Wheel Bearing Maintenance

[Feral]

Ok was all set to photo all the steps involved in changing my wheel bearings on the trailer, but when I set out all the tools, I discovered the tool box with my brass drifts was in the back of the Camry, which my wife had taken out for the day!

As I was all set to go, I did them anyway, I just wont show the photo's of how I got the seats out of the hub! :whistle:

Thats probably a bit past the skill level of a beginner anyway!

[Gazza]

Run a bead of weld works good ;p

[Feral]

First Step. sort out all the tools your going to need (and in my case curse missus for having tools I need in car at her mates place!)

Tools I used.

10inch shifter

Needle nose pliers

Side Cutting pliers (just in case you need to cut away split pin)

Trolley Jack

Car Stand

piece of soft pine or similar

Bucket

Turps (my choice of cleaning solvent)

Bucket

cleaning brush

Gloves

Marine Bearing Kit

Hammer

Marine grade grease

wheel brace

old flat blade screwdriver (those plastic covered ones they put in the kit are just the right size)

First up, Put jack under axle, axle stand under suitable part of trailer frame.

Loosen each wheel nut half to one turn

Jack trailer up high enough for tyre to clear the ground, put axle stand in place and adjust, slowly release jack until trailer rests on axle stand. I like to leave a little weight on the jack, as you need to push and shove a bit on the axle and it holds it still. Remove wheel.

Using the old screw driver and the hammer remove the dust cover of the bearing. Just put the blade in dip between the cover and the hub, and tap gently, rotating the hub a little after each tap. When it is loose, pull it off.

Bend split pin straight with needle nose pliers. Grip head of split pin firmly with pliers, pull split pin out.

Bang gently on hand holding pliers if necessary to shock it out.

undo castellated nut with shifter.

Pull off bearing retaining washer

Gently pull hub off axle. keep clear of the hub, as greasy dirty bearings may just drop in your lap!

Use screw driver to gently tap out rear bearing seal.

remove bearings and inspect.

Grease should be clean, and not milky - milky indicates water has entered hub, and emulsified the grease, which can lead to wheel bearing failure. The grease on the bearings in the photo still looks ok, but the grease on the cleaning brush is definately milky, in this case these hubs came from an ordinary trailer when I built the boat trailer, and were quite old. Obviously even though I repacked the bearings, the rear seal was not up to keeping water out.

Thoroughly clean the hub, and inspect the bearing seats for signs of wear or damage. If the seats look to be in good nick, you can leave them in place, and fit the new bearings as is. (Yes the purists are spluttering at this stage, but the fact is removing the old seats is a tricky job for someone not used to it, and failure to bed the new seats correctly, or damage caused to them whilst installing is a real possibility).

If the seats are worn or damaged, they are removed by gently tapping them from behind using a brass or other soft metal drift. (So as to not scratch the hub). These are a force fit and take a little bit of work to get them out.

Using a suitable drift through the hub, gently tap on the back of the seat from behind to remove (rotating and tapping until it works its way out.) First photo shows area you need to tap on from behind.

Bearing seat almost out

Bearing seat removed

If you remove one bearing seat, remove and replace them both.

Bearing kit, showing new bearings,rear bearing seat (front bearing is sitting in seat, making it hard to see) and rear seal. Note the size of the marine style rear seal, it is much thicker and larger than a normal rear seal.

Place hub on flat surface, place new seat gently in hub, thicker side down (this is very important, other wise you will have remove it again) Put piece of softwood over the seat, then gently tap with a hammer until the seat is flush into the hub. Go gently, try to keep it as even as possible.

Then gently tap around the edge of the seat using a brass drift or similar until the bearing seat is fully home against the flange in the hub. Repeat for the other bearing seat. Try to go down as evenly as possible.

Get a good dollop of grease and put it on the outside of your palm.

Grab the bearing in the other hand. The idea is to push the bearings bigger side down onto the grease, but just the edge onto the edge of the dollop.

This forces the grease into the bearing. keep rotating the bearing in your hand, pressing down onto the grease until all the grease has been pushed into the bearing. Rotate the bearing gently, and check for the amount of grease showing in the small side. if none there, using another (smaller) dollop of grease push grease into the small side in the same way.

Repeat for the other bearing.

Gently smear a small amount of grease into the rear of the hub, making sure you coat as much metal as you can.

gently place bearing in hub

place the rear seal onto the hub. The mostly metal side goes in.

this side goes out

this side goes in!

Gently place the piece of soft wood over the seal, and gently tap until the seal is fully bedded.

