Quality trailer bearings

[NAGG]

With the upcoming trip to the Whitsundays - I thought I'd better rebuild the bearings ...... glad I did

Having removed the 1st hub this morning & actually pulled the bearing ( 1st time in 4 years) - I was pleasantly surprised to see just how well the bearing held up . This rim had discoloured grease so there was some concern & certainly the seal needed replacement .

I was fortunate as the bearings were a different size to my spares ( Holden HT) .... didn't know as I assumed ::) . I did have 1 set that came with the boat

I worked out that the bearings had done around 18,000kms - but check them out - no pitting & smooth as . These were run with bearing buddies . Hopefully the next 3 will be similar ( all look to have nice clean grease .

Chris

[Dignity]

With the upcoming trip to the Whitsundays - I thought I'd better rebuild the bearings ...... glad I did

Having removed the 1st hub this morning & actually pulled the bearing ( 1st time in 4 years) - I was pleasantly surprised to see just how well the bearing held up . This rim had discoloured grease so there was some concern & certainly the seal needed replacement .

I was fortunate as the bearings were a different size to my spares ( Holden HT) .... didn't know as I assumed ::) . I did have 1 set that came with the boat

I worked out that the bearings had done around 18,000kms - but check them out - no pitting & smooth as . These were run with bearing buddies . Hopefully the next 3 will be similar ( all look to have nice clean grease .

Chris

Just being a good scout.

[Lovey80]

This has to be the number 2 thing all boaties need to acquaint themselves with. Just scheduling routine maintenance for someone else to do it just won’t cut it eventually. Sooner or later water will get in on fresh bearings (much easier on dual axles also) and 4-5 months later they are stuffed. If you check them yourself regularly you’ll have peace of mind.

[NAGG]

This has to be the number 2 thing all boaties need to acquaint themselves with. Just scheduling routine maintenance for someone else to do it just won’t cut it eventually. Sooner or later water will get in on fresh bearings (much easier on dual axles also) and 4-5 months later they are stuffed. If you check them yourself regularly you’ll have peace of mind.

Absolutely

As a bare minimum - jack the trailer up ..... give the wheel a wobble (checking for free play)
Check the back seal , remove the grease cap or bearing buddy & check what the grease looks like ....... if any doubts remove the wheel & take off the hub - rebuild .

This is actually the longest I've gone without doing a complete rebuild - normally it would be once a year prior to a road trip (not 4 years) . This trailer just would get the jack up inspection but I thought I might be rolling the dice once too often - decision made once I saw discoloured grease . .

Boaties really should familiarise themselves with how to maintain their trailer & do those bearings themselves .

Personally I have little faith in mechanics doing trailers - too easy to chuck in cheap bearings , use sub standard grease & not enough (like a mate discovered) .... or something as basic as not replacing the split pin (like another mate discovered after having his caravans bearings done)

One other thing - the longer you leave it - the harder it is to remove calipers etc

Always use good quality bearings & grease .....

Chris

[Lovey80]

Good advice. I must say that buying a $40 bearing race drift set was the best money I ever spent. They can be an absolute pain in the arse getting them in straight sometimes. With the drift set they go in first time every time and saves a bunch of time.

[disorderly]

Good advice. I must say that buying a $40 bearing race drift set was the best money I ever spent. They can be an absolute pain in the arse getting them in straight sometimes. With the drift set they go in first time every time and saves a bunch of time.

Well there you go...I figured there must have been some proper tool for it but always perservered with the usual stuff around trying to tap them in evenly without damaging the bloody things....
I think one of those sets will be my next purchase..

While we are at it is there any easy way to get them out...?..sometimes can be relatively easy and sometimes a b!tch..

[NAGG]

Good advice. I must say that buying a $40 bearing race drift set was the best money I ever spent. They can be an absolute pain in the arse getting them in straight sometimes. With the drift set they go in first time every time and saves a bunch of time.

I need to get myself a drift set - $40 does sound like good value ........ beats knocking them in with a boat roller & piece of brass rod (works though)

I'll see if CBC bearing have a set this morning .

Chris

[Dignity]

Good advice. I must say that buying a $40 bearing race drift set was the best money I ever spent. They can be an absolute pain in the arse getting them in straight sometimes. With the drift set they go in first time every time and saves a bunch of time.

I really should get a set, I usually carry just a piece of 5mm thick ally to tap them in initially then carry a couple of cones that I've ground down so the slip into the hubs easily and placing them on top tap them in till the bottom cone seats. Has worked well so far but I need more tools.

[Dignity]

While we are at it is there any easy way to get them out...?..sometimes can be relatively easy and sometimes a b!tch..

