Trailer bearings...lube question

Simple_serf · Sep 2, 2007

So, as I have mentioned, I'm going to seattle here soon (leaving in a week). I had the battery question, and I figured out how I am going to do that...I'm actually using a largeish inverter, and running a battery charger, which I know is kinda wasteful, but it will let me run tools from the truck, and it will let me charge 24 and 36 volt scrubbers in transit, which will be awesome.

Anyways...

I have generally repacked the bearings in my trailers once a year and that has been good, given that both of them get under 1500 miles a year. Well, i'm putting 6000 miles on the camper in one trip. I repacked the bearings in the spring, and I towed it about 400 miles this summer. The manual says to do it every 3K miles or twice a year. Now, i don't normallly touch my truck's front wheel bearings unless I am putting rotors on it (Which incedentally occurs before the bearings are due for maintenance...gotta love the rust belt). Jw what you guys think about holding off on the trailer until we get back. Oh, I use a synthetic grease in it as well as on the truck (I try to keep them all the same)

Thanks,

Paul

Jspafford · Sep 2, 2007

If you just changed the grease 400 miles ago and thoroughly checked the bearings and races for damage, you will be fine.

We get trailers in at work 1970's model and they have the original grease in the hubs. Nasty.

Carry a can of all purpose wheel bearing grease just in case you need it for the truck or trailer. Every once in a while when you stop for gas feel the grease caps on the trailer wheels to make sure they are not excessivly hot.

Will · Sep 2, 2007

I was leery of John O'Data's idea of plugging a charger into an inverter. My concern was the quality of AC the charger is expecting to receive compared to the quality a non-sine wave inverter can produce.

But I wouldn't worry about those bearings. They mostly fail because people think the nut on the bearing should be tight. Carrying grease is worth shit though. I carry a spare hub, bolted into a rim, with the bearings already packed. When they go, they are wasted before you notice. The spindle is usually okay though.

Ozwynn · Sep 2, 2007

Will said:
Carrying grease is worth shit though. I carry a spare hub, bolted into a rim, with the bearings already packed. When they go, they are wasted before you notice. The spindle is usually okay though.

that is a genius idea.... I am going to remember that.

Wicked_Sludge · Sep 2, 2007

if you dont already have them, install some bearing buddies on the trailer (and the front of the truck if its 2wd). the bearings on my trailer have about 4,000 miles (over 3,000 of which were overloaded) and theres no burnt grease or play in the bearings.

i also run buddies on the back of both my escorts

Sparkz · Sep 3, 2007

A;
I would test you "Charging System " A mock run of 3-4 days to be sure it will work on that cheaper of the units ( so in the event of a bad day it would be a limited "Bad day)
I to have worrys of power qualty and also a inverter that big e-nuf to do a few batt chargesr will tax your 12V system pritty good ( carry jumper cables even if all is well with all tests)

B;
In as far as any wheel bearing trucks proly fine but trailers tend to eat then if like in case of boat they get wet also smaller wheels tend to spin faster I would look at them for wear and repack and carry wheel bearing grese ( its a fibered type that generaly water proof for wheel type berrings Chassi lubes are not wheel berring grese )
I have used Chassi with out probs tho for years but wheel type is realy best.

When I roll with a trailer I stop and feel lug nuts ( if hot there loose) and Hubs if hot theres a prob abd if left un atended your gona have a bad day I also feel tires and look over, I would rather have to do matince then repair

C;
I also Like will carry 2 wheels one with tire @ hub ready to go the other is a spare tire
I carry a sisors jack from a compact car ( dont recall make or model any will do)

if its a 2 axle cary a chain to chain up an axle to trailer frame and remove bad hub / tire it will get ya off road to a fix spot

that how I have never had a bad day with a trailer to date so it works for me

Good luck with your trip and I hope some of this had helped
( provided you can read thu the typos)

Sparkz

Jason · Sep 3, 2007

Two words. Carry spares.

Simple_serf · Sep 3, 2007

Yeah, all the chargers that I am running are manual transformer type chargers, So i am not too worried about the waveform, although belive me, I am planning to do a test run of everything. on the first inital test, output voltage, although lower than usual, was still high enough to charge a battery. On the upside, I'm not using a square wave inverter. :icon_rofl:

I've got a couple of those around. About all they are good for is running incandescent lights...If you don't mind 40% efficency.

I had the genius idea of trying to get a spare hub, but it is special order for this camper/axle. I'm going to see what I can do later this week though, I'm going back onto overnights, which frees up my days. I was figuring I'd probably be ok with the bearings, but you never know, and it is good to get other people's opinions now, as opposed to kicking myself on the side of the road at 2 AM.

Will · Sep 4, 2007

Whatever it is, you can get a hub to fit the spindles I would think, even if you end up with a different wheel for a spare.

Trailer bearings...lube question

Simple_serf

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Jspafford

Logan Andrew Feb 17, 2012

Will

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Ozwynn

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Wicked_Sludge

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