Trailer bearing questions

[Pigeontroller]

So, I discovered that the port side wheel has quite abit of grease gunk on the inside, where as the starboard side does not...and there is definately grease coming out of the inner seal. I Jacked the trailer up and there is little to no movement of the wheel. I have bearing buddies which I grease regularly. I'm headed to the French River Wed. and don't really have the time to do a bearing job...Will it be ok?

Edited September 20, 2008 by Pigeontroller

[forrest]

Your bearings are shot.

I drove a dirtbike trailer around for a week like that with no issues. who knows what the OPP would have to say.

Bring the parts and tools with you, check every 50 miles....stay off the 401 and check your speed.

 

How heavy is your boat?

[bassjnkie]

I don't know, it's kind of scary to me to pull the trailer, knowing the bearing is shot. It takes 30min or so to change them.

[forrest]

Your bearings are shot.

I drove a dirtbike trailer around for a week like that with no issues. who knows what the OPP would have to say.

Bring the parts and tools with you, check every 50 miles....stay off the 401 and check your speed.

 

How heavy is your boat?

 

 

Oh yeah....if an accident is caused due to bearing failure and someone finds out you posted here.....uh oh.

 

Its not a super serious thing, a lot people drive around with bearings that are failing. My mechanic was not that concerned when my car bearings were going (maybe cars are safer?).

 

Why procrastinate, it has to be done. Daniel M has a good point. You have 3 days to fix it....you will feel better and be safer if you did.

 

forrest

[Billy Bob]

OK, relax. Jack up that wheel again and give it a nice spin. Does it spin real good. Is it noisy if so you have a problem. If not check for end play again. It that is OK you don't have a serious problem but you should replace the inner seal ASAP. You don't have to redo everything now if you just have time to replace the inner seal. If you don't have time to replace the seal check the temperature of the hub after about 50 miles. If it is NOT hot enjoy your fishing trip.

[bbog]

Do you want to be one of those guys disabled at the side of the road? You took the time to jack it up to check - doesn't take all that much longer to fix. Think of it as an investment - in a carefree trip up.

 

You'll certainly be kicking yourself if you lose fishing time over putting it off. Do the wise thing.

[taper]

As BillyBob said all the grease on the inside indicates is that it is coming by the inner seal. Your bearings may be perfectly fine but you should check that the wheel spins smooth and no noise. If all is well you may have caused the seal to rupture by over greasing the bearing buddy or the seal may have just wore out.

[Wild]

The question is how much grease is leaking from the seal. Follow Bob's advice and raise the wheel again and listen. Any binding or grinding noise requires bearing inspection to qualify repair apart from the seal.Also clean all the grease on the outside. Will your trip be ok as is? No one can answer that question without inspecting the assembly.

[musky66]

Good luck! I toasted a bearing Wednesday night- no fun. Called CAA but had to upgrade for trailer coverage. My trailer was the same width as the flatbed- one side jacked up (tire had come off) and the other tread just on the edge- I cringed at every bump on the ride home. Parked her on the road for the night- bought a cheap bearing kit at Princess Auto and managed to get her assembled enough to get her in the driveway. Turns out the spindle riding on the rim chewed up the threads and bearing surface so I ended up having a new axle, with hubs made by a local shop. Lost three days of planned fishing on this weeks vacation. plus the hassle of doing most of the work myself and the cost of a new axle assembly. I will never let this happen again due to my poor planning or lack of maintenance! Could have been a lot worse- I was pulling away from a red light when I noticed a vibration and could see the tire wobbling in my mirror; just finished a 45 minute run at almost 100 kph- if I had lost the wheel at speed- oh no!!!!!!!!!!!

[F7Firecat]

Dax,

 

get new bearings and just do them, napa or carquest will have whatever you need.

 

heck only takes a half hour to do one. Better than sitting on the side of the 407

 

Pop the bearing buddy off

pullthe cotter pin

unscrew the nut

pull the tire off

clean the grease out and outside bearing

pop the seal at the back out with a screw driver

pop the back bearing out

pop the races out with a screw driver (this is the hardest part)

reassemble with new in reverse order.

 

I just did this while i was at the cottage on my vacation. Not worth breaking down.

 

 

Bryan