REPACK YOUR WHEEL BEARINGS! (New Post with new Photos 7/05)

[MIEric]

P.S. I always add a fair amount of extra grease in the bearing cap for insurance.

Just curious about this - I have been repacking my own bearings for years on many types of vehicles.  When studying up on this some feel that if a little grease is good, then more is better.  I have also read that you only want enough to completely fill the bearings and no more because excessive grease in the assembly will actually cause it to run hotter.  I service my wheels regularly and have adhered to the latter advice for many years with good results.

Anyone else have an opinion on this ?

What has been my practice is more is not necessarily better. Thoroughly pack the bearings, coat the spindle well, at the seal ends pack in some more creating a shield between the seal and bearing, with the bearings, crown nut and cotter pin in place push some in the gap between the hub and front bearing,  place a fair amount in the cap for insurance and close it up. Give the drums/rotors some good spins forward and backward to mix it all in before putting them to use on the road.

With the new bearing greases they are quite slippery and sticky. I use the Valvoline #2 Lithium complex high temp.  An excess amount of grease will put too much pressure on the rear seal and plow it out, defeating the entire purpose. In other words I wouldn't concentrate on filling the entire cavity with grease.

It has worked for me.

[MIEric]

P.S. I always add a fair amount of extra grease in the bearing cap for insurance.

Just curious about this - I have been repacking my own bearings for years on many types of vehicles.  When studying up on this some feel that if a little grease is good, then more is better.  I have also read that you only want enough to completely fill the bearings and no more because excessive grease in the assembly will actually cause it to run hotter.  I service my wheels regularly and have adhered to the latter advice for many years with good results.

Anyone else have an opinion on this ?

What has been my practice is more is not necessarily better. Thoroughly pack the bearings, coat the spindle well, at the seal ends pack in some more creating a shield between the seal and bearing, with the bearings, crown nut and cotter pin in place push some in the gap between the hub and front bearing,  place a fair amount in the cap for insurance and close it up. Give the drums/rotors some good spins forward and backward to mix it all in before putting them to use on the road.

With the new bearing greases they are quite slippery. I use the Valvoline #2 Lithium complex high temp.  An excess amount of grease will put too much pressure on the rear seal and plow it out, defeating the entire purpose. In other words I wouldn't concentrate on filling the entire cavity with grease.

It has worked for me.

[runningbird]

 YOSEMITE HERE WE COME..... A THANKS TO MY HUSBAND AND MY 17 YR. OLD SON WHO DID THE WORK..WHAT A PAIN THIS JOB COULD HAVE BEEN IF I DIDN'T HAVE AN " IDUSTURAIL PARTS GUY" IN THE HOUSE...( HUSBAND)..(NO ONE TOUCHES MY APACHE  NORMALY BUT ME) WHEN HE LOOKED AT THEM  HE TOLD ME I HAVE DIFFERANT HUBS. ONE A STEP HUB (FOR BRAKES) ( ORIGINAL  POSSIBLE)AND ONE FOR A REGULAR TRAILER. SO TWO DIFFERANT BEARINGS. BEARINGS CAME OUT EASY ON THE ONE  BUT THE STEP ONE ( WASTED ONE) HAD TO BE TAKEN TO A MACHINE SHOP. MY HUSBAND ASKED THE GUY TO CUT GROVES INTO THE HUB SO THE BREARINGS COULD BE CHANGED ON THE ROAD IF NEED BE. OH YES ONE MORE THING ....TIRES....QUINNLANS IN AMERICAN CANYON. HATS OFF TO THEM. PURCHASED NEW TIRES 2 YEARS AGO...HAD THEM IN STOCK PUT THEM RIGHT ON...TWO YEARS LATER LITTLE CRACKS ON THE SIDE WALLS.....UNDER INFLATED I GUESS .HE PRORATED NEW ONES FOR ME.THEY  HAD LESS THEN 50% TREAD LEFT ON THE OLD ONS ..... NO LIP NO EXCUSSES JUST ILL GET RIGHT ON THEM. SORRY ABOUT THAT..  HOW ABOUT 50% OFF THE NEW ONES....STRANGE HOW THINGS WORK OUT.....IF IT WASN'T FOR THE BAD TIRES I WOULD NOT HAVE FOUND THE BAD BEARING UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE.  TAKE CARE DEBBIE IN NAPA.

[kanega]

A rule of thumb for repacking bearings, repack the bearings every year or 2 or 10,000 miles.  Remove all the old grease and replace it with new grease.  Grease seals should be replaced every 5 to 10 years.  If you find grease in your brakes, its past time to replace the grease seals.  Bearings and seals can be purchased at Eastern Marine on the internet.  These are standard trailer parts.

