Repack Wheel Bearings in Cincinnati, OH

[ROBERT CROSS]

Ray,
Hairy palms are mitigated by latex.

I have those sealed gear oil filled bearings, (different brand?), on our small boat trailer, they work at keeping the water out and have lasted 8 yrs, most likely because of the light weight. I can see them failing on a heavy trailer with the higher bearing temps over long distance. Not something I'd want on the AS.

Bob

[sams]

Had mine repacked after it was in storage for about 8 months. We just finished a 3,000 mile trip to Florida & return. My question: How often should the bearings be repacked & how many miles between having them serviced? We are planning a trip out "West" in a few weeks. I have had bearings go out on both a utility & boat trailer. Not good when you have to unhook & leave it on the side of the road. I haven't taken the wheels & hubs off to see how they are set up on the Airstream since we have only had it little over a year. My boat trailer has a grease fitting & it's east to squirt a little with a grease gun. So do "Buddy Bearing Grease Fittings" work on Airstreams?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by sams

Had mine repacked after it was in storage for about 8 months. We just finished a 3,000 mile trip to Florida & return. My question: How often should the bearings be repacked & how many miles between having them serviced? We are planning a trip out "West" in a few weeks. I have had bearings go out on both a utility & boat trailer. Not good when you have to unhook & leave it on the side of the road. I haven't taken the wheels & hubs off to see how they are set up on the Airstream since we have only had it little over a year. My boat trailer has a grease fitting & it's east to squirt a little with a grease gun. So do "Buddy Bearing Grease Fittings" work on Airstreams?

Sams,

I also have the BB's on a boat trailer, they work very well at keeping the water out and bearings lubed. I don't feel they would be that effective on the AS what with the much heavier loads and higher temps involved. The grease as it thins with heat is much more likely to be forced out the rear seal by the pressure spring.

At 3000mi your re-pack should be fine, but I would still remove the drums and inspect the brakes and bearings just to be on the safe side.

Check out this thread to see what to check for on the brakes and bearing condition.

Bob

[Gene]

I believe Airstream recommends 6 months or 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. I have gone 18,000 miles and many more months before I repacked them and they were fine. It is good to have spares—one of each size bearing, seals and grease ready for an emergency. It is not easy to find out the proper sizes when stuck in Boondockville where cellphones don't work.

Gene

[HHaase]

I'm also going to say you just can't beat the old palm packing method. It's quick, easy, effective and has the least amount of waste.

Though I usually throw them in the parts washer first to get all the old grease and crud out of them. Can do it with a bucket and a spraycan of break cleaner. Can't give them a proper inspection unless you can actually see the cage and rollers.

-Hans

[Cracker]

After repacking bearings for the past 55 years or so by hand, I decided to try the packer first mentioned above. It was a bit pricey at $29.00, however, I think that it did a very good job. I did not use the grease zerk on the top - choosing instead to simply pre-fill the container with wheel bearing grease. It takes quite a bit of pressure (---slowly) to push the grease through the bearing but, the ability to see a curl of old grease come out of the top of the bearing at each roller, followed by new grease, was proof-positive that the bearing was indeed packed. I don't believe that the amount of waste, or surplus, grease was any worse than when packing by hand. For me, it was a time-saver, and not near as messy as hand packing.

[Dwight]

This is the one I use and it works great...

Lisle Corporation

[ROBERT CROSS]

"I'm also going to say you just can't beat the old palm packing method. It's quick, easy, effective and has the least amount of waste."

I'm with Hans, although I changed my procedure substantially this time.....I used a glove.

Bob

[Gene]

Grease is cheap. A packer does the job a lot faster and time, even for a retiree, does matter.

Gene

[Cracker]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

"I'm also going to say you just can't beat the old palm packing method. It's quick, easy, effective and has the least amount of waste."

I'm with Hans, although I changed my procedure substantially this time.....I used a glove.

Bob

Bob:

Before you take off on a trip I just wanted to point out that, according to the container in the picture, you inadvertantly packed the bearings with raspberry yogurt!!! I would strongly advise repacking with grease!!!

[Action]

Originally Posted by Cracker

Bob:

Before you take off on a trip I just wanted to point out that, according to the container in the picture, you inadvertantly packed the bearings with raspberry yogurt!!! I would strongly advise repacking with grease!!!

May be not ..... it does have 3% milkfat!

>>>>>>Action

[Cousin Eddie]

Is there a recommended brand of grease for these bearings?

[LI Pets]

Not really, I like the silicon,
also put the grease in a sandwich bag, work it in take out put in place hands are clean.

[AirHeadsRus]

I use Lucas Oil x-tra Heavy Duty Grease. Do not really have a reason, it is just good grease.

[Cousin Eddie]

Appreciate the information.

[ROBERT CROSS]

PENZ RED...


Bob

[Cousin Eddie]

I highly recommend the Lisle bearing packer for the job. I used Lucas Oil Red & Tacky #2 as this is the grease the local shop uses for their wheel bearing repacks on all vehicles.

I also used a dial indicator to confirm my endplay. AS specs in my manual are 0.001 to 0.010 and my range is 0.005 to 0.007. This amounted to backing the nut off two notches from seating the bearings.

The rocket scientist that did the job previously had them way too tight and liquified the grease. Luckily, the bearings were still in good shape.

[WyoAir]

To everyone who contributed to info about repacking wheel bearings.
thanks so much for the input. Very helpful.

WyoAir