A fitting at the hub allows you to pump grease at positive pressure into the assembly. Repeat the process while rotating the bearing from roller to roller. Bearings must be continually repacked to ensure that they will operate correctly to avoid damaging the wheel or the trailer itself. However, much like rolling-element bearings themselves, lubrication is an ancient technology thats highly engineered in modern forms. Safe travels, Hey depreys Great video buttercup Saw you just subscribed to my channel ,,( thats awesome thanks )travel safe ,,love you guys,,liked ( thumbs up ). You remove the bearing hub cap and then remove the cotter pin and castellated nut. Photo courtesy of airforums.com. Once the bearing is clean, its time to pack it with grease. Take your time you only have two of these to do. We work hard to bring the best fishing forums Ohio has to offer! Next, use your trailer wheel chocks to lock tires on the opposite side of where youll be working, then put your wheel jack in place and slowly lift the trailer until the wheel is just off the ground. This method is dangerous and should be avoided. You can buy a special tool that doesnt cost much at most hardware stores for this purpose. You would not pack grease in the hub otherwise and not in the drum since the brakes would not be able to grab with grease in the hub. Although similar, synthetic and mineral oils offer different properties and are not interchangeable. For those who travel occasionally greasing your travel trailer wheel bearing once a year or every 10,000 to 12,000 miles should be sufficient. A wheel bearing that has been neglected eventually leaks and deteriorates. How often you are hauling and the size of your wheels are all going to affect the frequency at which you clean and grease your bearings. Some people like to use a long center punch to tap on the back side of the race ring to force it out the back. If you cant get it to move at all, youll need to apply more force or take it to a garage. Make sure to apply grease to both sides. When you go to change bearings or repack them in the future, youll need to clean all of that old grease out. Inside the back of the wheel hub, you should see a rubber cover that when removed, will expose a notched starwheel. Check for Heat Tow the trailer for a short distance, 5-10 miles at highways speeds, then park the trailer. Unlock additional features, and fewer ads while browsing. As for cleaning the rim, good ol soap and water works fine. Lubricants take the form of either oil or grease. Back off the nut a 1/4 of a turn. Repeat the previous two steps to slowly work the bearing buddy away from the wheel hub. Keep your hand on the wheel and spin it. Standard tapered trailer wheel bearings are recommended to be re-packed with fresh bearing grease about every year or every 12,000 miles under normal use. To replace them, youll need to know the size and type of the bearings in your trailers wheel hub. Check out Dexter E-Z Lube System, are you sure you dont have? But boat trailers with small wheels require re-packing every 2,000 miles. The bearing might come out with the hub. It also offers corrosion protection. such as water (Ive heard this is mostly important for boat trailers where the wheels get submerged though). Firstly, apply grease to the Australian marine seal significantly reduces heat-causing friction. This article has been viewed 2,599 times. 3. Lay sheets of paper towel on the ground to set the bearing buddies when they are taken off of the wheel hub. Do this with both the inner and outer bearings. Take your new grease seal and lay it inside the hub with the rubber side facing in. Grease your coupler and hitch ball before each tow, as well as monthly and at six-month intervals or every 6,000 miles. I guarantee you bearing failure IF you expect your bearings to last forever and ignore critical checks. Set aside a good hour and a half to complete this job including repacking the bearings and installing them on the axle. Set the block of wood on the opposite side of the bearing buddy and strike it with the hammer again. Privacy | Once these are back in place, all you have to do is install the washer, castle nut, and dust cap or bearing protector. To do so, remove the top of the jack and either pump or hand pack grease into the gears. 1-5 Months Allow the parts to air dry or blow them dry gently at low speed with compressed air. An oils viscosity is correlative to the film thickness it can create. The letters A, B, or C typically follow, which mean Good (A), Better (B) and Best (C). Some manufacturers forget to grease the wheel bearings prior to delivery to the dealer. Please select the number of verifiable months youve been driving professionally using your Class A CDL within the last 3 years. If they are less than 1/16-inch thick or if the linings are cracked, gouged, grease or oil soaked or even coming loose from the shoe it`s time to replace the shoes. I use them when I repack my wheel bearings and it just makes it so easy. For a trailer that isnt used often, bearings should be lubricated every 12 months. If a grease fitting is present, apply grease with a grease gun to lubricate the jack mechanism. When I was a kid the farmer I worked for had me clean the bearings with solvent to remove all the old grease and any particles that might be hiding in it. Proper installation of any seal requires lubrication on the machined steel surface. Set your parts and cleaning materials down next to the wheel thats being removed. Excellent comment ! Regularly repacking your bearings will allow you to avoid certain setbacks the next time you take it out on