[MIEric]

YOSEMITE HERE WE COME..... A THANKS TO MY HUSBAND AND MY 17 YR. OLD SON WHO DID THE WORK..WHAT A PAIN THIS JOB COULD HAVE BEEN IF I DIDN'T HAVE AN " IDUSTURAIL PARTS GUY" IN THE HOUSE...( HUSBAND)..(NO ONE TOUCHES MY APACHE  NORMALY BUT ME) WHEN HE LOOKED AT THEM  HE TOLD ME I HAVE DIFFERANT HUBS. ONE A STEP HUB (FOR BRAKES) ( ORIGINAL  POSSIBLE)AND ONE FOR A REGULAR TRAILER. SO TWO DIFFERANT BEARINGS. BEARINGS CAME OUT EASY ON THE ONE  BUT THE STEP ONE ( WASTED ONE) HAD TO BE TAKEN TO A MACHINE SHOP. MY HUSBAND ASKED THE GUY TO CUT GROVES INTO THE HUB SO THE BREARINGS COULD BE CHANGED ON THE ROAD IF NEED BE. OH YES ONE MORE THING ....TIRES....QUINNLANS IN AMERICAN CANYON. HATS OFF TO THEM. PURCHASED NEW TIRES 2 YEARS AGO...HAD THEM IN STOCK PUT THEM RIGHT ON...TWO YEARS LATER LITTLE CRACKS ON THE SIDE WALLS.....UNDER INFLATED I GUESS .HE PRORATED NEW ONES FOR ME.THEY  HAD LESS THEN 50% TREAD LEFT ON THE OLD ONS ..... NO LIP NO EXCUSSES JUST ILL GET RIGHT ON THEM. SORRY ABOUT THAT..  HOW ABOUT 50% OFF THE NEW ONES....STRANGE HOW THINGS WORK OUT.....IF IT WASN'T FOR THE BAD TIRES I WOULD NOT HAVE FOUND THE BAD BEARING UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE.  TAKE CARE DEBBIE IN NAPA.

If you should need or just want OEM brake assemblies I can get them for you....as long as they last.

[cleat22]

how much for a set of said brake assemblies? 

[medicmike5969]

yeah eric,

what's the price of shoes, magnets, drums (5 lug) for a 78 ramada? let me know what you have & how much, i'm ready to buy.

mike

[MIEric]

yeah eric,

what's the price of shoes, magnets, drums (5 lug) for a 78 ramada? let me know what you have & how much, i'm ready to buy.

mike

Mike;
The price is $25. per side plus shipping. I'll send you a personal message with his email for all the details.

Edit: I might be wrong on the price. I should have written I think the price is...instead of making a statement. Sorry.

I also have the spindles drums, backing plates and shoes off my '77 Ramada that should fit yours just fine. The only exception is the magnets are toast and the passenger side drum has helixes so studs can fit. Some previous owner must have stripped the (drum) threads.

[medicmike5969]

eric,

ok, i'll get a hold of him after i get that message. what do you want for the drums & backing plates? where in michigan are you? i live in clarkston.

mike

[MIEric]

eric,

ok, i'll get a hold of him after i get that message. what do you want for the drums & backing plates? where in michigan are you? i live in clarkston.

mike

Check your email Mike and we'll discuss my brakes etc that way. I live in the Grand Rapids area.

[camplife]

In one of the archives is a letter from the Fayette Manufacturing Co., regarding how often to repack the wheel bearings.

20,000 miles, or at the beginning of each camping season.

I can guarantee you my trailer will never see 20k miles per year...ha ha...

The letter goes on to say that moisture can accumulate in the hubs if sitting idle for a few months, so that's the reason to do it each season.

[Wild-Surfwood]

Ok.... So I took my hub and bearings off for a repack and not sure what the seal looks like. I have seen what they should look like, but not sure if mine disintegrated or what. Is there any metal involved or found on the seal itself? When I tapped the back bearing out, there was a sleeve/washer and a tiny peice of rubber on the lip. Should it look differently?


This is the back of the hub with bearings removed. Still has old grease on race. No sign of water even though I could not see a seal.


  Also, I have brakes, but no pads to be found. Looks like it has been metal on metal for a while. Can I just take that peice that is attached to the hub and wire off since I'm not using the brakes. It pulled and brakes with no problem and was converted to a four pin by the previous owner?
 

Thanks for reading.

[kanega]

Consider this a blessing.  You can buy new bearings and grease seals.  These were standard trailer parts and still available today.  Get the part numbers off the bearings, likely starting with LM and look them up on Eastern Marine on the web.  My 74 3500 lbs axle used outer 3/4" and inter 1 1/16" bearings and the grease seal was 1 1/6".  You need to keep grease out of the brakes and a new grease seal usually best and can be hammered in using a wood block between the hammer and seal.  later models used a different axle.  The mag coil ware is normal.

[Wild-Surfwood]

Thanks Kenega. Looks like L44649 on the outer bearing and the inner one does not have the number. I've seen these numbers before and checked at napa to see if they carry them. Does the seal usually have metal on it, like on the ring where they connect? I've seen them in pictures and it looks like only a thick rubber washer yellow in color.
 Also, should I just put the hub back on and continue that normal ware or take that circle peice/mag coil off that rubs the hub?

Thanks again.
Scott

[kanega]

The bearing number you provided I think is a 1 1/16" bearing.  the inter bearing should be the same size.  Here the website:  http://www.easternmarine.com/Trailer-Wheel-Bearings-Races/.  the grease seal is the same as the inter bearing size..

I installed new grease seals and both inter and outer bearing.  I added a 2nd washer to remove some free play adjusting the bearings.  Always use a new cotter pin unless you are totally out of lock.  Replacing races requires a hydraulic press at a machine shop.  Simple job when you have the equipment.