Lost a wheel bearing

[pete42]

I hate it when someone tells me what they do after I have had a problem caused by something I didn't do.............
having said that I have been camping since the early sixties 50+ years I have never had a trailer bearing fail. Every spring I would take the bearings off the trailer inspect and repack them.
I also give them a pump of grease when I reached my first campsite and then every time we were heading out after that.
I am glad you found you trouble before something bad happened out on the road.
You stated you were running 65mph, have you or anyone here looked up the speed rating for their trailer tires? I think you will be surprised at the speed limit on them.
pete

[bdosborn]

Oh wow, this is timely. I just bought a complete bearing kit for my flexiride axle for $18.95. Bearings, races, seals, dust caps, locking washer, lug nuts - the works for both sides.

Southwest Axle Linky

I was just going to buy seals and pack the bearings but the kit was so cheap I'll probably just replace everything.

Bruce

[Wolffarmer]

If you all only knew how long I have been running my trailer with dodgy dust seals



Randy

[Shadow Catcher]

OK I am now parinoid. One item I found last night that looks interesting is
http://www.durahub.com used on boat trailers the membrane keeps water from getting to the berings. you can also use them with 80/90 gear oil and graphically see what the oil looks like.

[pete42]

If you all only knew how long I have been running my trailer with dodgy dust seals



Randy

some people get away with not doing maintenance, some like mike don't.
I too have seen and wonder how somepeople can pull a trailer at 75 or 80 mph and not have blowouts most trailer tires are not rated to run that fast.

pete

[Wolffarmer]

Still, there is no reason a trailer bearing can't last as long as a front wheel bearing of a car. Only reason I can think of is the parts, bearings, axle, hubs, are cheap and not built to specs of a car. Boat trailers are different as they can suck in water to easily

Randy

[eamarquardt]

Still, there is no reason a trailer bearing can't last as long as a front wheel bearing of a car. Only reason I can think of is the parts, bearings, axle, hubs, are cheap and not built to specs of a car. Boat trailers are different as they can suck in water to easily

Randy

I'm not sure which Red Trailer you have but I called them and told them you had a 5X10. I was told that unless you upgraded your axle it was "Made in China".

I don't think that the Chinese stuff is quite up to snuff just yet. "Made in Tiawan" used to be the kiss of death. Before that it was "Made in Japan", ha! Now Japanese and Tiawanese suff is pretty good to outstanding. China isn't quite there yet.

I'd replace the axle with a quality American made axle (with brakes). I agree that a trailer axle should last a long time, probably longer than front wheel bearings on a car as the trailer is most likely a lot lighter than the front of a car.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[Conestoga]

Wow, could not have asked for a better outcome on that ordeal. May the force continue to be with you Mike.

I am focusing on my bearings today. hehe.

Bruce, I like the looks of those kits. How do I find out what I need for my standard HF trailer w/12" wheels?

[urban5]

I agree with one of the previous posters, I see no cotter pin either. That means it sheared off. The only thing I can think of that would cause that would be the bearing grenading and locking the wheel up momentarily. I had that happen to a trailer (same as red trailer that Home Depot used to sell back in the late 90's). My in depth investigation into the failure (meaning I looked at it for a few hours before I fixed it) led me to the hypothesis that the dust seal failed first. I found a couple of particles of sand in the grease. It had been a year since I had used it at the beach or near sand. It caused premature wear and locked up the bearing which had froze then broke loose because I had a load on it. I was in an open top Jeep at the time and heard it squeal. At the time I thought it was someone else. The bearing seazure sheared the cotter pin allowing the force of a locked up wheel under load turning 45 MPH to spin the nut knocking the dust cap off. I saw the dust cap come off in the rear view mirror. Of course my hub was smoking and hot when I stopped. It happened on the driver side by the way.

[2bits]

My truck bearing went out soon after I bought it and hadn't gotten around to doing the bearings yet. I am glad it was your trailer and not the TV, when mine cratered, it was like your's... totally gone, so the wheel was roaming back and forth so the rotor kept pushing the brake pads which meant I had no brakes! That was a not so fun two hours driving using only the emergency brake while towing the teardrop!

Glad you got it figured out Mike, I am glad you caught it in time. I'll back packing mine before Beaver's Bend...

[pete42]

Still, there is no reason a trailer bearing can't last as long as a front wheel bearing of a car. Only reason I can think of is the parts, bearings, axle, hubs, are cheap and not built to specs of a car. Boat trailers are different as they can suck in water to easily

Randy

I think you answered your own reasoning you forgot the diameter of the trailer tires small tires turn more times in a mile than a large car tire.
boat trailers I have owned used buddy oilers they along with my yearly greasing seemed to work I say seemed because I never had one of them fail. just lucky

[Wolffarmer]

As i used the rear axle and springs from a VW Rabbet Pickup I feel a lot more confident in my bearings and hubs.

Randy

[urban5]

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA there turbo.

Your gonna have to give details on that. You have a write up on your trailer somewhere? I love Rabbits. I hadn't heard of someone doing that yet.

[eamarquardt]

As i used the rear axle and springs from a VW Rabbet Pickup I feel a lot more confident in my bearings and hubs.

Randy

Cool! I put over 250K miles on my 79 diesel Rabbit. I did, at about 200K have to replace a spindle and bearings due to excessive wear. But that was the side my 275# car pool buddy always sat on in the back seat no less!!! Now the big question: Did you use a surge coupler to utilize the hydraulic brakes and did you hook up the parking brakes on the drums so you can just pull a lever and lock the brakes?

Cheers,

Gus

[mikeschn]

We are home! Whew!!!

The repair held!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers and advice.

I see the investigation continues, with folks calling red trailers, and others finding sand in their grease.

Maybe the best thing to come out of this could be a way for folks to identify what spare parts to carry on a long distance road trip.

If the garage didn't have a spare trailer in the backyard that they could salvage for parts, we may not have been so lucky.

So, I don't think we are done with this subject just yet...

Mike...