Trailer Wheel Bearing Grease?

[scubadog]

I have and OLD 15' trailer that has no grease port for the bearings. I performed a bearing replacement last weekend and found myself stumped on how much grease should be applied to the entire bearing, rod, wheel assembly. I greased the new bearings but noticed that when I pulled the old ones out there was so much grease that I could barely see any pieces. Do the bearings and assembly require grease EVERYWHERE for proper opperation? I cleary have not done this before. thank you

 

[jhande]

Re: Trailer Wheel Bearing Grease?

I have always packed my trailer (camper, utility, boat) bearings the same as automotive bearings and never had any problems.

1. Clean all the old grease off of everything with rags.
2. Pack the grease into the bearings; either by hand or with my bearing packer.
3. Put just a small layer of grease on the spindle, outside of the bearing and the bearing races.
4. Torque the bearing nut on while rotating the tire a little.
5. Put a little grease on the end of the bearing before putting the cap back on.

 

[Hank496]

Re: Trailer Wheel Bearing Grease?

The short answer is yes. When you say replaced, I hope you mean that you replaced the bearing cone as well as the cup. These have to be replaced in pairs.

First, you should manually pack the bearings. This is a semi-messy job, but it has to be done. You put a blob of grease in the palm of one hand. Then take the new bearing and with a scooping motion press it into the grease sideways (so that the round end of the rollers are going into the grease) until grease comes out the other side. You can't do this on a flat surface as the grease will just squish around the bearing. By holding the grease in your palm you create a cup that forces the grease into the bearing. Now set the bearings down on a clean surface. Take the inner bearing and insert it into the cup and install the inner axle seal. Now fill the 'bottom' of the bearing cavity (between the inner and outer bearings with grease from about the 4:00 position to the 8:00 position. Now place the wheel on the axle spindle, and insert the outer bearing.

For a choice of grease, you should buy the good stuff from a reputable autoparts store like NAPA. There is a 'waterproof' grease made specially for boat trailers. However, after inspecting and reviewing several hundred semi-trailers that were flooded in Nashville this May I would say that any good solid wheel end grease is going to be fine.