Bring the grease gun?

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Bring the grease gun?

Postby DaysOff » Sat Jul 30, 2016 7:23 am

To bring the grease gun, or not bring the grease gun...that is the question.

Monday we will be kicking off on a monster road that will take us from Florida up to the Pacific Northwest and back. We are towing a Little Guy teardrop. I've got lots of experience towing, but never for this distance. I have a grease gun for the wheel bearings and was planning on packing it. However, we've also seemed to plan on packing everything else from the house, garage, and yard. I'm trying to pare down our load. It sometimes becomes difficult to say what is necessary and what is not. A constant dilemma facing anyone in this situation.

I've got the bearings greased up good. If I don't bring the grease gun, is it difficult to find a shop that will provide this service? Will most in-n-out oil change/auto service type places have a grease gun and do this? To me, it would be worth it to swing into a service station every so often and pay them to mess with it rather then deal with storing a grease gun and the mess that can go along with it.

What's the consensus here?
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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby Dale M. » Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:14 am

A good pre season/trip clean and repack (hand pack) of bearings should have you good for 10 to 15 THOUSAND miles.... Never quite understood the mentality of repacking bearing every year when they maybe only have 3 to 5 thousand miles on them....

Only caveat to above statement is BOAT TRAILER where you intentionally dunk warm bearings in cold water all season....

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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby Philip » Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:17 am

If you repacked the bearings I wouldn't worry about bringing a grease gun.

Now what I do on trips. On the first fuel up. I do a walk around and touch all the hubs. Use that as your base line temps. I do this at all stops. If you feel any hubs the temp has gone up much. Then start worrying a little. Most hubs with the bearings properly greased and torqued the hubs just run about the outside air temp.

An infrared temp gun is a good addition to a tool box on trips.
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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby Bill n Robi » Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:28 am

Well, I am a 'Murphy's Law' kind of guy so I go prepared. I carry bearings, races and seals even though they are standard numbers but my luck I would need them when I am in a place that has to order them. I don't have nipples on my hubs and would just carry a tub of grease but haven't been able to find one with the correct grease for my LG so I have a minigun with a pair of small tubes. I carry a drift to tap out the old races and a socket to align and seat a new one.

I do not use one of those bearing packers that connect to a grease gun and cover the hub, you can over pack a hub which is as bad as not enough grease.

Most RV places, Camping world, etc have shops for repairs but expensive of course. You might look into getting a road side assistance package for the TD if you are worried.

Have a great trip :D
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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby les45 » Sat Jul 30, 2016 9:52 am

I agree with Dale M. If bearings are properly cleaned and re-packed periodically, there should be no need for a grease gun even on a long trip. However, I also believe in Murphy's Law and carry an entire spare hub greased and ready to swap out. It takes up a little more space but it would beat having to sit on the side of the road on a hot day trying to change out the bearings. I also feel the hubs at every stop to see if they are running hot.
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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby DaysOff » Sun Jul 31, 2016 12:44 pm

Alright...thanks for the replies.

It's a new to me trailer, so don't know it's entire history. Not sure when the bearings were last repacked, but when I hit it with the grease gun, it didn't take but a pump or two for grease to come out. I'm now inclined to leave the grease gun at home. I will find somewhere around the halfway mark to get a squirt or two of grease.
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Re: Bring the grease gun?

Postby Tomterrific » Sun Jul 31, 2016 9:09 pm

Those are wheel bearings, like in a car. How many people worry about the bearings in the car? If the bearings are packed and adjusted properly then they last a long time. Touching the hubs and tires gives a good indication of any problems. Warm, don't worry. Hot, well... : (

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