Grease in trailer wheel bearings

[cjaysanchez]

Got my 2021 back in August in New Orleans. Drove back to Houston (4-5 hrs). Took the boat to a few lakes for a total of 4 times all within 20-40 minute drive. Today while putting tires to pressure decided to check the wheel bearings. I was going to wait to add grease until a few more weeks when the season is over. To my surprise, there was absolutely no trace of grease. At least from the outside I could not see any and the Spring was pretty far back. Never noticed anything wrong or heard/felt anything unusual while driving. I cannot believe the dealership let the trailer go like that and shame on me for not checking it. Do you think I should be concern of internal damage? I also check break fluid and at least they did put some before they gave me the new boat.

 

[tdonoughue]

If your bearings are not heating up, you are probably not doing any damage. There is probably a little grease in there, but not enough to keep pressure. I would throw some grease in and monitor. A good practice to check the bearing temps while traveling anyway...

 

[Ronnie]

I learned to maintain the grease in the wheel bearings the hard way, last summer, after 25 years of towing. First the hub gets hot, then The bearings fail which allows the spindle to rub against the hub wall, eventually the wheel to tilts (if to toward the trailer the trailer gets friction burn). Finally, the wheel falls off and either rolls past you causing no damage OR into traffic and causing untold damage.

I would put my trailer on jacks and see if any of the wheels or at least those that had little or no grease in the hubs wobble excessively. I’d also get bearing buddies that are easy to monitor the grease levels in, it only costs a few dollars for a spare set of bearings.

 

[Beachbummer]

I got some new hubs that came with my new axles when I was refurbishing my trailer a few years ago, and my trailer place had this interesting system called " the vault" it's guaranteed for 10 years, and it' a grease slurry based made by UPF. Like a sealed bearing buddy.

The VAULT Hybrid Lubrication System

The VAULT “Hybrid Lubrication System” uses a semi-fluid oil in a pressurized chamber to give you the ultimate in wheel bearing lubrication and protection. At ambient temperatures, the oil is thick with a viscosity approaching grease. As the bearing temperature rises during towing, the VAULT’s...

www.pacifictrailers.com

Was very interesting to learn about. I have not messed with it yet, they installed.

If you are thinking of servicing, might be worth a look.

Bearing buddies work great too!

 

[mistercool88]

Does your trailer have bearing buddies? If so you will not be able to see much grease. The front plate expands as you insert grease.

 

[Babin Farms]

Being a new trailer I'm sure they put the bare minimum grease in the hubs for the first season.
During long trips I will walk around the trailer and touch the hubs with my bare hand. They will be slightly warm but should not be to the point you can't hold your hand on them.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Bearing Buddies are solid. Highly recommend them.

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

Boy am I glad this topic came up. I’ve had my trailer for 2 years now and thought that I better check the bearing grease. When I popped the plastic cover off I see the zerk fitting and what appears to be a spring loaded plate that keeps pressure on the grease on the inside. To me, it looks like I should keep adding grease until it expands the pressure plate until it’s flush with the lip (barely seen in the 2nd photo) but I wasn’t sure though so I only added a few pumps and took the attached photos with intentions of eventually making a thread here and asking.

Thoughts?

 

[HangOutdoors]

I put grease in mine till I can move and rock the piston, then a put a couple more squeezes in for good measure. You definitely don't want to over fill and never till it is flush.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

@cjaysanchez .....good catch. Respectfully suggest to be careful to not overfill. Friend did that and drove about 100 miles there was grease all over the trailer and boat.....because as it heats-up it both expands and becomes more fluid.

 

[tdonoughue]

Yes, you don't want to over fill. Been there, done that.

I'm sure there is a spec somewhere, but basically in my experience you want the bearing buddy at about 1/2 of the distance from fully in to full out. Now, of course, you don't know where fully in is. That's ok. Guess. This is an approximate sport, if you will. If you are in the neighborhood, it will be fine. If you neglect it and never put anything in, you will be in trouble. If you put grease in every trip, you will waste grease and make a mess. Moderation, in my opinion, and a little grace, gets you to where you need to be.

 

[Ronnie]

I found some pics of the aftermath of lack of hub bearing grease, first on my boat trailer, followed two months later on a rented Uhaul trailer while towing a Jeep. also pictured are the bearing buddy upgrades I got with my new rims this year. Notice how the blue cylinder reflecting the grease level extends out of the bearing buddy cylinder, so there is no need to remove the dust cover to check the grease level.

 

[GoVols01]

During long trips I will walk around the trailer and touch the hubs with my bare hand. They will be slightly warm but should not be to the point you can't hold your hand on them.

Every time I stop while we're towing, I do this same thing. Keep in mind the rear hubs will generally be warm to hot because of the heat generated by the brakes. The hubs should never be so hot that you can't leave your finger on it without causing pain.