the open road! The bearing on the outside is called the outer bearing. I think you may be overdoing it at every 3 months with very few miles. Can the over-lubrication of bearings by boaties fix the problem of water in the grease? Is it possible the bearings have been tortured by excessive heat and are barely hanging on? Dont change the type you use unless youre cleaning and repacking bearings. Press the new bearing down into the grease to force the grease into the bearing. He got his first outboard at 7 years old, and has owned more than 60 since. Wheel bearing maintenance frequency depends on the trailer type, wheel size, and average load weight. You can remove the dust cap by prying it off with the screwdriver, but a protector may require a few light taps with a hammer. You may need to place the screwdriver on the lip of the cap and tap on it with a hammer to create a gap. Tip: You could also use a hollow cinder block or anything else you have handy that can support the hub assembly with a gap underneath the inner bearing. They are there to ensure that the wheel bearing is always covered in grease. I have also read that too much grease can cause overheating and leakage issues. Use a digital caliper a ruler or tape measure will not be accurate enough. Available from several companies, it fits in place of the dust cap. Turn the wrench to the left to loosen the nut. In order to service or replace the wheel bearings on a boat trailer, it will be necessary to remove the bearing buddies from the wheel hub. Making sure your trailer is well-maintained is an essential step in keeping your trailer in good condition and fit for towing. If you can not then use a visual inspection. Pump grease until new grease begins to appear. Use a paper towel and clean the back of the inner bearing by stuffing it through the outer bearing and through the center of the hub. After two to three swipes, you should start seeing grease push up between the roller bearings. Without suitable grease, the friction caused by the rotations will eventually damage the bearing, leading to a number of hazards. , How to Grease Utility Trailer Bearings , Inspect my boat trailer new bearings after repacking grease why over heated on my boat trailer? But before you attempt this at home, it is a good idea to have a service manual for your trailer with instructions for the procedure. You can use a screwdriver and hammer to accomplish this. Also Know, can you over grease wheel bearings? This can lead to the total failure of your bearing, and leave you stuck on the side of the road with a blown-out trailer. Take your chisel and gently tap on the inner bearing with a hammer to remove the wheels grease seal. Turn over the wheel and return the cleaned, inner bearing to the hub. Add more grease to your hand as needed. Your trailer tires cant spin without bearings! Keep pushing grease up through the same spot until you see fresh grease come through. How to put some grease in trailer axle bearings, without taking them apart? Since 2004, Ohio Game Fishing is proud to be the oldest and largest online outdoors community in Ohio. My buddy bearing popped out. The bad news is that youll need to get a new cap before you go anywhere. You can bring your trailer into your local TrailersPlus dealership for service, or you can perform the wheel bearing service at home with the below steps: Your trailer wheel bearings are serviced! To reinstall the wheel assembly, liberally grease the spindle, and pack grease into the bearing races. Once the race is forced far enough through the hub the seal will pop out and the bearing will drop off so you should put a shop towel or crumpled paper towels under it to catch the bearing and seal. High Temp Disc/Drum Brake Wheel Bearing Grease, such as the Lucas Oil 10301 is the recommend grease type for the wheel bearings. If your axle(s) are equipped with a grease zerk on the ends of the axle(s), the bearings must be greased every 6 months or 6,000 miles to ensure reliable and safe operation of your trailer. Set the hub down on a clean towel then add extra grease to the axle spindle but dont get it on the brakes! Generally, the smaller the tire, the faster the wheels spin, which puts more relative stress on the bearings than larger tires would. While servicing wheel bearings isnt the most exciting job, it can save a lot of lost fun-in-the-sun time something few of us can afford to give up. Some take the stance that every-other-year internal inspections are sufficient and figure a squirt-lube on alternate years should be fine. Hitting the bearing buddy too hard with the hammer can damage or ruin it and need to be replaced. Alternatively you can use the ToolPRO Portable Bearing Packer. Next, pull the outer bearing off the hub. A lot of grease caps are damaged by people prying the caps away from the wheel hub with a screwdriver or similar tool. Whats changed is the grease thats used to lube them; todays greases, especially synthetics, can offer a longer bearing life and more forgiving environment against roller failure. Many thanks for the pointers & instruction. The front bearing has a hub cap and its bearing must be packed manually at an interval based on use. To hand-pack bearings, force grease under the cage between the rollers starting from the large side until it shows on the smaller side. Much appreciated Sir! This is a question that we get quite a bit. For reasons stated above, trailer bearings will have a dust cover over them. Dont mix old and new greases if possible, and record what grease youre using, so you know what to apply when your bearings need a shot of the slippery stuff, but