack when reassembling, with new seals. The biggest problem with the bearing buddies is that you never get the old broken down, overheated grease out. Now in your situation, you are only using the car a few times a year. I would get in a habbit of inspecting and cleaning the bearings every other year, when you pull the hubs off to pack the bearings, you can also visually inspect the brakes and make any adjustment necessary here. It takes a little while to get everything clean and reinstalled, but a little preventive maintainance time is better than sitting on the side of the highway thinking about how much it will cost to replace the axle due to a siezed bearing.
Don't get me wrong bearing buddies are great for trailers with the little donut tires (I use them also), but those tires spin twice as fast as full size tires. This creates more heat. I still repack my snowmobile trailer bearings every year. After the first trip I squeeze some grease in the bearing buddies for the next trip.
Toyman
Don't get me wrong bearing buddies are great for trailers with the little donut tires (I use them also), but those tires spin twice as fast as full size tires. This creates more heat. I still repack my snowmobile trailer bearings every year. After the first trip I squeeze some grease in the bearing buddies for the next trip.
Toyman
Freshman User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
From: Arlington, TX
Also inspect the races - any discoloration, replace 'em. Never use a new bearing with an old race - change both or neither. Never reuse a rear seal. Inspect the spindle - any discoloration needs to be removed with emory cloth. Don't overfill bearing buddies - pump grease in until it just starts to move - overfilling can blow out the rear seal.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,955
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From: Mesa
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 287
Likes: 2
Thanks Guys, I replaced the bearings. Grease was thinned out a bit, but the bearings all looked good. I got new seals from the local trailer shop. Much easier than I anticipated.
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