les45 wrote:Ron,
I've repacked the bearings on my older HF utility trailer and my newer NT teardrop trailer many times. You definitely need to get the inner bearings out and change the grease in those too. This is how I do it:
1. If I have new seals, I simply slip the tip of a long, wide blade screwdriver under the inner lip of the seal and carefully pry it up. I have done this many times without damaging the seal. Some people remove the outer bearing and washer and reinstall the castle nut and pull on the hub until the inner bearing and seal come loose. I prefer not to do that since it could damage the bearing. Even if you have to buy new seals, you really need to repack both bearings.
2. I clean the bearings in small plastic cups with mineral spirits and a toothbrush until all the old grease is gone. I then let them dry out completely before packing the new grease.
3. They make a packing tool for this, but I prefer to pack grease the old fashioned way by simply pressing the grease in with one hand as I rotate the bearing in the other hand. I manually pack a ring of grease on the inner part of each race, install the packed bearings, and then add more grease all around the face of the bearings.
4. Re-install the seal by placing it level on the opening and cover it with a wood block. Tap the wood block carefully keeping it level as the seal goes into the opening and becomes flush with the hub.
5. The bottom line on grease is to make sure both bearings are totally covered on both sides. I do not advocate using the zerk fitting cover to simply pump new grease in to fill up the center cavity. That is a waste of grease. I do rub a coating of grease on the entire spindle before re-installing the hub.
6. Also make sure you use a good quality grease. I started using "Red and Tacky" after a lot of research online. I found that a lot of boat owners prefer this grease for its high temp qualities.
I also looked around to see if I needed to replace the bearings with something better, but I found that most of the aftermarket bearings in the boat stores were the same Chinese made bearings with the same part number. At the auto parts stores, all the bearings were made in Mexico. You can go to an industrial bearing store and get better quality bearings like Timken, but I really don't think it is worth the investment. If the bearings that come with the trailer are maintained properly by periodic repacking and not overloaded, they should last a lifetime. I repack mine about every 1,000 miles and my old HF utility trailer is 20 years old and still looks like new.
I also carry a spare hub assembly with my spare tire and emergency tool kit. My logic on the hub assembly is this: if your bearings go out they will probably damage the races. It would be a real chore to have to change bearings and races while sitting on the side of the road in busy traffic on the hottest day of the year (Murphy's Law). With a spare hub, you just pull the old one off and slap the new one on in just a matter of minutes. For my NT trailer (1" bearings X2 and 1 1/4" seal), I found an entire hub assembly on sale for $30 and it comes with a new cotter pin and lug nuts. Yes, the lugs can come loose and become as much of a problem as the bearings. A bearing set alone will cost $15 or more. I just consider it cheap insurance. If you go with a spare hub assembly, don't forget to repack the grease in it, too.
Hope this helps.
I repack mine about every 1,000 miles
GuitarPhotog wrote:I repack mine about every 1,000 miles
Man, if I did that, I'd be sitting along side the highway two or three times on every trip. Last year's trip was just under 3K miles.
Maybe you meant "every 10,000 miles?"
I repack mine once a year, before the camping season starts.
<Chas>
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