Repacking Trailer Wheel Bearings

This task only takes and hour and volition avoid a plush trailer repair.

Time

A full twenty-four hours

Complexity

Beginner

Toll

Less than $20

Introduction

Repacking the bicycle bearings on your utility or gunkhole trailer is quick and like shooting fish in a barrel, and yous'll avoid the breakdown that'll leave you stranded along the route. How many trailers accept you seen on the side of the route this year with one bicycle propped up? Don't let it happen to you. If you oasis't checked your wheel bearings lately, read this article. Yous can complete this simple job in about an 60 minutes and save yourself a big repair bill.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Begetting grease
  • Brake cleaner (spray can)
  • Make clean rags
  • Kerosene
  • Penetrating fluid
  • Small pan

Project overview

Many trailer manufacturers recommend this maintenance every year if your trailer gets normal utilise, or at least every 20,000 miles. To practice this job, you'll need a jack, a pair of jack stands, a large flat-caput screwdriver, a hammer and a needle-nose pliers, clean rags, a small pan, well-nigh a quart of kerosene and a spray can of brake cleaner.

Start, loosen the lug basics on one cycle and enhance the side of the trailer with a jack. Support the trailer with jack stands and then spin the bicycle and listen to the trailer bearings. If the wheel spins freely and quietly, continue with repacking the bearings. If you lot hear friction or a growling sound, you most likely have a bad begetting or spindle. If this is the example, take the trailer to a service center to get the trailer bearings replaced. Plus bank check out this super absurd High-Visibility Trailer DIY.

Figure A: Typical trailer hub associates

You tin download and print Effigy A from the Boosted Information department below. Follow along as we show you trailer bearings repacking—commencement to finish.

Project step-by-step (vii)

Step 4

Remove the hub


Remove the retaining nut and washer, so pull the hub off the spindle. Be conscientious—the trailer bearings will come out with the hub. Gear up the bearings on clean paper.

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Step 5

Remove the rear bearing and seal


To remove the rear bearing and seal, tap forth the rim of the bearing with a block of woods and a hammer. If the seal is rusted to the dorsum of the hub, spray a trivial WD-40 on the back to help loosen it. If the seal is damaged, replace information technology. Clean all the grease from the bearings, races and seal with a brush in a modest pan of kerosene. Inspect them for signs of wear and replace them if they look doubtable. Once the bearings and parts are clean, spray them with restriction cleaner and gear up them aside to dry. Wipe the spindle and the inside of the hub with a clean rag to remove all the grease, and clean them with restriction cleaner too.

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Footstep 6

Pack grease into the bearings


Push the grease into the bearings, working from the wide side of the bearing. Keep pushing the grease into the roller until the cage and rollers are filled. Next coat the inside of the hub with grease. Tap the seal dorsum onto the rear of the hub with a block of wood and hammer, and install the hub and bearings back on the spindle.

Stride vii

Reassemble the hub


Thread the nut back onto the spindle and turn it clockwise. Spin the hub a few times as yous tighten to make sure the bearings are seating properly. Tighten the nut firmly. Now back the nut off about an eighth of a turn until the hole in the spindle aligns with a space in the nut. Push in a new cotter pivot (bachelor at hardware and auto parts stores) and bend the ends of the pin to keep information technology from working its manner out. Tap the grit cap back into place. Coat the lug threads with anti-seize chemical compound, reinstall the wheel and tighten the lug nuts. Practise the same for each wheel.

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Additional Information:

Effigy A: Typical trailer hub associates

Originally Published: Nov 13, 2022