Trailer Maintenance

[mraz72]

I haven't done anything to my trailer since 2016. I might put 50 miles a year on it. Anyway, I looked through the trailer packet that came with my boat and I didn't see anything around maintenance.

I'm guessing there are grease ports that should be hit once a season? I read somewhere that I should use marine grade grease. I have a grease gun with standard grease, any issues mixing the two?

 

[sunbyrned]

I haven't done anything to my trailer since 2016. I might put 50 miles a year on it. Anyway, I looked through the trailer packet that came with my boat and I didn't see anything around maintenance.

I'm guessing there are grease ports that should be hit once a season? I read somewhere that I should use marine grade grease. I have a grease gun with standard grease, any issues mixing the two?

There are grease ports behind the fenders and you definitely want to add grease to your bearing buddies on your wheels. I usually have to grease my wheels a couple of times a year and I don’t put a lot of miles on them. There should be a rubber cap on each tire. Remove those and you’ll see the port. I’m thinking the marine grade is an environmental concern but not really sure.

 

[Babin Farms]

Mixing grease is not recommended. Some grease does not play well with others. You can mix them but there is a slight chance of them hardening and not working properly. When I get new trailers I remove the hub & bearings, clean them and put the kind of grease that I prefer. It's a fairly simple task the doesn't take a lot of time.

 

[sunbyrned]

Mixing grease is not recommended. Some grease does not play well with others. You can mix them but there is a slight chance of them hardening and not working properly. When I get new trailers I remove the hub & bearings, clean them and put the kind of grease that I prefer. It's a fairly simple task the doesn't take a lot of time.

Is the marine grease an environmental concern or does it just prevent water intrusion better?

 

[Ronnie]

If you don’t do anything else to your trailer make sure to grease the wheel bearings or at least check the wheel bearings grease level at least once per year. I learned the hard way, while towing the boat at the end of last season one of the bearings started to smoke (once you see smoke it’s too late to save the bearing), a few miles later the wheel detached from the spindle (small axle stub at the end of the main axle bar that the Hub/bearing/rim and tire assembly sit on) and rolled next to and past the my tow rig as I came to a stop on the shoulder. If I stopped when the smoke started I may have been able to replace the bearing on the side of the road, I didn’t so ended up in a towing nightmare and replaced the entire axle and both brake calipers a few weeks later at a cost of about $1,300. For comparison a set of bearing is about $15 and a large tube of grease about $10. This happened again on a uhaul trailer rented by my brother while towing A jeep, but that is a different story.

Other than the above also make sure that your tires are properly / fully inflated, not just to optimize the comfort and Gas mileage But to reduce the chance of a blow out. My jet ski trailer tire was apparently under inflated one year and blew out while my wife was driving down the freeway resulting in another towing nightmare.

IMHO the absolute worst time to discover that you don’t have what you need is when your broken down on the side of the road. now I carry a grease gun, air pump, spare bearings and bearing buddy as well as a bottle or floor jack along with heavy duty straps in both of my tow vehicles. Twice bitten a thousand times shy for me.

I’ve always read not to mix the grease types but would do so in a pinch on the side of the road if I had to. Otherwise just buy marine / multi purpose grease and use it on your trailer wheels and everything lose that you own that requires occasional greasing or use different greases if you have at least two grease guns.

 

[Babin Farms]

Is the marine grease an environmental concern or does it just prevent water intrusion better?

Marine grease is just more water resistant but any grease will do in a pinch

Quoting @Ronnie
If you don’t do anything else to your trailer make sure to grease the wheel bearings or at least check the wheel bearings grease level at least once per year.
Ditto

Other than the above also make sure that your tires are properly / fully inflated, not just to optimize the comfort and Gas mileage But to reduce the chance of a blow out. My jet ski trailer tire was apparently under inflated one year and blew out while my wife was driving down the freeway resulting in another towing nightmare.
I like to run the trailer tires 5lbs less than max psi. On long trips when it's hot the tires will build air pressure and get closer to max psi. If the tires on the trailer are 4-5yrs old and it sits outside most of the time it would probably be time to replace them if you haul longer distances. If they don't blow out the tread will separate from the carcass and then blow out if you don't happen to see it. Happened to me last time going on vacation with the boat. All 4 tires did this but I was prepared with 2 spares, entire tool box, floor jack, 4-way and a TSC with 2 more replacemnts to do the job in the parking lot and only lose 45 minutes doing the job. If you stay local, the old tires will probably work for quite a bit longer.

IMHO the absolute worst time to discover that you don’t have what you need is when your broken down on the side of the road. now I carry a grease gun, air pump, spare bearings and bearing buddy as well as a bottle or floor jack along with heavy duty straps in both of my tow vehicles. Twice bitten a thousand times shy for me.
On long trips, yes take everything you might need for repairs and hope you don't need any of it.

 

[mraz72]

awesome info, thanks! I'll get some marine grade grease and hit the wheels, I definitely don't want a situation like @Ronnie!

 

[sunbyrned]

awesome info, thanks! I'll get some marine grade grease and hit the wheels, I definitely don't want a situation like @Ronnie!