its not yet time to do a complete repack. The procedure calls for basic mechanical aptitude, and only requires high-temperature grease, rags, a trailer wheel jack, a torque wrench and a hammer. Install the inner bearing and seal into the hub. They allow the wheel to spin effectively around the axle of the trailer. If you are going to take your trailer to a professional, do some research to find a well reviewed place to take it. Return the newly assembled hub to the spindle, using care to replace parts in the same order in which you removed them (outer bearing, washer, castellated nut and tab). The grease you use needs to hold up well in high temperatures and high-pressure use. If you allow the bearings to be exposed for any amount of time, youre risking contamination that can destroy the bearings. Then pull the hub towards you taking care not to let the outer bearing fall out. These should be examined seasonally or every 2,000 miles and repacked with grease. Obviously, if you just squirt to lube your bearings, youll never have an opportunity to look these critical systems over. On the other hand, boat trailers with small wheels require repacking every 2,000 miles. In addition, new types of lubrication have been introduced in recent years, and liquid-oil-bath systems offered by several manufacturers have become more popular. Is there a recommended mileage or time interval for greasing wheel bearings on that particular chassis? If you feel that the surface of the tire is hot, that could indicate inadequate improper lubrication. Once the dust cap is off, remove the cotter key and remove the nut using a channel-lock pliers. This ensures that both bearings are properly seated. Once the wheel is in the air, all you have to do is follow a few simple steps. Repeat these steps until grease is showing through the other side. Place a small pry bar or screwdriver under the bearing buddy and pry under it. Take the wheel and lay it down down on a towel, making sure that the wheel and hub are positioned inner side down. This seals out dust, dirt and water. The entire hub will now come off with the bearings. In fact, engineers have used fluids to reduce friction thousands of years, but the advent of the oil industry in the late 19th century spurred modern bearing lubrication. Adjust with the proper looseness. You should loosen the nut a little if the hub slows down or stops turning. Other additives can be used by manufacturers to prolong the life of the grease or extend its operating temperature. In fact, the caps themselves are also packed with grease. Youve already provided some great advice! Your vacation or trip to the lake relies on your trailer bearings. Apply a small amount of grease to the castellated nut, then place it over the castellated tab. They resist water and can help transfer heat from the disc brakes as well. Best if you have an experienced teacher guide you. Gently hand tighten and click the tab into place while using care not to over-tighten. You can use brake cleaner to cut through the grease. Picture this: Your family sitting dejectedly on the roadside while you wait for BoatUS Trailer Assist or while one of you heads off to find a service center that can replace the trailers damaged wheel bearings. How can you tell when your trailer is in need of some serious maintenance? Friction produces heat, excess heat through incorrect installation destroys bearings. When installing trailer bearings or replacing them, you need a pair of pliers, a lug wrench, a hammer, a flathead screwdriver and the necessary means to jack the wheel up safely. When you go looking for replacement trailer bearings, youll possibly end up scratching your head over the options available. Others say things like you can never have enough grease and suggest packing the entire hub full of grease. Well, you can be assured that grease caps are not decorative. Please leave a comment if you found the above tips useful. If you are one of the thousands of people that purchase a Haul Master Trailer from Harbor Freight Tools the process of setting up and building the trailer correctly will take you a few days. He is the main contributor of content and an avid researcher of travel trailers and the RV lifestyle. Make sure the seal is pointed the correct way. Wheel bearing design has remained unchanged over the last 50 years, and greasing them is simple. When the hub binds slightly, youll know that all parts are properly seated. This way, you can be aware that all of the wheels are ready to go, and that the job was done properly on all of the bearings. I will only be explaining the removal of the rear / inner bearing and seal in this how to and other how tos will explain the packing of bearings and other assembly requirements. Put the dust cap back on and youre done. Obtain a proper trailer jack, and block all tires on the opposite side to ensure you are safe while underneath the trailer. Carry-On Trailer uses Dexter axles for our trailers, and their recommendations for hand-packing bearing grease are as follows: While it might seem like a small step, making sure your trailer is properly greased will help keep the necessary parts lubricated and working properly. Here we share our research, RV and product reviews, RV travel destinations and much more. The wheels must be properly torqued as well. You can perform this task by hand or with a bearing packer, which typically costs $20 or less. Bearing buddies make more sense on a boat trailer that the axle gets submerged. Discussion in 'Freightliner Forum' started by Verdel, Mar 8, 2014. Place the female end of the extension into the hub and press its