Col, I just happen to have an offcut of C channel that the hub sits nicely on top with clearance underneath. Then working from above I use brickies Course chisel, not sure if thats the correct spelling but it is a narrow flat cold chisel for knocking out mortar from between bricks. This fits nicely in the grooves to knock the cones out. Usually I put a plastic bag in the bottom of the C channel and when the cones etc pop out I also will push the grease out with a rag. Lift the hub off and tie the bag off and no mess charlie.
Luckily I had several of those chisels from my fathers collection.

[NAGG]

I managed to pick up a drift set today - not easy to get after going to several places .

Unfortunately I had to dig a little deeper ($150) & buy a complete set - no mini kit available

These will make life a lot easier though

Chris

125051

[Noelm]

Getting the old outer gizmo out is the hard part, the test is simple, my cat trailer has got hydraulic brakes, and I made up a little kind of packer, so when the caliber is off, I put it between the pads and it all stays nice while I root around trying to replace the bearings, one tip, try to get hold of some surgical gloves, easy to work with and when your finished, your hands a nice and clean, I keep some in the car too.

[winston]

I use an old set of bearing cups to knock the new ones in. I ground the outside of the old cups so that they slip inside and out easily but with enough contact om the new cups. Works well. Cheers Winston.

[Noelm]

Yep, but you still have to get the old cups out, strangely enough, the cheap Chinese hubs have a kind of notch in them so you can get something on the cup to hammer it out, makes it a bit easier, reassembling is a breeze, unless you knock in a cup backwards......don't even ask me how I know that!

[Cobbo1]

I just run a bead of weld on the old cup, falls out by itself 9/10 times

[NAGG]

Getting the old outer gizmo out is the hard part, the test is simple, my cat trailer has got hydraulic brakes, and I made up a little kind of packer, so when the caliber is off, I put it between the pads and it all stays nice while I root around trying to replace the bearings, one tip, try to get hold of some surgical gloves, easy to work with and when your finished, your hands a nice and clean, I keep some in the car too.

Bought a 100pk of the black Rhino gloves from Bunnings ($20)

Mucking around with grease / degreaser / petrol makes most gloves fall apart - hence go with "Nitrile rubber" gloves ...... much better chemical resistance

Chris

[Greg P]

Best thing I bought for doing bearings at home is a cheap hyd press from eBay. So much easier and quicker to replace the bearing cups in the hubs. Just make sure you replace with better quality hubs when you need too as I founfd the opposite with some of the cheap chinese hubs and they don’t let you get in behind the cup to punch them out. As mentioned you need to weld them to make them contract and drive them out. Just did my Dunbier and those original hubs were terrible for getting the inner cups out.

[Dignity]

Bought a 100pk of the black Rhino gloves from Bunnings ($20)

Mucking around with grease / degreaser / petrol makes most gloves fall apart - hence go with "Nitrile rubber" gloves ...... much better chemical resistance

Chris
Your Bunnings must be better than ours.
Ours will occasionally stick nitrile/vinyl composites but not pure nitrile, I have to go to the tool shops.

[ranmar850]

Well there you go...I figured there must have been some proper tool for it but always perservered with the usual stuff around trying to tap them in evenly without damaging the bloody things....
I think one of those sets will be my next purchase..

While we are at it is there any easy way to get them out...?..sometimes can be relatively easy and sometimes a b!tch..

Getting them out is a matter for a cold chisel or punch down the slot provided in the hub casting for that purpose, just work around them. As for installing--You can make up a set of drifts with an old set of races. Take your old races, inner and outer, and run the outer circumference around on a bench grinder. You don't need to take off much, just enough so they will drop in easily and not jam. Then after tapping the new race lightly all around to get it started, use the big hammer on the ground down races to hammer the new ones in, working your way around to keep it even--once they are well in, they'll keep going straight. Of course, if you have a press in your home workshop, it is even easier. Then chuck your new, free drifts into the toolbox for next time

[NAGG]

Your Bunnings must be better than ours.
Ours will occasionally stick nitrile/vinyl composites but not pure nitrile, I have to go to the tool shops.

New stock mate ..... last two times I looked there were no Nitrile gloves ..... blue or the black ones .

Chris

[Lovey80]

Nagg, you won't regret it. Since I bought my drift set I no longer dread having to do the bearings. It's actually a fun job once you have the gloves.

[gazza2006au]

Timken SKF American bearings all the way $21 a hub at Peps Auto, screw these Super Cheap Auto rebranded Chinese crap at expensive coin

[blacklab]

pppppppppppppppppp

[NAGG]

Nagg, you won't regret it. Since I bought my drift set I no longer dread having to do the bearings. It's actually a fun job once you have the gloves.

