Quick Trailer Bearing Question

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Originally Posted by John_D4

Thanks Slunnie. I couldn’t help wonder why they don’t install a bearing system that incorporates grease nipples. I’m sure there’s a good reason, I just couldn’t think of any!

Good tip about rechecking the nut tightness after a few km’s, I hadn’t thought of that.

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John your right, Dexter, who are a US company make axles with a nipple in the end, the drilling comes out behind the inner bearing, the idea is to spin the wheel while greasing and push the contaminates out, i have this setup on my boat trailer but go rid of it to put bearing buddies on,

two totally different ideas:

Bearing buddies have a grease nipple in the end of them, then a spring to apply pressure to the greased hub, that way when driving and creating heat, the expansion will push as against the spring (an accumulator if you will) the idea is when you back into the water and quench the heat, the grease will shrink and the spring will push against it, saving the need to suck water in. (lip seals only work one way).

Dexter style, useless at keeping water out in my opinion (i could have done something wrong) but great at getting it out, remove the rubber grommet, grease gun on an spin while pumping, keeps the hub nice and full which is important and pushes out the water, the reason i converted away is my drive is 1 hr from the boat ramp at 100kph, which means by the time im home the grease is a milky muck with even a few drops of water.

Just bought another camper and jumped on here, funny enough, did the boat wheel bearings again today, the Dexter style would work great on a camper trailer!

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Originally Posted by POD

How tight you do up that nut is important as it is what gives preload to the bearings. It is something that is acquired by hands-on teaching so if you have someone nearby who knows what they're doing, best thing would be to have them show you. My standard practise is to do it up firmly to make sure everything is seated, then back it off and tighten it again so that it just touches and then is nicked up slightly to align the split pin. Very hard to explain the correct feel I'm afraid. Tighter than finger tight but not super tight, no movement in the hub, still spins...sounds like you're not far from spot-on.

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Fifty years ago the RAEME instructors taught me exactly that, and it has worked for me ever since. And yes, it is hard to describe. I prefer tightening them with the wheel on, as it is easier to feel freeplay.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

unless it is a braked wheel and you have been using brakes.

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Indeed! On my recent little trip in my OKA I had been on a very long, very steep descent. The OKA has metal 'hub steps'. When I reached the bottom I got out. Barefoot. My toes still hurt a week later....[bigsad]

I have got into the habit of carrying an infra-red thermometer when traveling and just run over all the tyres and hub bearings every
so often when we pull up.
We often travel in a motorhome with the engine in the rear, so it's 4.5 ton over the rear axle, plus we usually have a bogie axle
trailer in tow with a series shorty on it.
Tyre and wheel bearing temperatures can vary greatly from one side to the other, depending on which side gets the wind, as well
as what side has the sun shining on it, especially when travelling in higher ambient temperatures like 35c or more.
In my opinion an infra-red temp gun is a good investment.


Cheers, Mick.

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Originally Posted by mick88

I have got into the habit of carrying an infra-red thermometer when traveling and just run over all the tyres and hub bearings every
so often when we pull up.
We often travel in a motorhome with the engine in the rear, so it's 4.5 ton over the rear axle, plus we usually have a bogie axle
trailer in tow with a series shorty on it.
Tyre and wheel bearing temperatures can vary greatly from one side to the other, depending on which side gets the wind, as well
as what side has the sun shining on it, especially when travelling in higher ambient temperatures like 35c or more.
In my opinion an infra-red temp gun is a good investment.


Cheers, Mick.

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Yep, carry a small unit in the 101 and check hubs, tyres, gearbox and diff temps after a long run when I pull up - has served me well - knowing what is ‘normal’ for the vehicle - for example the rear hubs run 3 degrees hotter than the fronts and the left rear is always 2 degrees higher than the rear left. Easy to know when something is starting to go wrong a long time before it actually does. [emoji106]

Our motor home has tyre pressure/temp sensors in all tyres including the spare which is also giving me great peace of mind as if one of the rear duals were to go down the other one wouldn’t last long before going out in sympathy either.

I usually just do a visual temperature check. When smoke comes out, I’ve probably left the brakes on. :lol2:

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

I usually just do a visual temperature check. When smoke comes out, I’ve probably left the brakes on. :lol2:

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Funny you should mention that. Few years ago we had a Jayco Swan Outback (hated it, sold it and bought a ‘real camper’!). I forgot to take that handbrake off when I left home and got some 30km up the road and remembered. The D2 TD5 wasn’t accelerating like it should have, etc. Pulled over, disengaged the handbrake, and found nothing of interest. The brakes worked perfectly for another few trips when we sold it. We were rather lucky I’d say!