Bearings and Races

[lfhoward]

For those of you who have had your trailer for a long time, what is your opinion regarding where you get your wheel bearings? I'm seeing China-made ones available for 1/3 to 1/4 if the price of Timken bearings and races made in Ohio.

I am all for supporting the American worker, especially if they make a superior product. Does 4x the price turn out to be 4x the quality, or lasts 4x as long? It would certainly be a lot more expensive to use Timken bearings and races but if that means they will basically last forever (with the appropriate preventative maintenance) then I am all for it.

Opinions and experiences please!

[drhill]

My advice would be to get Timken or SKF bearings, install bearing buddies and tow with piece of mind. Never having a problem in a remote area, or anywhere for that matter, is worth buying quality. Having said that, I don't have any experience with cheap bearings, but maybe that is why the guys with the Harbor Freight trailers make such a big deal of re-packing bearings.

[Tigris99]

You get what you pay for, plain and simple.

4x the price doesn't mean 4x better. When comparing against cheap China stuff it's pretty simple. You play a lottery. Could get a set and it last for years, or get a set and last for a trip no matter how perfect of an install you do.

Pay 4x the price. Install them correctly, do worry about them for years. Pay once cry once. Be cheap once cry a few times, then pay anyway.

There is certain places not to be cheap and parts that determine a safe and happy trip or being stranded and a trip ruined.....is the extra whatever price really that big of a deal in the long run?

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[steve cowan]

I work in industrial maintenance and have seen bearings last 20+ years with only a couple of shots of grease every 3 months.Trillions of revolutions.These would be Timken or SKF
or other good quality bearing.There's no doubt about the extra cost being justified when you're broken down because of bearing failure.

[swoody126]

the cost difference doesn't approach what it would take for one to take his/her family to Mickey Dee's just once

that being said follow the above suggestion and BITE THE BULLET

don't forget to install the BEARING BUDDY brand hub caps which is another $20± well spent

add the BEARING BUDDY brand BRAS and you should be set

this process will take an evening to accomplish w/ the axle jacked up so both tires are free to spin while you keep squeezing grease into the hub cavity until it wont take any more after spinning & spinning... & squeezing & squeezing... & spinning & spinning........

for those who are reading this post you might consider buying trailers w/ EZ LUBE axles

EZ LUBE axles have zerks on the end of the spindles that lube from the inside out

i just got thru changing out the axle under my skiff after 26 years of service

it was used when i installed it in 1991 and w/ the regular use of the greasing system BEARING BUDDIES provide i only changed bearings once in that 26 years (just last year)

DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE and you will not be sorry

sw

[Shadow Catcher]

I spent my working career in quality control and tend to be very suspicious of cheap!
I looked into bearings and as with many things there are different 'grades'. Based on materiel/steel and uniformity of roundness. I replaced the China who knows who made them to what standard with SKF and used synthetic grease hand packing them.

Too much grease can be as bad as too little
"Too much grease volume (overgreasing) in a bearing cavity will cause the rotating bearing elements to begin churning the grease, pushing it out of the way, resulting in energy loss and rising temperatures. This leads to rapid oxidation (chemical degradation) of the grease as well as an accelerated rate of oil bleed, which is a separation of the oil from the thickener. The heat that has been generated over time along with the oil bleed eventually will cook the grease thickener into a hard, crusty build-up that can impair proper lubrication and even block new grease from reaching the core of the bearing. This can result in accelerated wear of the rolling elements and then component failure." http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28664/dangers-of-overgreasing-

The reason for bearing budies etc. are if you are fording rivers or have a boat trailer where water is a big problem.
"I get this question frequently from customers, and I have recommended to many of them that purchasing “Bearing Buddies” is not a benefit unless the trailer gets dipped into water. Many trailer owners assume that replacing their dust caps with Bearing Buddies is equivalent to repacking their hubs and that as long as the cap is full they won’t have any wheel bearing issues. What a BB does is fills your hub completely with grease, while keeping a slight amount of positive pressure in the hub to help prevent water from possibly running in through the grease seal when the trailer hub is submerged."
https://rwtrailerparts.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/should-i-use-bearing-buddies-on-my-utility-trailer/

[working on it]

I spent my working career in quality control and tend to be very suspicious of cheap!
I looked into bearings and as with many things there are different 'grades'. Based on materiel/steel and uniformity of roundness. I replaced the China who knows who made them to what standard with SKF and used synthetic grease hand packing them.

