QA

Quick Answer: How Often Grease Trailer Bearings

When Should You Grease Your Bearings With a larger travel trailer, you should grease your trailer wheel bearings every 10,000 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. If you have a smaller travel trailer, however, you’ll need to grease your wheel bearings every 2,000 miles.

How do I know if my trailer bearings need grease?

Keep your hand on the wheel and spin it. If you feel any motion that is not smooth, hear any noises, or if the wheel does not spin freely, the wheel bearing is defective or needs lubrication.

Can you over grease trailer bearings?

There’s no such thing as too much grease for bearings! You would not pack grease in the hub otherwise and not in the drum since the brakes would not be able to grab with grease in the hub. Grease caps, dust caps, and bearing protectors have to be installed right to avoid losing them.

How long does trailer bearing grease last?

Standard tapered trailer wheel bearings are recommended to be re-packed with fresh bearing grease about every year or every 12,000 miles under normal use. In certain conditions this interval could be shorter, such as if you routinely tow the trailer under conditions of extreme heat or near its maximum load capacity.

Should I fill my trailer hub with grease?

1 and 2), pump a ring of grease into the entire circumference of the wheel hub and coat the hub cap inner wall. The housing should only be half full of grease. Too much grease causes churning and higher temperatures. Semi-fluid grease must be used with a vented hub cap.

Can you put too much grease in a Bearing Buddy?

Can Bearing Buddy Bearing Protectors Be Over-Filled with Too Much Grease It is possible to over-fill a hub that has a Bearing Buddy bearing protector such as #BB1781. The convenience of easy filling through the zerk fitting can often mean we can be tempted to keep adding more grease.

How often should you grease your trailer hubs?

When Should You Grease Your Bearings With a larger travel trailer, you should grease your trailer wheel bearings every 10,000 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. If you have a smaller travel trailer, however, you’ll need to grease your wheel bearings every 2,000 miles.

Are bearing buddies a good idea?

Bearing Buddies are a great way to keep grease in a trailer hub. I recommend them as long as you are aware that it’s very easy to put too much grease in a hub with these which will blow out the seal. They have no problem being used on longer road trips so the would work well for you.

How do you know when a Bearing Buddy is full?

The air pockets inside the hub cavity and Bearing Buddy® will work their way out past the piston (or blue ring) on the Bearing Buddy®. You should see the piston extend out or the blue ring past the front of the Bearing Buddy® when it’s properly filled.

How often should you grease a fifth wheel?

Ideally, most tractor trailers should be manually greased at all lube points at around 12,000–24,000 miles and more frequently on the fifth wheel.

How often should you change trailer wheel bearings?

Expert Reply: We recommended to repack the wheel bearings on your trailer every 12 months or 12,000 miles. There is not a specific guideline as far as actually replacing the bearings. When repacking them with grease, you will also just want to check for any damage or wear and replace anything if needed.

How long do bearing buddies last?

Some experts give them a life span of 85,000 to 100,000 miles.

How much grease should you put in a bearing?

FOR STARTERS, note that most sealed bearings come pre-greased from the factory with a 25%-35% grease fill. This is all the grease the bearings will ever need, because the relubrication interval (explained below) is longer than the expected life of the bearing.

Do bearing buddies grease both bearings?

Expert Reply: Bearing Buddy pumps grease into the center of the hub all the way back to the grease seal. It would then fill the cavity inside the hub and continue to the inner bearing.

How do I keep my bearing buddies from falling off?

If they are off just a little, when the wheel spins the Bearing Buddy can kind of wobble and work itself loose. The do-it-yourself method is to get the Bearing Buddy started then place a block of wood across it and tap it in with a mallet. The wood distributes the force of the mallet more evenly than not using it.

How much play should a trailer wheel bearing have?

For adequate trailer wheel bearing maintenance, you need to check your bearings on a regular basis. Jack up the trailer and secure it on adequate capacity jack stands. Check wheels for side-to-side looseness – There should be a very slight amount of play in the wheel, typically 1/8-inch or less.

How much are Bearing Buddies?

Bearing Buddy Stainless Steel Bearing Protectors (1.980″ Diameter) with Auto Check With Bras – Pair List Price: $36.99 Details You Save: $5.50 (15%).

Should I use anti seize on wheel bearings?

There is a product literally called “anti seize” that you can find at any store: It works. You should use it. You can use it on the wheel hub where the rim makes contact to the hub to prevent the wheel from sticking to the hub and requiring a sledge hammer to remove it.