Doing bearings fun :-? - removing disc calipers , dealing with old grease , degreaser , never seem to have enough rags ...... how do you enjoy that ?
Anyway ......
Knocked in a couple yesterday evening - certainly made the job a bit easier ...... more importantly it was much easier to tell that they were properly seated - you actually hear the tone (clang) when the race hits the inner lip of the hub .
I'll now try to get the next two done over the next couple of days before I head to Melb for work for a couple of days ....... running out of time fast ( Sat is a right off - dont get home till late)

Hmmm - on all my other boats , the job would have been completed ...... bloody dual axles :(

Chris

[NAGG]

Getting them out is a matter for a cold chisel or punch down the slot provided in the hub casting for that purpose, just work around them. As for installing--You can make up a set of drifts with an old set of races. Take your old races, inner and outer, and run the outer circumference around on a bench grinder. You don't need to take off much, just enough so they will drop in easily and not jam. Then after tapping the new race lightly all around to get it started, use the big hammer on the ground down races to hammer the new ones in, working your way around to keep it even--once they are well in, they'll keep going straight. Of course, if you have a press in your home workshop, it is even easier. Then chuck your new, free drifts into the toolbox for next time

A dog bone type boat roller works really well for knocking in the races initially - then I would use the ground down race .

I did have a boat roller that was machined at both ends to fit perfectly - worked well ....... if anyone has access to a lathe - makes for a fine drift without the cost.

Chris

[Lovey80]

Actually it’s been a few years since I was handling grease in large quantities since I went to the oil bearings. For them it’s just a matter of cracking the wheel nuts, jacking the trailer up. Rotate the wheel so the drain plug is down and drop a container under it like you are doing an oil change.

[disorderly]

Yep, but you still have to get the old cups out, strangely enough, the cheap Chinese hubs have a kind of notch in them so you can get something on the cup to hammer it out, makes it a bit easier, reassembling is a breeze, unless you knock in a cup backwards......don't even ask me how I know that!

Haha..that must have been fun..no lip to work with....

Been some great tips and advice on this thread....not near enough to make bearings "fun"...lol....but certainly to make the process easier...

[Noelm]

OH yeah, getting the new backwards cup out was a real treat.

[gazza2006au]

I just use a small socket reversed on a 1/2" extension bar to knock out the races takes 1min

Extension bar goes inside the socket where the nut would normally go

[NAGG]

Actually it’s been a few years since I was handling grease in large quantities since I went to the oil bearings. For them it’s just a matter of cracking the wheel nuts, jacking the trailer up. Rotate the wheel so the drain plug is down and drop a container under it like you are doing an oil change.

Yes , that always sounded appealing about the durahub ..... still wouldn't call it fun

Chris

[MikeC90]

I did mine for the first time a few weeks back. Other than dealing with all the grease (agree with Chris, never enough rags haha!) the actual work was smooth sailing. The old bearings themselves were performing perfectly well (running cool and no play) but the rear seals were completely shot, with the pressure from the bearings buddies, heaps of grease ending up on the inside of the rim and on the brakes... The axle, hubs and brakes are the original 1998 items I suspect, so the calipers took a bit of getting off but otherwise okay. I just used a small punch to remove the old races, a minute or so each - definitely more time to remove all of the old grease. Getting them back in was okay too, I just started with a gentle tap to get them square, then a block of wood to get them flush with hub face, then the old race to get them fully seated. A very apparent change in noise when properly seated, plus a bit of grease squeeze out from between the race and lip in the hub. I knocked the old race out with a punch, being careful not to damage the running face of the new one but I've since ground down the old ones to skip that step in future.

Unfortunately after the first trip, the hubs were rather hot! Not grease melting hot but too hot to hold a hand on there for any length of time. I was a bit baffled as I took care to use good grease, well and truly pack the new bearings, torque to spec then back off 1/4 turn and so on... Before the next trip I backed them off to the next split pin hole but still hot! After each time I had also checked the temp of the brake rotors and hubs, which were warm but not as hot as the hub so I assumed it must be the bearings - wrong! I had tidied up the brakes at the same time as doing the bearings, greased all the sliders, back of pads, adjusted the cable and so on. The cable was adjusted with around 10mm of slack before the hitch slider hit the lever, which was a less than pre-adjustment but seemed ample, with the cable being obviously slack to pull on. However... what I didn't account for was the return springs being old and not so springy. As it turned out, they weren't providing enough force to counter the tiny bit of tension in the cable, so after the first brake application on the road, they continued dragging a touch. Before the 3rd trip I played around the with the adjusters on the caliper end and the cable itself - bingo!

[NAGG]

Well the bearings are done - All the bearings were in very good condition , Infact 2 were so good that the grease was still red ( reddish) - even the seals were good on all but the very first one that I did .

