Posts: 3472
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
I will concur with not skimping on bearing replacement. It is worth it to pay a little more given the bearings are high quality. The last place anyone would want an issue is being on the side of the road with a hub gone bad.
I will also concur with any replacement of a bearing, the races should go as well. They are matched to begin with because there has been no wear between the two parts. Once the trailer has been used a while, the races and bearings will essentially wear on each other, but they wear as a matched set. So...when one only replaces the bearing, it is no longer matching the worn race, thus things are not going to run as well, there might be vibrations, etc, and premature bearing failure is the result.
I just did my repack last night as I ran out of time last fall...bearings are about 6 years old, stamped China... They are still in great shape yet. I know there are some poorly made bearings out there, but I honestly feel it really comes down to maintenance....repacking yearly for boat trailers being dunked multiple times, it is peace of mind.
As for filling the hub with grease....you definitely do NOT need to. filling the entire hub with grease can lead to a premature oil seal failure, leading to the same as above...a hub gone bad on the road. At the end of many years of dunking the trailer hundreds of times, I've not had water in my hubs a majority of those years. Other years, there are a few drops here and there, but that is it...
It really comes down to yearly maintenance...repack in the fall, don't overfill, and if replacing bearings, do the races as well... It's peace of mind, and you won't be stuck on the side of the road with a hub seized to an axle, or a lost hub altogether...
Steve |
