Repacking Wheel Bearings

[MaineStreamer]

On the following video from Colonial Airstream, the fellow said that one should repack wheel bearings every 3-5 thousand miles. Do you do this? That comment was the first I have heard of it. If not every 3-5 thousand miles, what repacking interval do you think is appropriate?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvZmrtZ1KGc

[AldeanFan]

I do mine every spring before our first trip in May. I pull the wheels and drums to inspect/adjust the brakes so as long as I'm in there I might as well pack the bearings. We might do 5000 miles in an average year. It's definitely overkill on mileage but no one has ever lost a hearing from too frequent lubrication. I also do t need to keep track of mileage this way.

I take a similar approach with my collector cars, oil change once a year regardless of mileage, one car has gone 3,800 miles in 8 years and had 8 oil changes, but oil and a filter are cheap piece of mind.

[grizbear]

I repack mine once a year. I also keep a spare set on hand and a full set of grease seals and grease in the truck. I think 3 to 5k miles is a bit over kill. If you travel a lot maybe 10 to 12k miles would be fine. Good camping Rand

[overlander63]

Airstream recommends annually, or every 15,000 miles, whichever occurs first.
Newer trailers with the Nev-R-Lube hubs still should have the drums removed and the brakes inspected every couple of years. No more than every third year, depending on use.

[A W Warn]

I have two trailers. I do maintenance on each one differently, since they are used differently.

My Safari sets all winter in NC so I repack the bearing in the spring. Some years I might travel 2,000 - 3,000 miles with this trailer. In that case I would repack again next spring. Some years I might travel extensively with this trailer. In that case I would check, and possibly repack again, sometime late summer or after 8-10,000 miles.

My Excella sets all summer in FL and is hardly ever towed any distance during the winter(this season only ~1,400 miles). I check the bearings in the fall. If I am going to tow, I repack bearings before the trip. If I'm not going to tow I jack up the trailer and spin the wheels to re-distribute the grease and move the load point on the tires. When I check, if there is any sign of rust or moisture I repack.

I use synthetic bearing grease.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Disclaimer.....I know nothing.

Same as my other taper bearing equipped serviced wheel bearings....20k. (two trailers & a 53 Ford)



Inspected every year at Spring get-ready.

Bob

[HowieE]

How often do you repack the front wheel bearing on your TV? Same bearing much heavier load?

[SeeMore]

TV bearings may vary for each owner, depending on year and manufacturer, and whether they are seal or unsealed bearings. I simply follow the manufacturer's schedule for heavy use and also change tranny & differential fluid about every 35-40K miles.

[ROBERT CROSS]

"HowieE How often do you repack the front wheel bearing on your TV? Same bearing much heavier load?"



I don't... our '53 Ford, Boatmate & AS have tapered bearings....Burb not.

Bob

[Ray Eklund]

I pack bearings when I have time and more interested in the brake pads. Since I am inspecting my brakes, may as well as pop off the bearing cap, pull the drum and get a peak at the bearings and races. If the bearing assemblies look fine, I pack them and have no mileage or time frame. I want the 'bearing seals' not leaking grease onto the brake drum or shoes. The more you 'jack with the seals' it becomes a bigger issue over bearing grease.

My Toyota Land Cruisers would need front wheel bearings every 165,000+ miles. By then, you just buy a complete front end and it costs not much more to get the front differential as a bonus.

I feel that the 'pack your bearings frequently' is a great money maker in the Service Departments. Yep... All trailer owners are flush with cash for the taking. The Service Shops do not realize there are many trailer owners, like on this thread, that can do this easy chore themselves.

ONE thing missing from discussion. Wheel bearings do wear. When you have a wheel in the air, I try to feel how much 'slop' or wiggle of the wheel is there. If it is too loose, I will remove the wheel and THEN pack the bearings by hand, tighten the nut to set the bearings. Back off the nut, so it is almost hand 'snug', if that is a word, and gauge where the 'pin' will be located. Sometimes it is too tight one way and too loose the other way. I have some thin washers from keeping this stuff from my Hot Rod days to get the bearings... just right. Not too loose. Not too tight. That, I believe, is MORE important than the greasing bearings every year. But, we all like to tinker around differently.

If you spin a wheel when off the ground, you listen... A bad bearing will sound differently than a brake pad to drum sound. If it spins easily, no wobble or slop... NEXT wheel. A bad bearing will crack and grind... but again, once you hear and discover a bad bearing you will always know.

Someone is going to ask... "how do you know if the bearings are too tight or too loose?"

Much like adjusting 'solid lifters' on a Chevrolet engine... eventually it is all from experience and hard to... read... about how it feels.

Too tight... you will burn your wheel bearings in no time.
Too loose... they will wear faster and your tires will show the slop.
Just right... you just keep humming down the highway. Goldilocks... knows best.

Geez.... I just wanted to comment about shimming these boogers.... and off I go.

I promise. I will quit. When towing and stopping for fuel, feel the drums. If one is particularly HOT... could be brakes are too tight OR a bearing friction issue. Hot drums are bad for greased wheel bearings. If all wheels are feel the same... that is better than one with smoke pouring out when coming down a steep grade using your brakes, a lot. Then... most likely a BAD seal and grease getting into your braking system.

It is all a learning process. I knew it all when I was 16. Today I am amazed how stupid I have become.

[DaveR-WLYH]

Last summer, just before a 2700 mile trip, I pulled each wheel off our 89 34' Excella, first 5 were fine, brake shoes are still nice and thick, repacked the outer bearings with a pressure packer, and the inners the old fashioned hand pack.

