When to Re-pack Bearings

[avvidclif]

Yep, won't be going to NAPA for seals. I wonder what ate them up?



Another good place is Southwest Wheel http://www.southwestwheel.com/



Of course I'm partial to them as I can drive over and pick up what I buy. They have the best prices I've found anywhere on the steel wheels.

[timscruiser]

SayNOW you have made me get to thinking about balanceing the tires & re-packing bearings ??? Does mynew Cruisers have to be taken to the shop and have them done ?? I only have maby 250 miles on it pluss what came on it from del. from the factory .I never thought a thing about this before and I guess I have owened 8 or 10 new camping trailers over the 35 years and never gave that a thought . I guess because I never keep one verry long I really never had any tyrouble with them . What do you guys think ??

Tim

[klr650goldwing]

Lloyd,



Those seals do look trashed, no doubt about that. How did the bearings look? Were they still well coated in grease? Or were they showing signs of wear and tear?



Thanks,



Greg

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by klr650goldwing

Lloyd,



Those seals do look trashed, no doubt about that. How did the bearings look? Were they still well coated in grease? Or were they showing signs of wear and tear?



Thanks,



Greg

The "bearings" themselves looked to be OK, the "steel hub" they are mounted in appears to be soft metal and was showing wear on the ends. They probably would have went for awhile yet, but I elected to change out everything while I was doing it. Cost me less then $100.00 and it sure gives me some peace of mind. They still had clean grease. Nothing inside the drum was contaminated, so I feel fortunate about that. If it wasn't for the planned trip to TX. I probably wouldn't have looked at them this year seeing what little mileage there is on them.
I told Barb--our trip to TX. is free. If I hadn't checked, it might have cost twenty times more if we had ruined a axle or two.

[klr650goldwing]

Lloyd,



Guess I'd better have a look at mine soon too.



How did you lift a wheel off the ground to be able to work on it? I heard about someone who had some kind of ramp he would drive up on and get one wheel at a time to hang off the end of the ramp. He would put the ramp behind the trailer and then back up onto the ramp and keep backing until the rear wheel on that side went off the end of the ramp. The back of the ramp in that position was straight vertical. After he worked on that wheel, he would drive off the ramp and then put the ramp in front of the front tire on that same side and pull forward up onto the ramp until the front tire on that side ran off the vertical end of the ramp. Then he'd work on the front tire on that side. then repeat for the other side.



And I think some people put a floor jack or bottle jack under the frame and jack up one tire at a time. With that procedure I'm conserned about bending the frame.



Could you tell me how you do it? Thanks Lloyd.



Greg

[Lloyd]

Greg, the ramp you mentioned is called a "trailer aid"
http://www.adventurerv.net/advanced_...toj1souqphr7f5
I bought one to have along in case of a flat tire. Have never used it yet. Our rig is setting in the shed now, and I didn't want to hook on with the truck. So I used a 20 ton bottle jack on the frame behind the rear wheel. It worked just fine. I was careful to get it centered and not off to the side on the lip. I was able to raise it up for both wheels right there without having to reposition the jack. If I remember right, lippert wants you to jack on the frame to do your wheel/bearing maintenance.

[coastn]

I've used my Trailer Aid twice now at campgrounds to change out funky wearing original Mission tires. I'd recommend getting the taller one as I have the shorter and had to use Lynx levelers under the Trailer Aid to get the tire off the ground.Difficult to get traction on a hard surface.I've since bought a similar tallerconcept at Walmart where they sell a package of 2 for around $50 (?). This worked for me as I'm the proud owner of 2 trailers now and carry one in each. Haven't had to use either yet (knock wood).

[rock1424]

Originally Posted by Old Farmer

http://www.etrailer.com/p-RG06-070.html?search=1
Nice people, and a very informative helpful web site.

Thanks for the link, I've got it save for future reference. This project is in my very futrure...