This is one of those deals where you add grease until the old grease and water are out. You’ll see the bearing buddies cap move toward you as the grease fills up space. Just wanted you to know so you don’t just put a few pumps in. I drape paper towels at the bottom of the tire and on the floor to catch what falls out.

 

[Ronnie]

@Babin Farms , I will probably drop my tire inflation to 5 lbs. under max pressure base on what you stated. The guys at America’s tire say I should always inflate My trailer to max pressure It what you said makes sense especially since the max pressure is supposed to be when the tires are cold. I drive at least 50 miles each way when I boat or jet ski and most of the time the outside air temp peaks between 85 to 100 degrees.

 

[Babin Farms]

@Babin Farms , I will probably drop my tire inflation to 5 lbs. under max pressure base on what you stated. The guys at America’s tire say I should always inflate My trailer to max pressure It what you said makes sense especially since the max pressure is supposed to be when the tires are cold. I drive at least 50 miles each way when I boat or jet ski and most of the time the outside air temp peaks between 85 to 100 degrees.

I'm sure 5lbs is not going to make a huge difference either way but when I see pressures jump 3-7lbs on TPMS while on the highway I like to just make sure that they are not overinflated. Like you, I've had enough tire issues to really pay attention to things a LOT more and have started having fewer issues.

Just my .02

 

[sunbyrned]

Since we’re on this subject, might want to look at the brake fluid level. If that gets too low, then you could get brake issues if air gets in the line.

 

[anmut]

I always go to max psi cold. I've been told that running under causes sidewalls to heat up and that's what actually blows the tire. Literally had that happen one day after parking an old trailer.

 

[Ronnie]

One other trailer issue I had was the bolts holding the caliper vibrated loose/out while on the freeway. This caused the caliper to slide out of position and allowed the caliper to float Freely at the bottom of the rotor which resulted in a lot of heavy and constant vibration while driving at freeway speeds, it also disabled the brake system because the brake line severed and all the fluid drained out. I ended up having the boat and trailer towed home on a flat bed. Now I check those bolts at least once a year at the start of each season.

 

[mraz72]

glad I greased the bearings! I had to pump the grease gun quite a few times before any grease seeped out.

I did get marine grease.

I have to look for the grease ports behind the fenders, still didn't hit those

 

[sunbyrned]

glad I greased the bearings! I had to pump the grease gun quite a few times before any grease seeped out.

I did get marine grease.

I have to look for the grease ports behind the fenders, still didn't hit those

Cool! The ports behind the wheels are tricky to find and get to unfortunately.

 

[Ronnie]

Cool! The ports behind the wheels are tricky to find and get to unfortunately.

@Michael Rasmussen ,

ive been part of a similar conversation before in your role. There are NO zirk fittings/ grease ports behind the fenders. If you are referencing the fittings on the trailer frame by the wheels, those are used to bleed the brakes. DO NOT add grease to those ports.Most hub assemblies have a passage way or route for the grease to travel from the front bearing To the rear bearing so there is NO Zirk fitting to Grease the rear bearing with on the back of the hub, the front zirk fitting at the front center of the hub covers both bearings.

 

[JohnB]

I'm sure 5lbs is not going to make a huge difference either way but when I see pressures jump 3-7lbs on TPMS while on the highway I like to just make sure that they are not overinflated. Like you, I've had enough tire issues to really pay attention to things a LOT more and have started having fewer issues.

Just my .02

Sorry to jump in here...I work in the tire industry. Please run your tires at the recommended cold inflation pressure (honestly, on these trailers, not sure if that's max tire inflation pressure or not). Don't run them under. Tires are designed to handle the inflation build-up that happens when they warm up. If you start at max cold inflation, when operating they will go above that and that's how they're designed to work.

 

[sunbyrned]

@Michael Rasmussen ,

ive been part of a similar conversation before in your role. There are NO zirk fittings/ grease ports behind the fenders. If you are referencing the fittings on the trailer frame by the wheels, those are used to bleed the brakes. DO NOT add grease to those ports.Most hub assemblies have a passage way or route for the grease to travel from the front bearing To the rear bearing so there is NO Zirk fitting to Grease the rear bearing with on the back of the hub, the front zirk fitting at the front center of the hub covers both bearings.

I’ll take pics of what I’m referencing when I get a chance. Not talking about brake Zirks, but it’s good that you’re clarifying that here. Regarding wheel bearings, each of my wheels have a separate zirk for each wheel. Granted, my trailer is almost ten years old so things might have changed.

 

[Ronnie]

Agreed, each wheel has one zirk fitting at the front center of the bearing buddy if you have them. There is no a separate zirk for the rear bearing.

 

[sunbyrned]

@Michael Rasmussen ,

ive been part of a similar conversation before in your role. There are NO zirk fittings/ grease ports behind the fenders. If you are referencing the fittings on the trailer frame by the wheels, those are used to bleed the brakes. DO NOT add grease to those ports.Most hub assemblies have a passage way or route for the grease to travel from the front bearing To the rear bearing so there is NO Zirk fitting to Grease the rear bearing with on the back of the hub, the front zirk fitting at the front center of the hub covers both bearings.

Was finally able to get to my trailer to take some pics. Here are the zirks I’m referring to behind the fenders. When I say behind, I mean on the other side. Maybe that’s the confusion. I had to get under the boat to take these pics.