Maintenance for upcoming camping season

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Boonieman

Boonieman

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Posts
382
Location
Meade County, Ky
  As we get ever closer to upcoming camping season (Yay!!), I have done most of the maintenance I wanted to do on the fiver. One thing I haven?t done is repack the wheel bearings. We did a lot of traveling in the Dakotas last year and year before and I always checked the wheel bearing temperatures when we stopped for fueling, etc, and they were always way cooler than the tire temperatures. Although I know how to do it, I?m inclined to not mess with them. I see no signs of grease seal leaks or any cause for concern. We bought the toy hauler used, but it has been relatively trouble free, and it has always been stored indoors. Any rule of thumb from you experienced campers? Have many short trips, but a couple longer ones planned for this summer.
 
Many do theirs once a year, some every other year, some at xxxxx miles. I honestly can't say for sure what the interval should be. Someone here reminded all of us that old time cars wheel bearings used to get done when the brakes were changed, and that was generally suffice. Considering you are diligent about checking the temps, one would think that would be a way to tell when they need to be done. Maybe, maybe not. I have seen bearings in an industrial setting go from normal temps to destroyed in less than 5 minutes at lower rpms than what a trailer tire rotates. The best thing I can say is service them at an interval that you are comfortable with.
 
I would repack the wheel bearings at least every other year.  Some advise to do it yearly but I think that's over doing it.  It's also a good time to check the brakes and adjust them.  I do it myself so I know they are done right.
 
In PA, brakes are required to be inspected each year, and that requires pulling the drums.  While I?m not a fan of letting others mess with my vehicles, I understand that many will ignore doing the maintenance.  Since most, if not all, wheel bearings are now the cheapest thing from China and I have seen them fail in 8,000 miles, I?ll do mine yearly.
 
  Thank you all for the advice. I too have seen bearings fail unexpectedly. I?m going to go ahead and repack them. I would rather do it and not need it, than wish I had.
 
we just booked our spot in south dakota the other day - 4 night outside of sturgis super excited as we were through there last year and we are looking forward to going back and seeing that part of the country on our way to Ontario 6000 mile round trip
 
  Wish I had known you were there last year Steveblonde, woulda hooked up with you. Undecided if we are going this year. I?m retired, but better half is still working and she has x amount of vacation time. Trying to work out a deal so she can work in the Jack Daniels tent, since she works for them. Not sure if we can make that work or not.
 
Last November, I actually replaced all my OEM Chinese wheel bearings with Timken wheel bearings.  I saved a couple of sets of the Chinese wheel bearings in case I ever need them in an emergency.  I also replaced the nylon shackle bushing with the Neverfail bushings.  Several of my nylon bushing were getting pretty thin after only about 7,000 miles.
 
I have about 4000 mile on a new set of axles that were installed last year. I am going to use the handy dandy grease zerks and adjust the brakes without pulling the drums and replacing the seals.

Usually I dismantle and re-assemble but that will probably wait until this fall. De-winterizing and checking the roof seals for leaks are also on list.
     
 
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