Repack Wheel Bearings?

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Gary RV Roamer said:
Too many variables to give one answer for "how often is necessary". Road conditions, weather, mileage and even hub design vary too much. Once a year is a safe answer, but many people can and do go much longer than that. If you mostly travel on paved roads in dry weather and don't run a lot of miles (doesn't that sound like a lot of RVers?), every 2-3 years is probably ok. Emphasis on probably.

One advantage of regular bearing packing is that a worm bearing or hub will get found before something serious happens.
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I agree with you and  didn't do it this year.  I was having second thoughts when we were leaving for a short trip.
 
I do all my own maintenance and repairs on my vehicles and trailers.

So far to date in 11 years of ownership of my truck its never seen a tow truck yet. As for the RV I bought it 3 years ago I had to fix another bearing and brake issue from the previous owner but never had another problem since then. I pack my own bearings once a year.
 
Very carefully?

I think the short answer is "They don't". The DIY replies above are all from trailer owners, I think. Besides, most motorhomes that large have either self-oiling hubs (contains an oil bath reservoir) or sealed hubs (the ZF front suspension, for example).
 
parttymer said:
A dumb question. How the heck do you guys who DIY get the wheels off a 34,000 lb class A motor home?

Stan
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Lug wrench from Wal-Mart and a $20 bottle jack from Harbor Freight.  ;)

Seriously, this is one of the reasons I prefer a truck and trailer.  I can work on them at home.  Doing that on a heavy truck chassis is out of the question. 
 
I don't know what an "air grease packer is."  Jeff, my mechanic manually packs in the grease with a device that he holds in his hands and forces the bearing into the part that holds the grease.  It really packs it in there.  He mostly does boat trailers so the wheels could be submerged and no air could get into the bearings.  Maybe some of you have seen this two part device that he uses?  One part holds the grease and the other part pushes the bearing into it.

Ron
 
Mine is two part and has a fitting on one side.  The grease is forced through the bearing and the old grease comes out first.  I continue until new grease shows and then know if is greased properly.  About $10 at Advance Auto.
 
Frizlefrak said:
Lug wrench from Wal-Mart and a $20 bottle jack from Harbor Freight.  ;)

Seriously, this is one of the reasons I prefer a truck and trailer.  I can work on them at home.  Doing that on a heavy truck chassis is out of the question.
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Exactly my though after owning my previous motorhome. Couple boards, bottle jack, and impact gun. Makes short work of a wheel bearing pack job.
 
The thing that concerns me about repacking wheel bearings is how much to tighten the nut when you put it back together.  I used to tighen the nut until the wheel stopped turning, then back off until it turned.  But I had a bearing burn up once when I did tht on another std trailer. So lately, I've let a dealer do it for me.
 
My little comment:  The axle nut is usually held into the permanent position with an old-fashion cotter pin with some intervals. I don't use a wrench at all to tighten it. Finger-tight until the wheel does not wobble anymore when rocked. Then select the closest cotter pin hole without having to tightening it any more. It's much better to be a smidgeon on the loose side than a smidgeon on the tight side.


 
Most axle bearings do require a particular torque on the nut and backed of set amount. I normally snug mine up and back off every so slightly to line up the cotter pin.
 
Mopar1973Man said:
Most axle bearings do require a particular torque on the nut and backed of set amount. I normally snug mine up and back off every so slightly to line up the cotter pin.
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Same method I use.  Never had a bearing failure. 
 
Tell me what is "partial torque" ?  There is no give after the bearings are home and the wheel does not wiggle. I mentioned "finger tight", that is partial torque in my book.  Oh well--semantics I guess

carson

 
carson said:
Tell me what is "partial torque" ?  There is no give after the bearings are home and the wheel does not wiggle. I mentioned "finger tight", that is partial torque in my book.  Oh well--semantics I guess

carson
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You could use 20 ft lbs as a nice round number....this will seat the bearing against the race correctly.  Then back the nut off, finger tighten it so it's finger snug against the bearing, and insert the cotter pin.  If the cotter pin won't line up, slightly tighten it to the next cotter pin opening. 
 
carson said:
Something tells me that that method spells disaster. Let's have a vote.
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Why would you think that?

You have to seat the bearing (preload) fully by tightening with a wrench. (tighten lightly....don't crank down on it).  Then back the nut off, finger snug to hold the bearing in it's race, insert cotter pin, drive on it till it's time to do it all again.  You do NOT want excess pressure against the bearing....that WILL cause early failure.

I've been spinning wrenches for 35 years now....never had a bearing failure using the above method.  Enlighten me as to why it would cause a failure. 
 
I have always "snugged" mine up, too.  Then I spin the wheel a bit to spread the grease evenly and then back off about 1/4 turn.
 
Right.

You want just enough pressure to hold the bearing in it's race with no lateral movement.  Any pressure beyond that is just accelerating wear. 
 
I think we are talking about the same thing, in a way. Excess pressure is an definite problem.

  My point was to not forcing it into the next cotter pin slot, by "tightening" it more just to find the next slot.  That may be too much. It's a matter of a making a decision at that point to accept what is too loose or too tight. I have always opted for the looser side. The cotter pin hole positions are not precision made. At least that Is what I was taught 40 years ago. Better to have a micro-movement than zero movement, which is hard to determine

  Whatever, that's my opinion.
 
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