Trailer wheels and hubs are all too often taken for granted and fail to get the attention and preventive maintenance they need. They are fairly simple and don't require a LOT of maintenance, but what they do require is essential to good performance and longevity.
One of the most frequent wheel failures is completely preventable: loose lug bolts or nuts. Lugs should be checked before every trip to make sure they are tight. Vibration from normal operation can loosen them, and if they are not completely tight, the wheel will begin to slip, elongating the holes in the wheel and damaging the lug bolts and the hub. The best way to make sure your lugs are tight is to test them with a torque wrench. Not everyone has a torque wrench, especially when out on a trail or road somewhere far from home. Making sure the lugs are as tight as you can get them with your hands using a lug wrench should usually be sufficient. Do not use an extension on the lug wrench to multiply your strength as it an easily over-stress or even break the lug bolts.
The most common hub failures are wheel bearings. Wheel bearing failure is often caused by dry (insufficiently lubricated) bearings. Next in line is contaminated grease, usually dirt or water. Contamination gets in when the seals are worn or damaged. Water incursion sometimes occurs in boat trailer hubs from frequent immersion. Over aggressive use of a pressure washer can force water into wheel bearings too. Sometimes the only seal protecting the outside wheel bearings is the dust cap. If that gets knocked crooked or off, dirt and water and easily get into the bearings.
Trailer hubs contain ball bearings that allow the wheels to turn with minimal resistance. These bearings need to grease for them to operate smoothly and properly. If the grease runs out or gets contaminated (usually by dirt or water) the bearings will wear out faster and the friction could generate enough heat to cause a fire. If you have an owner's manual for your trailer you should follow the specifications given there for how often to re-pack the wheel bearings. Lacking an owner's manual, you should re-pack the wheel bearings on a regular schedule based on either mileage or passage of time. A general mileage guideline for trailers in normal use is to repack the wheel bearings every 10,000 - 12,000 miles. Since trailers don't have an odometer like motor vehicles do you may have to estimate mileage based on how long and how many trips you take. Even if you don't reach the 10,000 - 12,000s it is a good practice to repack the wheel bearings at least once every year. I usually do mine as part of my spring pre-season preparations. You can usually have a mechanic repack trailer wheel bearings for $100-200 but it is a pretty simple task to do yourself if you have the right tools and some basic mechanic skills.
You may need to repack bearings more frequently if your trailer is exposed to heavy use or is used a lot in dusty or wet (like a boat trailer) conditions.
If your trailer hubs get excessively hot when towing or you hear any noise or feel any roughness when you spin the wheels your bearings will most likely need to be replaced. If they spin freely and quietly repacking them should be enough to keep them working fine for another season.
How to repack trailer wheel bearings. If you choose to repack the wheel bearings yourself I am sure you can find some good Youtube videos to guide you. But here are some basic instructions to get you started. First, here are the tools and supplies you will need: a jack, chocks for the wheels, a pair of Channel-lock style pliers, a pair of diagonal pliers, a long punch, a ball-peen hammer, a new cotter pin of the right size, and a can of waterproof grease. Once you have assembled your tools and supplies, chock the wheel(s) on one side of the trailer, then jack up the wheel(s) on the other side. Remove any decorative hub caps. Then remove the lug nuts or lug bolts and remove the wheel and tire. I use the back side of my pliers to tap the dust cap off the center of the hub. Then remove the cotter pin from the large castle nut on the end of the axle. To do this straighten the flat ends and pull it out using the loop on the other end. Diagonal plies are a good way to get a grip on the cotter pin to pull it out. It is recommend that you always replace the cotter pin with a new one when you put things back together. Remove the castle nut using Channel-lock style pliers and the washer/spacer behind it. The washer has a tab on it that slides in a slot on the axle. I put the nut and the washer inside the dust cap to help keep them clean and keep track of them. Grab the hub and alternately pull on each side so as to wobble it back and forth. This will cause the outer wheel bearing to pop out so you can remove it. Then pull the hub off the axle. To repack the inner wheel bearing you will have