trailer maintenance: wheel bearing question

[Joel_CA]

Today, I pulled my boat out onto the driveway to do some trailer maintenance- specifically, I wanted to inspect the wheel bearings and trailer brakes. The first 3 I had puled apart had no signs of water intrusion (rust, water/grease mix, etc). I simply repacked the bearings, changed the grease seal, and reassembled the components. The last one I took apart had very little grease around the bearings (inner and outer) as if the grease had been washed out. Also, when I pulled the drum off of the spindle, the seal remained on the spindle and not on the hub (which is very unusual). The bearings and races themselves still looked okay.. no pitting or cracks, etc ... just a lot of brownish rusty grease. I plan on replacing them before taking the boat out this year. With this being said, I managed to read the bearing number on the inner bearing (L68149) but for the life of me, could not make out what the outer bearing number was. While doing an internet search for bearings, it appears that the inner bearing L68149 is always paired up with outer bearing L44649. Its it safe to say that since these 2 bearings are always paired together and that this kit is what I need? I put everything back together and put the boat away and I'd hate to have to take it all apart to take measurements or to knock out the outer race confirm what outer bearing I might need. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Joel

 

[Sundancer]

You could always check with your trailer manufacturer to verify those two bearings were used on that trailer. Then you'd know for sure!

 

[Joel_CA]

Thanks for the suggestion. It reminded me of some of the documentation the previous owner has provided me and sure enough, there was an owners manual for the Trailer Buddy axles that are on my trailer. With that, I was able to confirm that the set of bearings I require are the exact ones that are sold as a matching set online.

Joel

 

[Westie]

Just be careful ordering bearings online. There are a lot of crappy ones out there, make sure you know what you are getting. When I needed new bearings for my old trailer I got them at an industrial bearing place. They had a choice of cheap Chinese bearings, SKF, *** or Timken. I could have saved some money by getting the cheap ones but would rather not have to replace them at the side of the road when they fail.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I'd suggest you put in Bearing Buddies on each wheel. They keep water/dust/dirt intrusion down to an absolute minimum. I've used them for years and they're great!

 

[Sprint7TW]

Thanks for the suggestion. It reminded me of some of the documentation the previous owner has provided me and sure enough, there was an owners manual for the Trailer Buddy axles that are on my trailer. With that, I was able to confirm that the set of bearings I require are the exact ones that are sold as a matching set online.

Joel

Any automotive store will carry these bearings and seals. It may cost a few cents more but, you will know what you are buying.

 

[spfortjohn]

Make sure you replace the races in the hub. The bearings are sold and matched to the races. It will work if you do not change the races but the news ones will not last. Make sure you hand pack the new bearings. Any auto service center can change the races for you if you cannot get them out

 

[Joel_CA]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Its seems that these bearings are readily available at local auto parts stores as all of the ones I called had them in stock. I read somewhere online that some Timken bearings are made in the USA while others are not. Every single one I looked at from Timken and other brands- had China etched on the inner bearing cone. I ended up picking up a set regardless- after all, during my inspection, i noticed that all 8 of the bearings on my trailer were also made in China and all of them had no abnormal wear characteristics (even the ones with the bad seal). So next weekend I will replaced a set of bearings, convert my trailer lighting to LED (finally), install my new Airtex fuel pump, then wake her up from her winter slumber.

J

 

[dpmulvey]

I'd suggest you put in Bearing Buddies on each wheel. They keep water/dust/dirt intrusion down to an absolute minimum. I've used them for years and they're great!

+1 for Bearing Buddies.

Turbo Lube Systems is another alternative. (no affiliations)

http://www.tiedown.com/pdf/c753.pdf

 

[The Bill Collector]

trailer maintenance is on the top of my list now..... But it was not last Sept. :smt100

 

[blaster]

That's your boat? Wow that would suck. At least the wheel didn't end up in someone's lap.

 

[The Bill Collector]

Thats my little boat I've had since '87. This really could have been horrible during rush hour on I-5 in Seattle....
So the axle bent due to corrosion and we continued on our weekend out of town without it.

 

[The Bill Collector]

sorry, didn't mean to post twice... site is acting up a little for me today.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Joel,

Ditto on buying SKF, or Timken bearings. There is no savings with no names. Yes knock out the old races and install new.

You also need to check the condition of the axle spindle. If after you clean it it looks dis colored, it may have been over heated and may fail in the future.

My recommendation, if you can find a small container, is to use Chevron Delo synthetic grease. This is what I recommend to my clients for their semi trailers. In 2010 I ran a remediation program on several hundred semi trailers that had been submerged for five days in the Nashville flood. The trailers that had Delo in the axle hubs were almost always free of water incursion.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Joel_CA]

Thanks for the recommendations. Upon a lengthy internet search, a tube of Delo synthetic grease seems to be next to impossible to find. I will keep this in mind for next spring, when I inspect my bearings again. In the meantime, I've been using Peak synthetic marine grease for my trailer. Although the inner and outer wheel bearing combination was right on the money, I found that the inner bearing can be used with 2 different sized races. Aparently, bearing L68149 can be used with either an l68111 race or an L68110 race. The only difference between the two being the outer diameter. I need an L68110 race but purchased an L68111 :-( . Back to the parts store tomorrow ...

J