Too much grease can be as bad as too little
"Too much grease volume (overgreasing) in a bearing cavity will cause the rotating bearing elements to begin churning the grease, pushing it out of the way, resulting in energy loss and rising temperatures. This leads to rapid oxidation (chemical degradation) of the grease as well as an accelerated rate of oil bleed, which is a separation of the oil from the thickener. The heat that has been generated over time along with the oil bleed eventually will cook the grease thickener into a hard, crusty build-up that can impair proper lubrication and even block new grease from reaching the core of the bearing. This can result in accelerated wear of the rolling elements and then component failure." http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28664/dangers-of-overgreasing-

The reason for bearing buddies etc. are if you are fording rivers or have a boat trailer where water is a big problem.
"I get this question frequently from customers, and I have recommended to many of them that purchasing “Bearing Buddies” is not a benefit unless the trailer gets dipped into water. Many trailer owners assume that replacing their dust caps with Bearing Buddies is equivalent to repacking their hubs and that as long as the cap is full they won’t have any wheel bearing issues. What a BB does is fills your hub completely with grease, while keeping a slight amount of positive pressure in the hub to help prevent water from possibly running in through the grease seal when the trailer hub is submerged."
https://rwtrailerparts.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/should-i-use-bearing-buddies-on-my-utility-trailer/

• Overgreasing is as bad as undergreasing (but not no-greasing), in my experience, but different circumstances accentuate the problems. I'd rather use a higher grade grease, with better heat capability, if I were to knowingly use a worn bearing or a low-grade bearing, just for the added protection I'd need 'til I could replace it with better quality. For instance, though my front wheel bearings on my old '69 C-10 pickup were good quality, they were also at least ten years old, and had questionable maintenance before I bought the truck. I saw no damage, nor could I detect any bluing from heat, but since I was daily-driving this truck 600 miles a week in DFW traffic, I was having to re-do the brakes every month (4-wheel drums, aged master cylinder, panic stops). I used the best bearing grease I could find (I tried them all). No problems. But I had a cheapskate friend, with another old drum-braked Chevy truck, who drove a less demanding route, on weekends only, lock up his front left wheel, using some cheap old grease he had for years. Quality pays for itself.
• I never used Bearing Buddies, not having a boat, but my friends that did have boats, all used BBs. One or two failed to check them, thinking that they were permanent fixes, and paid the price. I used regular grease caps on my trailers, like on my cars, and checked them at regular intervals, so I had no problems. But, I'm getting old, and looking for easier ways to do things, so when I bought my TTT a new axle for an upgrade, I opted for the EZ-Lube bearing/spindle, so greasing would be simple, and not require the usual procedures. And, though I haven't yet, I intend to do some light off-roading with it, so the added water protection of the EZ-Lube is desirable. It wasn't marketed as a Bearing Buddy competitor, but it shares some properties of water-resistance with it, so it was good enough for me to try. If I were to have a boat trailer, maybe not. With either brand, the greasing procedure is simplified, though a bearing check (for looseness or wobble) needs to be done, even on lightweight TDs and TTTs.

• 

  ez-lube.PNG (125.56 KiB) Viewed 1051 times

  Dexter EZ-Lube, with water-resistant properties

• 

  bearing buddy.PNG (174.42 KiB) Viewed 1051 times

  Bearing Buddy, a boater's friend

[DezPrado]

When i built my trailer, the wheel axle set came with (new) chinese made bearings. Despite correct assembly & grease packing, one side failed in 18 months after a sporadic distance of 1800km. I replaced both sets for SKF & no problems since (6yrs). Not worth the trouble of the quality-control lottery to go cheap &( chinese or otherwise).