OK I had my blonde moment though :-[ I knocked in the rear bearing retainer ( or what ever you call it ) - looked across & noticed two beautifully greased up bearings :'(

oooooops

Chris

[gazza2006au]

Well the bearings are done - All the bearings were in very good condition , Infact 2 were so good that the grease was still red ( reddish) - even the seals were good on all but the very first one that I did .

OK I had my blonde moment though :-[ I knocked in the rear bearing retainer ( or what ever you call it ) - looked across & noticed two beautifully greased up bearings :'(

oooooops

Chris

Haha so u forgot the bearing we all have those moments

[disorderly]

OK I had my blonde moment though :-[ I knocked in the rear bearing retainer ( or what ever you call it ) - looked across & noticed two beautifully greased up bearings :'(

oooooops

Chris


Well at least you saw the bearings before putting it back together and driving up the road with only the outer ones fitted like I did....:-[

[Dignity]

Well the bearings are done - All the bearings were in very good condition , Infact 2 were so good that the grease was still red ( reddish) - even the seals were good on all but the very first one that I did .

OK I had my blonde moment though :-[ I knocked in the rear bearing retainer ( or what ever you call it ) - looked across & noticed two beautifully greased up bearings :'(

oooooops

Chris
Glad I'm not the only one. Went to help Funchy with his and under my tutelage the same thing happened, a little embarrassed but easily fixed.

[brett62]

My trick which someone has already mentioned is if you have a welder just run a small bead opposite sides and they fall out. To install the new cones I put them in the freezer over night and they fall in the hub. Sometime just a gentle tap to finish them off. Dry ice works even better. Do a lot of clearance fit bearings using heat and cooling. Many ways to skin a cat. Interesting all the different methods people use. When it comes to bearings I buy from SKF or BSA. SKF use to make most bearing sizes in a aircraft grade. A little more expensive but built like a brick shithouse. When I have rebuilt transmissions or engines for myself I have always gone with a better quality bearing. Boat trailers getting sunk in the salt water is not the best as we all know and bloody hard to get much life out of them. When I get my rego notice for my trailers that triggers me to pull the bearings and clean them up and check. I always replace the seals even if they are still fine. One little trick I have seen when repairing a boat trailer was the owner got some SS speedy sleeves machined up to fit the axels so the seals ran on a clean smooth surface. He also had bearing buddies and reckon with this combination worked well for him.

[NAGG]

Well at least you saw the bearings before putting it back together and driving up the road with only the outer ones fitted like I did....:-[

Wouldn't have got that far as I would have had a hell of a time trying to get the play out of it when fitting . ::)

It's one of those things that your focus is getting those races knocked in ...... then that bloody retainer & you forget about what the main aim is ..... replace the bearing :-[

All good though , no harm done .

Chris

[NAGG]

Aside from my back being shagged - the wallet is a bit lighter as well

For those interested , The cost of replacing 4 sets of bearings

Bearings / seals (NTN Japan) $115 ,
Grease (Nulon L80 Extreme performance ) 1 cartridge & 1 Tub $44
Loctite $18
Self amalgamating tape $12
Degreaser (supercheap) 2 Cans $6
Lanox 1 Can $12

Total $207 (Parts & consumables)

Bearing installation kit (Toledo) $158

So the exercise cost me $365.
By way of comparison - I was recently quoted $1000 + Parts by a trailer builder .

At least I know that quality bearings & grease was used - Brakes & springs were also cleaned / lubricated .

Chris

[NAGG]

Haha so u forgot the bearing we all have those moments

Nah , I just wanted to practice knocking those retainers in ;)

Chris

[gazza2006au]

1k to replace wheel bearings? No way that atlease 8 hours labour, 2 hours a wheel? Geez

[Dignity]

1k to replace wheel bearings? No way that atlease 8 hours labour, 2 hours a wheel? Geez
A lot of new boat owners around who haven't got a clue, enough so called tradies that figure it is easy money or maybe didn't want the job.

[NAGG]

1k to replace wheel bearings? No way that atlease 8 hours labour, 2 hours a wheel? Geez

Yeh mate I thought it was steep too .....hence why I didn't go that way .

A mate in Brissy was paying $400 for a 2 wheel trailer. ...... that's a couple of years ago.

I'm not sure how long it takes for someone with all the right gear - I would have thought 5-6 hours though (doing the job properly)

Chris

[NAGG]

A lot of new boat owners around who haven't got a clue, enough so called tradies that figure it is easy money or maybe didn't want the job.

Yeh that may have been the case ..... gouging or not wanting the job . I know I was shocked when quoted - I was expecting $100 / wheel . I was running out of time on a short notice trip ..... then we got hit with Covid restrictions - so didn't do anything till just this past week.

all good though - saved money & more importantly found out that I had different bearings & seals


Chris