Turn hub over, and grease any internal parts not already covered in grease.

Place bearing in hub.

Clean the axle of all old grease and dirt

Wipe fresh grease all over axle where hub will cover it. Gently pick up hub, making sure front bearing does not fall out and slide onto axle. Using fingers to push front bearing in at the same time. Note it takes some pushing, the big marine seal offers a fair bit of resistance.

Put on bearing retaining washer

Put on the castellated nut. Tighten nut by hand only. When it is fully hand tightened, using the shifter gently turn it slightly tighter if necessary to line up the split pin hole in the axle with one on the recesses in the nut. Tighten no more than that! Do not loosen it to line up a hole.

Push split pin through hole and nut (be careful of grease coming out of hole)

Make sure the pin is aligned so the ends can easily bend around the nut, using the needle nose pliers, gently bend the longer leg around the nut. repeat for the shorter leg, around the other side of the nut. Make sure the legs are close to the nut, the dust cover has to fit over the top.

Get a dollop of grease, and grease around the nut and axle end.

As this is a non galvanized hub in a marine environment, I then grease the entire hub outside (including wheel studs)to protect it from the salt water. A galvanized hub, or hub that is not on a boat trailer does not need this.

Fit the dust cover over the bearing end, and gently tap into place with the hammer handle.

refit the wheel

When finished, if you have small children or pets around likely to be around the trailer, you may wish to wipe any excess grease on the small part of the hub that is exposed when the wheel is fitted.

Note the wheel will be quite firm to rotate, due to the marine seal. Much firmer than a normal trailer wheel!

Also note, try and use a marine grade grease that actually says it is resistant to water infiltration! Also do not mix different types of grease in the one hub, they can actually react with each other causing failure. If you decide the existing bearings are good, and you just need to repack them, unless you are absolutely sure you are using the same grease that was originally used, wash the bearings and hubs clean, dry them out thoroughly, then repack with grease.

Post edited by: Feral, at: 2007/09/08 14:40

[Gazza]

how did u get all those pics in one post :ohmy: well done bud

[Feral]

All thanks to Gazza the photobucket guru!

[Gazza]

Told ya was easy and Thanks to Feral for his resizer

[faulked]

what a beautifully put together article kudos guys .

one thing how much tension would you sugest putting on the castlated nut when tightening up being it is very easy to apply to much presure when tightening my old man taught me about one and a half to two fingers off pull if that makes sense.

[Gazza]

Screw it up as hard as you can to seat the inner then back it off and screw it till it feels good

[Feral]

Mate depends on the setup. I generally only finger tighten, (no spanner) then try and rock the wheel, if you can feel movement I tighten to the next alignment with the hole and try again, and so on. On this trailer usually finger tight is enough.

[bootyinblue]

Sensational... Now I just need someone who can follow the pictures and instructions and do my trailer for me!!

[Cowfish13]

OK, I don't understand. Do you think you could put up a couple more pics.

And then make a program to show us how to follow all those pictures.

[Malcolm]

Well done Ferral

[rayke1938]

When O do mine I always clean and polish the inner seal surface with emery. The main cause of bearing failure is due tio the inner seal failing.

If the surface that the seal sits on has a wear groove or rust pits it wi9ll pay to fit a stainless speedy seal.

They are not cheap but a lot cheaper than a new axle or leaving the missus sitting on the road side to guard the boat and trailer while you try to locate a set of bearings.

I carry a spare wheel mounted on a hub and bearings.

Ray

[rayke1938]

The seal surface is the round bit near the square bit.

This one is in fairly good condition just has a little surface rust from sitting out in the open. [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/P1010674_AFO.jpg

[rayke1938]

Spare wheel and hub. This gives me a spare wheel, hub, wheel nuts, bearings and axle nut ready to fit. [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/P1010672_AFO.jpg

[rayke1938]

Showing how I mounted it to the trailer frame. You can buy a mounting kit or make your own.

Ray [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/P1010673_AFO.jpg

[Feral]

Yep got to set my spare up that way as well.

Also mates reminded me that having been a \"manual worker\" for years, with popeye forearms, my finger tight is pretty tight compared to a desk wallah, so make sure you test the wheel for wobble before fitting the split pin. (Grab opposite sides and try and wobble it back and forth, anything but the slightest movement, go one more notch on the nut and try again)

[Lozzel]

Very well done Feral,

Now drop into DARRA ,in the morn .I have a bogie drive UD that needs all the bearings done. and my 2 apprentices are at TAFE). I think you would do a better job than them anyway. :laugh:

But seriously well done. I must do mine shortly , Havent realy done them since I brought it. Just checked them.

