Wheel Bearing Questions Never End

[Toytaco2]

My TD is basically finished. Now for the last project: Take everyone's advice and pack the HF trailer's bearings. I guess through inexperience as much as anything, I managed to damage both the grease seal and the inner bearing on the second side. The first side I completed with no problems. It seems I have read on this site to never change bearings without also installing a new race. Could someone humor my complete ignorance on this subject by answering this question? Since the trailer is new and has only about 10 miles on it, is it OK to only buy a single new bearing and new grease seal and use them with the rest of the original HF parts (original outer bearing and both original "pressed in races")? This should be the most simple and cheap fix. But, should I really replace all the guts of the hub to ensure a perfect match of all the components? Sorry if this should be obvious, but I have made some really stupid mistakes in my "mechanical career" by simply doing the obvious (to me anyway) when working on things with which I am inexperienced.

BTW, now I am fighting the unavoidable battle of finding the replacement grease seals that work with the HF Trailer. I couldn't find them today after going to 3 places, and with tomorrow being Mother's Day, there's no way to get back to this until next week. Alas, the trailer stays on jack stands till then and I had really been planning on stocking it up with camping stuff and a possible maiden voyage next week end.

Thanks in advance for help on the bearings. I'd never have never gotten this far without this forum.

[rainjer]

Try a Napa Autoparts store. Take the old seal with you.

Jeremy

[starleen2]

It would be my suggestion to replace both the race and the bearing- they are sometimes sold in matched sets – so why not, then you know what you got – no more second guessing and piece of mind. You could use another bearing as long at the specs say it is an identical match and little wear on the race

[Dale M.]

Try looking for "commercial" bearing supplier in phone book.... Generally the local auto parts are pretty good, but bearing specialty store will be better equipped and more likely to have replacement parts you need...

Also if you do find bearing from different manufacturers, you might want to post brand name and part number to help other that my have similar problems...

Dale

[Toytaco2]

Thanks for the suggestions on where to find the parts. I'm sure I'll locate what I need tomorrow. But, maybe I should restate my most pressing question:

My hubs, races, and bearings are brand new parts. I simply damaged only the inner bearing and grease seal on one end of the axle. So, is it OK to simply buy one new bearing, and use it with my other new components, or is it better buy all new & matching parts for the inside of the hub and have the new races (which come with the new bearings) pressed into the hub. Its certainly easier and less costly to buy one new bearing and grease seal, but is mixing parts this way likely to cause problems?

Thanks,
Mike

[Nitetimes]

Thanks for the suggestions on where to find the parts. I'm sure I'll locate what I need tomorrow. But, maybe I should restate my most pressing question:

My hubs, races, and bearings are brand new parts. I simply damaged only the inner bearing and grease seal on one end of the axle. So, is it OK to simply buy one new bearing, and use it with my other new components, or is it better buy all new & matching parts for the inside of the hub and have the new races (which come with the new bearings) pressed into the hub. Its certainly easier and less costly to buy one new bearing and grease seal, but is mixing parts this way likely to cause problems?

Thanks,
Mike

Just replace the bearing that is screwed up, there is no good reason to replace all of them. You can change the races yourself with a chisel and a hammer. They aren't actually "pressed" in, but they are a very tight fit.

[Rigsby]

It would be ok to just replace one of the taper bearings, and being that the old ones have only done 10 miles, if the outer race is ok and only the actual taper bearing and seal are damaged, i wouldnt bother knocking the race out of the hub and changing it. It is a misconseption that all bearings and races are matched pairs. On small mass produced bearings like these, they are just all made the same , to very close tolerances
steve

[Senior Ninja]

Hi,
I replaced all four of mine after finding the pieces of one from an inside set in my hand. I was going to repack it. I really didn't need to replace the other three. I just wanted the peace of mind that comes from knowing I had the best. (TIMKEN) My new ones came with the matching race in the box. We used my friend's Squeeze Ease bearing lubricator, keeps your hands outta the grease, but you can glove up and do it by hand. We used a three pound hammer and a punch to remove the old races. They were TIGHT. We'd also begun with bearings freshly lubed again with the Squeeze Ease before we put the trailer on the road. My first clue that something was amiss was the appearance of black spots on the inside of the wheel rim.
Check those bearings. I would always feel the dust caps at every stop to check for heat. I never felt any. Maybe it was because it was an inside bearing, I don't really know. This experience, the fact that in Kahlyfornia it's the law to drive any vehicle pulling a trailer no more that fifty-five MPH, and that there's a warning printed on the wheels of the trailer to never exceed fifty-five MPH means I drive the car as recommended.
Steve