edge to the outside wall of the hub and down on to the bearing race. Place a jack stand on each side of the wheel to support it. The first time allow 3 hours. Once packed, insert the inner bearing and seal, followed by the outer bearing and seal. Now, slide the hub back on the axle and install the outer bearing. NO MESS! Tap the dust cap back into place over the hub with the rubber mallet. By checking this box and clicking the "Send me job offers" button below, I represent that I: By checking this box and clicking the "Send me job offers" button below. Find the information you need about the kind of thickener used in your grease on the label or packaging. Knowing this is critical when youre removing the grease cap. You cant go wrong. SL (Slimline or Ford) bearings are rated for 1500 kg on a 45 mm round or square axle. Thats why, if you decide to go with just the quick lube, you should thoroughly tear down and remove all existing grease. You probably can complete it in about 4 hours if you just dont care. Check for noise Have someone listen from both the drivers side and the curbside as you tow your trailer past at about 25 mph. There should be free movement, no rubbing or binding. Follow this pattern as you tap out the entire race, bearing and seal. Place the greased outer bearing and washer back into place. Bend the ends back out and around the nut to hold it in place. Rust increases friction and prevents the bearing from doing its job properly. remove wheel, remove hub, inspect brakes, repack bearings BEST WAY, Do you have a ClassA license to pull your rig? You need some type of liquid solvent in a pan, with a small paint brush. Its quick and easy, but its not all that its cracked up to be when its comes to this type of maintenance. Well, the answer is easy Gracos Grease Jockey pneumatic trailer pump works with the parking or service brake lube points, completely eliminating the need for electrical power from the trailer., Its heavy-duty pump and reservoir are designed for reliable operation in harsh environments. Apply preload to the bearing before final adjustment by tightening up the adjusting nut, and then backing off a couple of times. Take care not to overtighten the nut, otherwise the bearing may overheat. If you ran the trailer and the bearings ran dry youd want to replace them or you can end up on the side of the highway lookin for where your wheel went. >, Check out more from this creator at the link below: The Depreys >. This should be done once a year unless advised otherwise. Not all travel trailers need this service. What a great site, glad I found you. Things like gross vehicle weight ratings, tongue weight, trailer brakes, drawbar pull, tie-down hangers, trailer roof vents and tow bars (among countless others) are often the focus of discussions online and at the local trailer supply parts counter. Its essential to keep them in good shape to keep your trailer functioning safely. Get your gloves and grab a grease gun to pack a generous amount of new high temperature grease into the hub, then place more grease externally around the rollers. Improperly maintained wheel bearings can cause wheels to detach without warning and result in damage to the trailer, its cargo, and perhaps people. Your email address will not be published. Sometimes theyre called dust caps, but for clarity, well call them grease caps from this point forward. When you then immerse that heated wheel assembly in cold water, the temperature drop causes a vacuum inside the hub, which draws gritty seawater into the wheel assembly; damage to metal parts can follow swiftly. If you force a grease cap and somehow bend, crack or puncture it in the process, youll need to buy a new cap. If you use it a few times a year then you can service your bearings once a year. Keep up the Great work!! Carefully remove the wheel hubs dust cap with a chisel and hammer, then firmly pull on the hub to expose a six-sided castellated nut. Tighten the spindle nut with the socket wrench. Tighten the nut, then back it off a quarter-turn until the wheel spins freely. If the usually reliable dust cover suddenly comes off, this can be the result of excessive heat and pressure buildup in the bearing assembly. 7. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc.n. They are not all the same as you might have guessed. Grease caps, dust caps, and bearing protectors have to be installed right to avoid losing them. Always have them greased before you start on a long trip and carry a spare set. Pitting or other damage. As long as I dont tear the gloves my hands need very minimal cleaning afterwards. Give a firm tap at 12 oclock and then move to 6 oclock and then to 3 oclock and then to 9 oclock. Sometimes they are the press-on type, but typically they are threaded in place sort of like a lid on a jar. Then remove the outer bearing (the bearing and race assembly closest to the outside of the wheel) and spindle washer, and set them aside. The Grease Jockey trailer lubrication system optimally greases the lube points shown in the illustration. The wide end of the bearing should also be pointing down. Before you hit the road, be sure to check your braking system and trailer wheel bearings. Clean the bearing with a solvent such as kerosene, and inspect them for pitting or any other deformation. They should be listening for any squeaks, grinding noises, clicking or any other sound emanating from the trailer wheels. RV Expeditioners may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. Continue until it is solidly seated against the hub shoulder. This is not how you want to start your vacation. The frequency at which