[Feral]

Dont do UD's

Drove a UD tipper in Western Queensland for a few years for mate. What is it, 20 nuts to get an inner drive wheel off? seemed like a hundred everytime I had to do it, and driving on Cockies roads, it was often!

[woody1]

Thanks for going to so much effort there Feral. One question, when all is done and the bearings are on ( before the wheels are back on) how much should the hub spin?

When i did mine they only spun about 1 full revolution when being spun with one finger. Havnt had a look at how they are since taking it on the road. I was hoping it would loosen up after a good run

Woody

[Gazza]

with freshly packed bearings as Feral has shown the wheel should turn easliy but not spin due to the grease

example if you grab a brand new bearing it will turn smoothly but wont spin (sealed roller that is ) take the seals off wash all the grease out and it will spin like a top but wont last long under load

[Feral]

Woody, the marine seals make it hard to spin the wheel,they cause a lot of drag. with just the hub, you would probably find it stops almost immediately after you let go. If your worried, feel the hub immediately after going for a drive, it should feel no more than slightly warm.

[STU]

great post feral will come in handy for me next time I might do my trailer myself

[bootyinblue]

Maybe we need to organise a BBQ and wheel bearing day? I know mine need some attention in the near future.

Probably advisable to eat before getting grease under the fingernails though!

[jeff f]

ah found it

a quick refresher course thanks to feral

now into it

[noname]

just a note; trailer bearing are mostly holden on smaller trailers and ford on larger trailers, i carry 3 of each already packed and ready to go, just in case i see someone with probs goin up da coast at 1.30 in the am, i know mine are ford. nothing worse than finding a shop that has bearings, you drive back and they are the wrong 1's. doh, buggar. !!#*.here we go again.

[bootyinblue]

Yea thanks Jeff..... it just reminded me that it was 1 year and 2 months ago that I thought my bearings needed some attention, and here I am today with them still not done!

[shortie]

Do wheels have bearings. :unsure:

:woohoo:

[bootyinblue]

About as many bearings and some blokes have brains!

Shortie, how good are you with 12v stuff if I bring around the boat, the lights, the stereo and a slab?

[maxi]

take the slab around the next day mate :lol:

[shortie]

maxi wrote:

take the slab around the next day mate :lol:

Now thats thinking.

Booty any time.

[Smiderman]

Feral thats a fantastic DIY project .. Next project grab the Camcorder and bang it on you tube. In fact you could probably do a slide show and do a voice over dub to replace words..

again excellent job :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[jeff f]

tip,

when doing this in the wild make sure you put down an old sheet or blanket because if you dont you will drop one of the freshly packed bearings in the dirt:angry:

[chubbstar]

bootyinblue wrote:

About as many bearings and some blokes have brains!

Shortie, how good are you with 12v stuff if I bring around the boat, the lights, the stereo and a slab?

Pick a day that I'm not working and I'll do the wheel bearings while you two drink the slab;)

Jayson

[maxi]

... :lol:

[shortie]

chubbstar wrote:

bootyinblue wrote:

About as many bearings and some blokes have brains!

Shortie, how good are you with 12v stuff if I bring around the boat, the lights, the stereo and a slab?

Pick a day that I'm not working and I'll do the wheel bearings while you two drink the slab;)

Jayson

Im there Booties trailer and slab, Chubbs doning the work me drinking Booties Beer.

Now thats what AFO is about.

[bootyinblue]

chubbstar wrote:

bootyinblue wrote:

About as many bearings and some blokes have brains!

Shortie, how good are you with 12v stuff if I bring around the boat, the lights, the stereo and a slab?

Pick a day that I'm not working and I'll do the wheel bearings while you two drink the slab;)

Jayson

Too bad you are already married Chubbs... I would snaffle you up quick smart with an attitude like that :kiss:

Shortie... you got gas in your BBQ?

[shortie]

Yep Booty ive got plenty of Gas.

:blush:

[kriso]

when you doin it i gota see this lol i got some stands you can use for the trailer and trolley jack and few other toys to make it a bit more easy job if ya need

[chubbstar]

kriso wrote:

when you doin it i gota see this lol i got some stands you can use for the trailer and trolley jack and few other toys to make it a bit more easy job if ya need

Yeah gunna need tools, I sold all mine when I quit mechanics. Have you got a Grease gun and needle kriso? I dont want to get my hands dirty:silly:

Jayson