Wheel Bearing wear and tear

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by bookernoe

I took my Casita to a Dexter (axle manufacturer) distributor and had them rebuild my axles with new brakes, bearings and lubrication. I watched the work and saw that there was enough expertise involved that I won't do the job myself. Little things like "not to much grease", "having the right tool for pressing bearings", and 'tighten the retaining nut 'just right' by feel" were better off in the hands of the 30 year employee of the dealer than my expertise. No offense to the respondents here, but the varying opinions are pretty epic. I'll stick with a pro when it comes to preventing a trip coming to a (literal) screeching halt.

Charles, it's important to know the differences when discussing this topic. Lumping EZ-Lube axles into a discussion along with the ones requiring manual repacking misses the point. Two different systems, two different methods. EZ-Lube axles can be tackled by a complete novice if they follow a couple simple directions. The traditional axles, not so much.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I took a bearing class put on by Timken & Mobil Oil
Your post is exactly what we learned at the seminar.
Over greasing is just as bad or worse than under greasing.
More is not always better .

Thank you for confirming what I knew. My husband and I have been to many classes in a lot of huge rallies put on by professionals. That is where we get a lot of information plus all the experience of RV traveling for 34 years.

[Jann Todd]

[QUOTE=bookernoe;655988]I read of discussions about bearings, and saw photos of roadside disasters, and read enough experts talking about the number one cause of tire failure is improperly maintained bearings that I decided to buy my piece of mind. I took my Casita to a Dexter (axle manufacturer) distributor and had them rebuild my axles with new brakes, bearings and lubrication. I watched the work and saw that there was enough expertise involved that I won't do the job myself. Little things like "not to much grease", "having the right tool for pressing bearings", and 'tighten the retaining nut 'just right' by feel" were better off in the hands of the 30 year employee of the dealer than my expertise. No offense to the respondents here, but the varying opinions are pretty epic. I'll stick with a pro when it comes to preventing a trip coming to a (literal) screeching halt. I can't recall the cost, but I do recall saying "bargain" when I added a temperature/pressure monitor, and saw the bearings on the trailer running much cooler than those on my tow vehicle. I still do the 'touch check' at every fuel stop, but I haven't caught them getting warmer yet. Oh, BTW, I did pick up a full set of spare bearings and a grease kit to keep in the spares in case a roadside swap has to take place on some ugly day.[/QUOTE

You are very wise. Now you can travel with peace of mind. Extra bearings a great idea. We had ours done and took a camping trip about 75 miles from home. Bearings got real hot coming home. One set was bad and even the axle man didn't see any problem. If we had been on a long trip we could have had a disaster. He did replace them and still didn't see any problem but so far no more hot bearings.