you grease your bearings can also be determined by how the trailer is used, how often it is used, and where it will be traveling in terms of distance, temperature, and geography. When replenishing old grease, select a type with either the same kind of thickener or one thats compatible. I suggest you keep the hub mounted in the tire and wheel while working on it because it allows better control. Since wheel bearings tend to be out of sight, out of mind, it is important to schedule regular check-ups to ensure that they are performing adequately. To properly grease a bearing, put enough grease in your hand to cover your palm. Losing grease is often an indication of trouble down the road. Reinstall the newly greased inner bearing and rear seal. The grease can actually harden or separate. In synthetic oils the base is usually polyalphaolefins (PAO), polyalkylene glycols (PAG) and esters. Thanks Pink, I clean the bearings with paper towels. Press the bearing down into the grease on your palm, using your index finger (holding the bearing) as a guide against the side of your palm. With enough condensation for a long enough period of time and your bearings will begin to rust. First, remove the wheel. Watch the video and go for it. If dirt or water get into the bearings and displace the grease then you are primed for bearing failure and that means a bad day. Have rags ready for any grease that comes out. Then remove the castle nut and washer. When this happens, rotate the entire bearing so you can start working on the next portion of the bearing. Loosen the lug nuts of the tire with a lug wrench. 2 Years If it is too warm to hold your hand in place, you may have a bad bearing. Find out how to maintain them in this video. Next, pull the hub out a little and pull out the outer bearing and washer. You do not need to remove the inner bearing race completely if you are only removing the bearing seal and roller bearings for repacking. If its wet, youre likely losing grease and you should replace the seal. Disaster saved, from checking my bearings before the long trip home. In 2008, the cost of having this job performed by a professional mechanic was approximately $125 per axle, based on average pricing obtained from three different RV repair shops in southern California. Use a flat plate to install the new seal. This means if you use a bearing seal puller or something worse like a screw driver to get it out you will destroy it. Ensure the cotter pinholes is exposed and put the pin back into place. The RV lifestyle is something we are planning on doing once we retire. Youll have to remove the hubs and old bearings, clean everything and apply new grease, then install the new bearings and reassemble everything. I just grease my trailer bearing for the 1st time by myself with your tutorial. Learn how to properly maintain yours. You can reuse it if its in good shape. Some manufacturers recommend inspecting and greasing an RVs wheel bearings once every season, or at least every 10,000 miles. Repeat step 6 while rotating the bearing until the bearing has been completely filled with grease. Annual hand-packing of wheel bearings could make a huge difference to your safety and peace of mind. Frequency can also be determined by considering how the trailer is used and where it has traveled. The soap makes the oil sticky enough to cling to the bearing surfaces. Today, we are going to take a look at greasing your travel trailer wheel bearings, why its important, and how often you should be lubricating your bearings. Why does this matter? instructions for everything you want to know, How to recognize hpv in men (human papillomavirus), How to reverse a numbered or bulleted list in microsoft word, How to run low-cost minecraft on a raspberry pi for block building on the cheap, How to right-click with two fingers and other os x trackpad gestures, How to reuse or import slides from another powerpoint presentation, How to recover from a bad gpu driver update, condensation occurs if wheels arent rolled for long periods of time, the condensation causes rust to form inside the trailer wheel bearing, rust particulates can scratch surfaces inside the bearing housing, scratches lead to friction and eventual bearing failure, The exact torquing amount for reassembling your trailer wheels (from manual or manufacturer). Take off the hub and outer bearing. Bearing oils are either a natural mineral oil with additives to prevent rust and oxidation or a synthetic oil. Heres why. Youll find that it will save you a lot of time, money and frustration when youre servicing the wheel bearings. Is it true, poor installation practices reduce the life of bearings by up to 40%. Take the old bearings to a trailer parts place and get new bearings ( 10$ ). Part of proper trailer maintenance involves wheel bearing maintenance. Cookie Policy | The maintenance of the wheel bearing usually depends on the kind of trailer you are using. Grease is produced and sold in a variety of viscosities, or thicknesses, ranging from 0 to 6, with 0 the softest (almost liquid) and 6 the hardest (like firm cheese). Packing the entire wheel hub assembly is not only a waste, its also not wise. Remember we are only tapping on that outside ring that is 1/8th inch wide. For your travel trailer wheel bearing you cannot use just any grease. Consider how the wheel turns around the axles spindle; peer inside the wheels hub to the bearings (figure below). 2. Read about tapered roller bearing clearance. Most RV repair shops recommend repacking trailer wheel bearings annually. The gears in the top of hand-cranked jacks should be greased once a year.