trailer wheel bearings

[stevedonovan]

What is a reasonable cost to have trailer bearings repacked (replaced?) at a trailer place? When people refer to "repacking" is this just removing and repacking with grease or replacing bearings?
This an old Cox 20' trailer with single axle, 16" wheels.
Steve

 

[noXcuse]

Repacking is taking the bearings out, putting new grease in the bearings, then reinstalling them. If your trailer has Bearing Buddy's, then there's no reason for that. You just pump them up with a grease gun. The only reasons you'd need new bearings, is they got rusted, overheated from not enough grease, or slam worn out from just being old and alot of miles on them. Bearing kits are pretty cheap. I'm not sure what axle spindle your trailer has, but here's a good idea of how much just the parts will cost you. I only use Timken Bearings. http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/c-2 ... -kits.aspx

 

[stevedonovan]

thanks again Chris.

I do have the Bearing Buddies and pump them full of marine grease after every use, and they don't get hot, but you can hear them rumbling so it's probably time to replace now.

Steve

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

If the trailer is old the rear seals can fail allowing grease out and water into the hub. It is a good idea to repack every season. Now if you live like 5 minutes from the ramp and do not travel much distance, you can get away with adding grease to the bearings via the buddy bearing system.

One word of caution though is it is easy to over fill the hub and as you may recall as materials heat up they expand and this includes grease. You could over fill the hub, run a long distance, the grease expands and the blows out the real seal or pops that buddy bearing off the hub.

I trailer hundreds if not thousands of miles every year and your hubs and tires are key to not being stranded. Keep them inflated to maximum pressure cold and make sure the bearings are good shape before traveling long distances. Good luck.

 

[Parthery]

You shouldn't need to be pumping grease in after every use.

If you don't have them, consider swapping the hubs for Super-Lube/Accu-Lube,etc...hubs with the built in grease fitting. When you pump grease in through the fitting, it pushes the old grease out through a one-way seal. When the grease runs out clean, you have purged and changed the grease completely. Replacement hubs are probably not much more expensive then a tear down and replacement of the existing bearings, races, and seals.

 

[noXcuse]

No problem. As said above already, you can overfill those bearing buddies and blow out the seals. And you definitely don't need to pump them up after every trip. Think about this. Your truck's front wheels have grease in the wheel bearings. How often do you repack the bearings? For most vehicle owners, never. I understand your trailer gets dipped in salt water though. That does take a toll on everything. As long as there's plenty of grease in the hub and the rear seal is good, water shouldn't get in. I think I wash my trailer just as meticulously as I do my boat after a trip. Wheels, trailer rollers, brakes, etc. Everything gets washed on the trailer with soap and a brush.