Greasing trailer bearings

Dan Gurney · 03 February 2013, 23:41

Evening (morning) all.

Been looking at my trailer today in order to understand how I should be greasing my bearings. The online vids I've looked at show a grease nipple in the middle of the hub, under an easily removed cap, which you use your grease gun to shoot grease into.

My wheels look like this:

...and the domed black plastic thingy doesn't look like it wants to come off. I haven't ragged it about much as I don't want to bust anything. We've covered about 800 miles with it since we bought the boat in November and I figure I out to start thinking about maintenance.

millplus · 04 February 2013, 04:50

Some trailers do have grease nipples at the side of the hub , if yours hasn’t got this you will need to pull the cap off , it will be a good fit as you don’t want them flying off when you are underway , the trailers with a grease nipple in the middle could have wheel bearing savers fitted,similar to the ones it the pic , these keep the grease under a slight pressure to keep any water from going in your hub and bearings when launching

EnglishLes · 04 February 2013, 07:59

The nipples on my hubs are on the inside of the wheel, your picture shows the outside.

These are old mini-hubs.

Trailer Guy · 04 February 2013, 09:50

Reckon this will be a strip down, clean and re-pack job.

Have a look in the trailer info section, I did a thread on how to change a set of taper roller bearings, which will give you a good idea of how to do it.

Don't think they're mini hubs, as that looks like a 13" wheel, with 4 x M12 bolts, maybe 5.5" PCD? Minis are usually 4 x 3/8" on a 4" PCD.

Think you'll have to strip them down, so that dust cap will have to come off. Should just pull/knock off.

Dan Gurney · 04 February 2013, 13:02

So there's no way to maintain them other than a strip down? Bugger.

They have behaved impeccably so far. I guess we'll just have to wait for the weather to get better and do them then, and keep my fingers crossed in the meantime.

Trailer Guy · 04 February 2013, 14:02

Doesn't look like it, but hard to tell from that pic tbh.

Allow yourself an hour to do both sides, which should be plenty of time to do it at a leisurely pace.

All the best.

Dan Gurney · 04 February 2013, 14:09

Thanks TG.

9D280 · 04 February 2013, 19:43

Assuming that hub isn't a bearing saver, gentle (and I do mean that in a seized thing way) persuasion with a rubber mallet will bring it off.

Don't use a normal hammer or you'll gub it.

Dan Gurney · 04 February 2013, 20:38

Lol, "gub it". You're making me homesick.

9D280 · 04 February 2013, 20:44

Assa tek wurd so i'is.

Dan Gurney · 05 February 2013, 18:32

I've been thinking about this and I'm a bit uneasy. If I can't easily grease the bearings then even if I repack them now, then the first thing I'm going to know about them being being poorly lubed is when they start grinding. If that happens halfway to Scotland then I'm really in the shit cos i can't strip and repack them on the hard shoulder.

Given that I don't have a garage and the boat is stored in a friends garden the stripping and repacking process is going to be 'challenging' as it is.

As far as I can see:

it's a pretty standard rollercoaster (you can see the remains of the blue decals on the front of the trailer). Can the hubs be modified or am I going to need to replace them?

Trailer Guy · 05 February 2013, 18:55

Looks like it's braked / used to be braked?... would that be right? If so, it looks like it may be a Roller Coaster 1.3.

Doing bearings outside will be fine, honest; all of my servicing is done on a mobile basis, with 99.9% of it being in the great outdoors!

Have a look here, fifth post down: http://www.rib.net/forum/f49/trailer...cky-44849.html

Dan Gurney · 05 February 2013, 19:10

Hi TG,

Thanks again. Yes it is braked, though the cable is pretty loose so I'm not sure how much braking is actually going on. The previous owner said he didn't want the brakes to drag. An RC 1.3 was my guess too. So if this is the case do you reckon it's taper roller bearings? Is it normal for there to be no way to grease them in between strippings? Is there any way to get them modified or replaced with ones that have a grease nipple? If not how often should one strip and re-grease them to be safe?

I really don't want to have to strip the buggers before every long journey just to be safe. I'd be tempted to buy brand new units off indespension just for the peace of mind!

Trailer Guy · 05 February 2013, 19:20

Lordy me, you must be loaded!

A new axle is lots of pennies, especially from Indy.

Looking at the age of it I would suspect that you have taper roller bearings. Also, I'd suggest that it would be worth checking the brakes. Nope, there's no way to sort the bearings, without stripping it down - so strip the hub off, do the bearings and check the brakes at the same time.

You can fit bearing savers, in the place of the (not OE...) dust cap. They are WELL worth the investment and are one of the few trailer running gear modifications that genuinely work. They're about £25 from memory. Get the OE ones, that are sprung, as they keep a continual pressure on the grease, pushing it in to the bearings.

mick · 05 February 2013, 19:23

I would have a go your self it's easy to do I have done mine recently I put my trailer on stands and took the drums home and you can take a drum to indespension leeds to get the correct bearing about £9 a side easy to adjust the brakes as well

Trailer Guy · 05 February 2013, 19:29

£9 a side Mick?! Blimey, I'm giving them a shout for some stock

mick · 05 February 2013, 19:50

Might av been £12 can't remember wasn't mega bucks

Dan Gurney · 05 February 2013, 20:10

The thing i keep coming back to though chaps, is how often does it need doing? And how do you tell if it needs doing?

mick · 05 February 2013, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clamchowder

The thing i keep coming back to though chaps, is how often does it need doing? And how do you tell if it needs doing?

Suppose it depends how often you launch and if its fresh or salt water
Will be doing mine twice a year just to keep up to it at least

Trailer Guy · 05 February 2013, 20:28

only playing with you Mick!

Clamchowder, Mick's right; it's all about frequency of use and submersion. Easiest thing to do is check every time you tow:

grab the wheel at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock (remember your driving lessons?..) and give the wheel a good twist/shake back and forth. If there's play, then the bearings will need adjusting up. I service most customers' once a season.