On the 6th wheel, I got a surprise, when I pulled it off, the brake adjuster at the bottom of the shoes, dropped out in 2 pieces, the shoes were destroyed and bent, the drum was also destroyed.

Apparently the retaining spring that pulls the shoes against the adjuster, had broken, which allowed the adjuster to fall out and get ground up, destroying everything else. There was not a sign of the spring, - ground to dust.

There had been absolutely no sound that I could hear from driving, no odd behavior of the trailer, nothing to alert me. and with 5 other brakes the trailer stopped great.

Glad I wanted to repack the bearings.

I use an infrared temp gauge from Harbor Freight to check my hubs and brake drums, when we pull in at rest stops. I like to have real numbers, and the outer brake drums can get pretty hot coming down hill. If all are close to the same temp, I feel good. Plus it keeps your hands clean.

Been pulling Airstream's for 50 years this summer.

[jcanavera]

Do you think that storage can play a factor in the packing frequency? I keep my trailer indoors in an insulated garage with concrete floors. I always felt that staying out of the weather might have a positive impact in how often the bearings need to be repacked.

Jack

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

I feel that the 'pack your bearings frequently' is a great money maker in the Service Departments. Yep... All trailer owners are flush with cash for the taking. The Service Shops do not realize there are many trailer owners, like on this thread, that can do this easy chore themselves.

It seems we agree. Repacking by some kid at a dealer can do far more damage than not repacking. Most have no idea how to set the castle nut and often result in a cooked bearing a few miles down the road.

The infra red thermometer is great for both tire and hub temperature. Those interested in this should consider when going to check hub temperature try to coast into a rest area using as little breaking as possible to get a truer result. Breaking cause break drum heat that will through off and give a false reading

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by DaveR-WLYH

Been pulling Airstream's for 50 years this summer.

******
Dave... I am surprised you ended up buying a vehicle to pull it after all of these years. You must have been a Giant Redwood lumber jack! You and Paul Bunyan must have been good friends and had Airstreams.

jcanavera. Do you think that storage can play a factor in the packing frequency? I keep my trailer indoors in an insulated garage with concrete floors. I always felt that staying out of the weather might have a positive impact in how often the bearings need to be repacked.
Jack
******
Wheel bearing grease has temperature ratings. At a certain high temperature it flows. Storing the trailer will not heat the wheel bearing grease where it will flow. When the bearings and drums get hot over a long trip, parked... if you have cheap grease it can flow. Maybe someone can explain the temperature ratings of good wheel bearing grease.

I just buy the best wheel bearing grease by... price at an auto parts shop. That is my Petroleum Engineered Product method. Mine is the reddish/orange grease that once it is on you... good luck wiping it off of yourself.

I have owned vehicles that I never had to grease the wheel bearings more than once. Original or if I replaced them since I had nothing better to do with my time.

I bought a NEW 1978 Chevrolet 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup with manual hubs. This model must have been designed so the truck rusted, the engine hydraulic lifters could not prevent burning valves needing a valve job, the clutch was installed with parts that were missing pieces from the factory and the wheel bearings smoked after the 12,000 mile warranty expired. What a P.O.S..

I did all of the repair work myself. General Motors did give me my money back on the 'bad parts' on the transmission and clutch assembly I brought into the dealership. A GM representative visiting OKed the massive sum. Maybe $50. My labor... "out of warranty... buddy".

Bought my first Toyota in 1981 and never looked back. Never repacked bearings on any of them. Maybe the grease. Maybe the quality.

[TBSarfari28]

Some of you may find this info from Timken helpful.
http://www.timken.com/EN-US/solution...s/default.aspx

[Moflash]

I do mine every 15-20k miles without any problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[Siegmann]

I started out repacking them every year. But everything always looked perfect, the grease, the seals, the bearings/race. So then I went to repacking every two years. Same results. Everything looked great. Now I'm at every three years. Same results for two cycles now. I do pull the hubs once a year just to inspect the brakes and make sure the grease seals have not leaked. And I regularly check my hub temperatures during towing.

[PKI]

Not all service facilities push bearing repack. Asked twice and got the following answer. "Bearing grease absorbs moisture in high humidity environments. No need to repack unless the trailer is not used or stored in a humid area." Not sure that inside storage helps unless it is humidity controlled. Also, one recommendation can not offset the experience of many long time experienced users. However, the info sounds logical. Lot's to learn and lots of miles to travel. Pat

[Siegmann]

I've heard that moisture point also. I full-time, so it's rare for more than a few months to go by without a move. Also, tend to stay in drier climates (drier than east Texas).

But some years ago, as an experiment, I took a teaspoon of my bearing grease and put a divot in it, then a half dozen drops of water. Covered it with a bottle cap. The water was still there a day later. Maybe my test was too short. Don't know.

[PKI]

Note quote below - from http://machinedesign.com/mechanical-...t-water-part-3

"Water works like a double-edged sword. Allowing it into a lubricant degrades the lubricant’s performance. But, if water is not captured by the lubricant, it can contact bearings and gears, causing corrosion. Unlike oil, grease can either absorb or resist water, depending on the lubricant composition. Because free water leads to corrosion and absorbed water degrades grease, the lubricant composition must strike a balance between the two. Today’s calcium complex, barium complex, and polyurea-thickened greases offer the best performance in this regard. To make sure you have one of these types, check the label on the container. Where condensation corrosion is the only concern, lithium complex is best suited."

Water absorption may require mechanical action. A drop sitting on the grease likely would not be as problematic as condensation forming inside a bearing housing that is then used. Pat