Posts: 3469
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
I've taken hundreds of hubs apart over the years, and there always seems to be a few drops of water in the grease as the seal does not make the system a 100% sealed hub. Water can, and will find it's way into areas of lower pressure (gaps) within a system, and although the water may be minimal, it can wreak havoc on bearings where the water is able to contact it...in other words, pitting and rust....especially if that water has opportunity to sit for extended periods of time.
Repacking two hubs takes an hour if you have a bearing packer and are doing a thorough job. In my humble opinion, that is time well spent, as if one doesn't check things it leaves a bearing failure as a potential issue, and time wasted on the side of the road is not pleasant.
Years ago, car bearings were packed every 10,000 miles or so, so traveling 5000 miles a year on smaller tires than your tow vehicle, and not doing anything with the bearings for 6 years as you have stated, would be a trailer problem in my mind waiting to happen. Grease wears out just like oil...it loses it's lubricating abilities.
The first boat trailer I owned didn't have bearings repacked for quite some time. when I opened them up, the grease literally had to be broken out of some areas as it was completely dry and caked, while what remained just drained out like oil....it was a seized bearing set just waiting to happen.
Steve
Edited by VMS 11/24/2021 8:29 AM
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