[Nobody]

When I built my TD in 2006 I used an HF 1800# trailer. It came with Chinese bearings which I carefully repacked using NAPA synthetic wheel bearing grease (my younger son has a NAPA store & I asked him about the Chinese bearings. He said that in his experience the SKF & Timkin bearings that he sold were no better qualitywise than the Chinese bearings that came with my trailer, (equal replacement while in use). 4 yrs later when I cleaned & re-packed the barings there were negligible signs of wear tho I'd towed the trailer approx 15K miles, mostly at highway speeds. The following year I drove through flooded intersections/streets in Hobbs & Artesia, NM & carelessly didn't check the hubs until I returned home to Arkansas. I found the hubs full of water (at least that part that wasn't full of grease). I had my son bring me new sets of SKF bearings & seals, cleaned the hubs thoroughly, packed the new bearings, installed them, & have had zero problems in the near 7yrs & more'n 15K miles since. I took this pic of the original Chinese bearing after 4 yrs & nearly 15K miles, in June 2010. It shows absolutely NO excess wear or evidence of heat damage after 4yrs of frequent use. After being towed nearly 1K miles to home with water in the hub, the Chinese bearings still showed little signs of wear or heat damage [bluing]. I re-packed them after cleaning, sealed them in a ziplok plastic bag & put them in my tongue box as spares. They're still there along with SKF seals, awaiting a time I'll need 'em when on the road (hopefully never). I re-pack the SKF bearings every 3years or so & up to now haven't found any signs of wear (excess or otherwise).

[Gladtobehere]

Buy US made . The China stuff is an unknown. If the stainless steel is the same crazy stuff they put in cheap bbqs it won't last long. Don't skimp on the bearings it may ruin your leisure time.

[Cosmo]

Two thumbs up on the Dexter EZ Lube axles which came with my trailer.
I lube more frequently with it since its very easy and clean.
When the time comes for new bearings I will go with Dexter on my rig.
Since its a submersible axel and you -flush out the old grease there is there is no chance to pump in too much or too little grease. Just flush till you see clean grease. Then wipe. There must be a joke here but I am not going there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT0RKDGgDm8

While we are on the subject - I am using Royal Purple synthetic grease and was thinking of changing to Mobil 1 Synthetic. Maybe I am wasting my money but Mobil 1 oil has proven so good I may trust the grease too! Might be overkill but I love my trailer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002K ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-1-105527-S ... ing+grease

[lfhoward]

Thank you all for the replies, everyone. It seems that some have had good experiences with Chinese bearings and some not, while the USA bearings have always been reliably good. I am not a gambling person, so i am most likely going with Timken or SKF. It's going to take me another month to save up for it, but I think the peace of mind will be worth it.

On the other hand, maybe I won't need them? If the bearings in my military trailer turn out to be ok once I get them out and clean them up, then maybe I'll get to reuse them. We will have to wait and see. I have no idea how long they've been in there or when they were last serviced. My trailer was made in 1991.

Besides soaking the bearings in gasoline (which is what the parts store guy said to do), is there an equally effective but safer way to clean out the old grease? Mineral spirits perhaps?

[Shadow Catcher]

Use brake cleaner solvent or naptha (Coleman gas) It is however very flammable.

[dancam]

Two thumbs up on the Dexter EZ Lube axles which came with my trailer.
I lube more frequently with it since its very easy and clean.
When the time comes for new bearings I will go with Dexter on my rig.
Since its a submersible axel and you -flush out the old grease there is there is no chance to pump in too much or too little grease. Just flush till you see clean grease. Then wipe. There must be a joke here but I am not going there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT0RKDGgDm8

While we are on the subject - I am using Royal Purple synthetic grease and was thinking of changing to Mobil 1 Synthetic. Maybe I am wasting my money but Mobil 1 oil has proven so good I may trust the grease too! Might be overkill but I love my trailer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002K ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-1-105527-S ... ing+grease

Mobil 1 synthetic grease is one i wont ever buy again. The oil seperates from the grease in the greasegun and you get red oil absolutley everywhere. Drips out of the gun from every spot you can imagine.
Look it up online and its a common problem. People say you have to always release the pressure on the gun, did that and it still leaked. Poured out almost when trying to pump grease.
Its just garbage.

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[elcam84]

Yup the mobil 1 grease has been bad about seperating since it first hit the market. Often you see the oil dripping out of it and making a puddle in the store on the shelf.

Its a good grease however i wont use it for an application that is open to leaks. Good for tools etc where its captured but if the oil can leak out of it i wont use it. The grease i like is the green stuff that ford uses in their trucks. Not sure what it is but it seems like pretty good grease.

I have used bearing buddies on past trailers. Not sure what i will do on the 5x10 i just picked up at northern.


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