Camp trailer wheel bearings

Hi Odog,

I repack on an average every 10k.
The last lot went for around 40k before I replaced them.

Having lost a wheel when the races collapsed, I am repacking and replacing on a minimum set of distance kms. Even the above may change.

I have to service the magnets on the brakes anyway, so a repack is not much more time and $$.

bill

They can last for many years if you inspect and service the hubs with some regularity. In my view, moisture is the main killer; it gets sucked into warm hubs when they take a cooling bath on creek crossings etc. Despite the grease, corrosion soon takes hold on all of those lovely shiny metal surfaces. I've had two campers over 10 years and the caravan over 5 years - had/have spare bearings for them all and haven't replaced an original yet.

Odog
Hard question.
For example, a Landcruiser/patrol with properly serviced bearings may do 300,000km and may not require replacement.
If the bearing metal quality is poor as some/lots of trailers are, then possibly a short life, if Timken or some of the Japanese brands they may run for hundreds of thousands with correct lube.
A camper is probably more lightly loaded and not as stressed but has smaller bearings than a big 4wd and about the same as a smaller 4wd so should last a long time.

Always best to carry spares of bearings, grease, seals, cap for anything unexpected though.

Thanks heaps, I do have spare sets, but just cleaned and repacked the original ones today, I was tossing up on putting new ones in, and keeping old ones for spares, but after reading your replys, I'm satisfied that all should be good, and I'll just keep a check on them as we go. I never go with putting cheap or suspect brands, get what ya pay for works for me. Thanks again, it's good to have feed back, gives you a lot more confidence. Cheers Odog

Inspecting the bearings is a good idea for other reasons as well. The electric brakes require regular inspections as well, particularly on camper trailers as they get a flogging on rough tracks. So at least every 10,000 would be my suggestion for the whole wheel and brake assembly.

As ya say... how long is a piece of string.

What particular bearings are they?

What brand of bearings where used?

How carefully where they handled when they where installed?

How heavily are they loaded in realation to their designe capacity?

What size wheels are being used?

What sort of grease is being used?

Are they exposed to water?

How frequently are they repacked?

I've had vehicles with over 300 000km on the clock on the original bearings.....but a large motor car manufacturer designed and specified the bearings in the application.

Trailer manufacturers nearly all of them ( I don't care how much you paid for you camper or caravan) do not have the design capacity of the large manufacturers and they use parts they can buy cheaply.

Almost without exception trailers are carried on bearings closer to their design capacity than motor cars.

Helll the majority of caravans would still be carried on either snotty early holden front wheel bearings or marginally better ford falcon front wheel bearings.

Unless you specifically specified it, your camper or caravan will not be carried on bearings of the capacity or quality of those on the towing vehicle....even if you want it and are prepared to pay...good luck with gettinmg that.

And there lies the problem.

The single most important thing is to check your bearings regularly, simply by jacking up the wheel and rotating it by hand...feeling and listening.

the second most important thing is to have the ability to change your own bearings on the side of the road with reasonable confidence & ease.

The best way to achive this is to carry a complete loaded hub...yeh its bulky..and if your maintenence is good you will never need it.

But it reduces your road side repair time a hell of a lot.
.
.
.
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.Now I have a little box trailer that has done quite a few miles since I built it back in the 80's..and its still on its original bearings.

On the other hand...I can not recall driving brisbane to sunshine coast and back without seeing some poor unfortunate on the side of the road with seriuos bearing or tyre failures.

I think it comes back to maintenence.
Bearings don't spit the dummy in 5 minutes......if they fail catastrophicly they have almost certainly been dodgy for quite some time.


SO. jack that wheel up and spin it by hand ..then..either
.smile quietly ...mmmm...smooth.
Or
have a little snarl and say.....I got you you little bastard...ya not stranding me! .

cheers

For the price of a wheel bearing set I put new ones on every year, as I average 7 - 10,000k on a trip. And I have 4 wheels on my camper, and also carry a one set as spares.

For safety's sake on the 2nd-hand camper trailer we bought I put in quality new bearings.

20k km later I took at look at them and the blue grease was still mostly blue.

No dips in the water in the meantime though but there had been plenty of pounding and dust.

The part that wears out first is the seal, ounce that is worn then the dust/water gets in and the damage to the bearings begins. When you repack your bearings you should replace the seal. Most reputable bearings will last a very long time if serviced and the grease is kept clean.
What to look for when the bearing is cleaned for repacking is rust or pitting, any sign of either replace the bearing.
A note on packing a bearing, this involves pushing the grease into the gap between the rollers of the bearing, not just slapping a bit of grease around the bearing before assembly. I have serviced new trailers that were supplied brand new with bearings lubricated like this and thus needed replacing.
On the first run check that the hubs aren't hot and that there is no play (looseness) just to be sure that all is well.

Hope this helps
Mal