The Urabus Scuttlebutt from PA *Update 10/11/2011 PAGE 23*

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Sent you a PM Paul!

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Its been a couple months since I've actually done anything to the teardrop, so with nothing better to do today I decided to finally make a divider and shelf for the lower galley. Since I'm a poor college student once again, I re-purposed an old wooden desk that I spotted in the giant dumpster behind my apartment yesterday. I'm guessing it was tossed away because of missing drawers. Other than that it was quite solid.

So here's the donor, after some cutting...


And here's the "finished" galley...


Its sized perfectly to fit my cast iron on the bottom and 1lb propane tanks up top.

After cutting what I needed from the desk top (and some disassembly), I was left with the three main upright pieces of the desk, which measure 17.5" x 29.5" x 1.5". They are identical to each other and have one recessed side and one solid side. I was thinking about making a side table out of one of them. Not sure what to do with the other two. Probably firewood, unless someone that I run into at a gathering wants them.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

It was nice out yesterday so I decided that it would be a good time to clean and re-pack the wheel bearings. I've never done this before, but figured it was pretty straight forward.

I pulled the passenger side wheel and noticed that it rubs the side of the trailer a little. I inspected the tire and its barely noticeable that it rubs. I have close to 2,000 miles on the trailer in the past year, so apparently its not that big of a deal.



Then I popped off the dust cap, and removed the retaining pin and castle nut. Easy enough - hub pulled right off and the front bearing just fell right out.

The rear bearing had me stumped though. I had no idea how it was held in, so I got in touch with Len Daddona and he told me how to get the bearing out without destroying the plastic seal: place the hub with that seal towards the ground, in such a manner that you can hammer on the bearing from the inside of the hub. Do this carefully and the rear bearing and seal pop right out!



I repacked the bearings by hand (incredibly messy) with Valvoline DuraBlend grease and reassembled the hubs.

The bearings in the drivers side hub were interesting though...



The one looks brand new, and the other shows a lot of discoloration. After a thorough cleaning using brake cleaner I determined that although the bearing might not look the greatest, it has no pitting and rolls along just as smooth as the other.

Repacked that side, reassembled everything and hit the road for a quick test. Drove 10 minutes down the highway @ about 70mph and checked the hubs. They were as cold as ice!

Now I'm ready for another fun-filled summer! Tearjerker's Tri-Chapter Spring Fling is in less than 2 weeks at French Creek State Park in PA!!

[Rock]

The bearing on top has definitely seen some water. You may want to take a look after while and at least replace the seals.

Eric

[bdosborn]

Yup, that's rust all right. Be careful at the car wash, that's where I ruined several sets of bearings. Its that last spray down before I put the trailer away for the winter that gets me.

I've been told you can't reuse bearing seals, let us know if its starts leaking or anything. It makes me nervous to beat on bearings so I just replace the seals every time I remove them.

Bruce

[parnold]

I've been told you can't reuse bearing seals

Careully removed and reinstalled seals are fine. It's all about how careful you are.

If new seals are accessible, it's always better to replace them since they generally are not terribly expensive, but improper installation can still lead to problems.

On a trailer without brakes, a slightly leaky seal isn't a huge issue, it's not like on a car where you can totally lose your braking ability in one wheel. Unless you're traveling long distances, you can slop a little grease in there, and wait to repair it in the comfort of your own driveway.

[GuyllFyre]

I generally don't repack bearings. Since you have to take them all the way out, might as well put new ones in with new seals and cotter pins. They're usually not all that expensive.

Be sure to check the torque on those castle nuts and always use new cotter pins! Too much or too little torque will kill a bearing in no time.

The trailer I have has "hub savers", I think they're called that. Instead of a plain cap, it's a spring loaded container with a grease fitting. It used to be a boat trailer, so they were the easy way of helping keep the water out.

[Ageless]

Torque on the castle nut?

Been working on cars for 50 years and it's plain simple.

Tighten the nut down to where the wheel will not turn; this seats the bearing.
Back off the nut just to where the hole for the cotter pin is open and install the pin.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the bearings. I'll be done with school and working again in a little over a month, so maybe I'll just plan on doing another clean and repack sometime mid-summer.

The only thing I torqued were the lug nuts.... 75 ft/lb. The castle nut doesn't have a torque spec associated with it because like Ageless said, you just tighten it until you can get the retaining pin through the hole in the axle.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I've been searching the forums and internet for bearing and seal part numbers so I'll be ready when I decide to pick up spares or replace the current setup.

Another member, Darren, and I have the same trailer and he had started a wheel bearing thread back in June. It seems that everyone agrees that the correct bearing is a 30205.

The seals appear to be a different story. I'm reading a few different numbers from people on here. I just crawled under my trailer and checked the numbers on my seal and it clearly reads 30 52 10.

Just thought that was interesting
Just found another applicable thread by Toytaco2, pretty much advising not to do everything that I did

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I worked at the engineering firm for a week over spring break, and my paycheck ended up being a little higher than what I expected, so I went to HF to get some spare bearings, and also ordered replacement seals online.

30205 Tapered Roller Bearing (25x52x16.25) - Harbor Freight - $7.99/ea + tax

30x52x10TC Grease Seal - http://www.Bearingsdirect.com - $6.70/ea + s&h



I have camping trips planned each of the the next 3 weekends, so I'll probably replace the one bearing and both seals after that. At least I have spares on hand in case something were to happen between now and then.

[parnold]

Zak:

I bought a hub on Ebay, with bearings and seal for about 20 bucks shipped. Cleaned and regreased and put the whole thing in double freezer bags, and wrapped in a towel. If I have a bearing problem on the road, I want a quick fix.

[grizz]

Glad to see you have put such a lot of mileage on your trailer.
We have not used ours at all since August......

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Zak:

I bought a hub on Ebay, with bearings and seal for about 20 bucks shipped. Cleaned and regreased and put the whole thing in double freezer bags, and wrapped in a towel. If I have a bearing problem on the road, I want a quick fix.

Good idea Paul! How did you find a hub with bearings to match the spindle size of the Harbor Freight axle? From the bearing size, looks like we have 25mm spindles.

Glad to see you have put such a lot of mileage on your trailer.
We have not used ours at all since August......

I've got a ton of use out of it! Music festivals, boondocking with hippies, gatherings with Tearjerkers, and even a trip to the beach! Can't wait to see what this summer brings! Hope you can get the GrizzPod out some more this year Rian!

[parnold]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-2000-Trailer-Axle-Hub-5x4-5-Complete-w-1-bearings-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem439f2f2e59QQitemZ290433478233QQptZMotorsQ5fRVQ5fTrailerQ5fCamperQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_5000wt_903

just search "hub bearings trailer" and look for one with 1" bearings.