to remove it from the hub. Lay the hub down with the outside up, the use a punch and hammer to tap out the inner wheel bearing. Once you have both bearings out, clean them thoroughly with solvent and then let them dry thoroughly. You can buy a tool to press grease into the wheel bearings but, as I was taught by my father, who was a professional mechanic, you can do it by hand. Put a big glob of grease in your off-hand (left hand if you are right handed). Then pick up a clean bearing with your dominant hand and hold it with the biggest side down. Holding one side of the bearing press the other side down into the glob of grease repeatedly until grease pushes up between the rollers of the bearing. Then rotate the bearing to a new spot and repeat until you have grease pushing up between ALL of the rollers. Once you have pack both bearings you are ready to reassemble the hub. Lay the hub down with the outside down. Place the inner bearing into the back side of the hub (which is now on top). The bearing goes with the tapered end toward the inside of the hub and the wider side out. Then put the retainer on the hub over the bearing and gently tap it into place, making sure it is all the way in all the way around. Clean the axle and slide the hub into place. Then insert the outer wheel bearing into the hub. Once again the tapered end goes in first. Next comes the washer. Be sure the tab on the inside fits into the slot on the axle. Then install the castle nut. Tighten it using the Channel-lock style pliers until it is firmly in place, then back it out about a half a turn to release excess pressure on the bearing. You don't want that nut to be too tight or too loose! Align on of the slots in the castle nut with the hole in the axle and install the cotter pin. Bend the flat ends back toward the axle to keep the cotter pin from coming out. Then tape the dust cap back on and reinstall the wheel. Then you are ready to do the next wheel.
When you have the hub apart, inspect the hub and the bearings and replace any worn or damaged parts. Most of the wear will usually show up on the bearings, but loose lug bolts/nuts can allow a wheel to damage the hub and the lug bolts. Damaged lug bolts can be pressed or hammered out and replaced. A damaged hub should be replaced. I once encountered a badly damaged hub on a 50 year or trailer for which there were no modern replacements. I was able to have a competent welder repair the hub and I replace all the lug bolts for near factory perfect repair.
If your trailer has brakes it is a good time to inspect the brakes and make any needed repairs while you have the hub off. The main things to look for are thin brake shoes or damaged brake drums. Think brake shoes should be pretty obvious. New ones have 1/4-3/8" of lining on the shoes. If there is less than 1/8" of lining you should definitely replace the shoes while you have things apart. Check the brake drums for ridges or a deep lip. Badly worn drums might be able to be turned at a machine shop to restore the braking surface. If there isn't enough material left in the drum for it to be turned it will have to be replaced. Inspect all the brake hardware, including the electromagnets that operate the brakes and all the wiring and connections.
If you have an older trailer you might not be able to find matching replacement hubs for it if they get worn out. Sometimes, if you are really lucky, you can find used hubs in a junk yard, but that is a kind of hit and miss situation. When I ran into that problem I was able to find a welder who repaired the damaged hub and restored it to a nearly like-new condition. The alternative was replacing not only the damaged hub but both hubs and the axle, at huge expense! If you have to have hubs repaired make sure the studs fit tightly afterwards or have the welding tack-weld them in place so they don't fall out when you take the wheel off.
Some trailers are equipped with Bearing Buddies. These have grease fittings that allow you to grease at least the outer bearing without taking them apart using a grease gun. This a good way to add a little grease between repacking the wheel bearings to maintain performance and longevity. Axles that were designed with Bearing Buddy type grease fittings might even grease the inner wheel bearings, but many Bearing Buddies are after-market installations and the only way for grease to get to the inside bearings along the axle, which is not very efficient. For best results, follow normal schedules for repacking wheel bearings even if you have Bearing Buddies.
With regular maintenance your trailer wheels and hubs should last a long time. The time and effort or cost to keep them up to speed (pun intended!) is well worth the investment. Failing to do so an result in much more extensive and expensive repairs!
Bear with it!
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