Timing for repacking wheel bearings.

[TheMcLellans]

Good morning - I was at our dealer McClain’s yesterday and the service manager was suggesting the trailer bearings have to be repacked if I put 3500 miles on the rig. This sounded really short — what have you heard or done as a practice with your GD trailer.

[Country Campers]

1 year or 12000 miles is in the manual if I recall correctly . If you only put 3500 miles per year you could go every 2 years or so, I do it about every other year as we do not put many miles on.
You will get varying replies but it will be best to do what you are comfortable with. If it has not been done since new it may be a good time for an inspection.

Brian

[Cate&Rob]

The real value (and peace of mind) in "repacking wheel bearings" is not the replacement of the grease . . . it is the opportunity to inspect the brakes and the cleaned bearings before they are re-greased. Trailer hubs and electric drum brakes are a very old technology and this regular inspection is part of maintaining these parts. Doing this within the first year on a new trailer and at least every second year after that is a good plan (in my opinion). Per Brian's post, your owner's manual will likely recommend doing this every year.

Rob

[Yoda]

Good morning - I was at our dealer McClain’s yesterday and the service manager was suggesting the trailer bearings have to be repacked if I put 3500 miles on the rig. This sounded really short — what have you heard or done as a practice with your GD trailer.

As Brian and Rob have mentioned peace of mind is worth a lot. As the trailer is new I would get it done. You never know how things were assembled at the plant. I had mine first done at about 3500 miles at 2 years. Found some questionable grease in two and one was a bit loose, but no damage. They can inspect and adjust the brakes too if needed as mentioned.

Keith

[SATA Adventures]

Newbie on this subject so don't laugh too loud please. But since I have not learned this side of the maintenance yet where would one get this kind of work done? TA, Les Schwab, other tire shop?

[howson]

TheMcLellans -- I'll pile on and concur with the recommendations above. I did not do an inspection (as I should have) within the first year after having an installation done on my camper (by a third party). While it wasn't a GD issue (long story that I'll skip here), if I'd done my due diligence it would have saved me a set of brakes.

FWIW I follow Rob's schedule.

Howard

[familytruckster4]

https://www.dexteraxle.com/user_area...ice_manual.pdf
According to the chart on pg 85 Dexter recommends a "repack" every 12 months or 12k miles.
This has been widely debated over the years but my response is always "do you know more than the people that designed, built and warranty the parts?"
As has been pointed out above, electric brake systems arent exactly cutting edge technology, they have been around for some time now. They can however be reasonably reliable if they are maintained and inspected regularly.
Just my 2 cents and worth exactly what you paid for it.

This video will show the correct way to service the bearings. Beware of Youtube "experts" theres plenty of sketchy advice on YT.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnH-h3W9XvI

[Guest]

I've not seen any video so far that gets this perfectly correct but this is a good one with a couple exceptions.

1) Use a torque wrench unless stranded on the side of the road to pre-torque to 50 ft-lbs

2) If the drum rotates even a little bit when backing off the nut, it must be pre-loaded again, then backed off again without rotation for the hand tightening of the nut.

Jim

[Yoda]

Newbie on this subject so don't laugh too loud please. But since I have not learned this side of the maintenance yet where would one get this kind of work done? TA, Les Schwab, other tire shop?

Laughter is good medicine - I laugh at myself a lot....before I go to my corner . You can do the repack yourself if you have a torque wrench and the correct socket for the spindle nut. It's not hard, but can be messy

If you want someone else to do it, most tire shops don't do bearings. You want a qualified person. Most RV places can (some mobile tecks can do it) as well as most auto repair centers if they have room to work in the trailer. Also look for full service trailer sales shops - not RV sales, like Big Tex, Diamond C, PJ Trailers, etc.. Call around

Its important to use good parts, seals. bearings, and grease - lots of threads on that here. I like Timken as most of thier stuff is USA made

Hope this helps

Keith

[Cate&Rob]

Newbie on this subject so don't laugh too loud please. But since I have not learned this side of the maintenance yet where would one get this kind of work done? TA, Les Schwab, other tire shop?

Hi Steve & Tina,

This is not a job that needs a service bay at a repair facility. It can be done quite easily in a driveway or at a campsite (unless park rules don’t allow). Ask around for a mobile RV tech that others in your area have used and trust.

Rob

[TucsonJim]

I've set aside a day this weekend to service the bearings and inspect the brakes. It's always interesting to open things up after a period of time to see how they've fared.

Jim

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Depending on the season's mileage, I do my bearings every year, or every other year. Never more than two seasons. Or...if planning a long trip, shortly before that trip. For that peace of mind thing while far from home. By going with this plan I have yet to have a bearing fail on me.
Other than a Nev'r'Lube failure, but that's a whole other story.
I also agree with doing it the first year to make sure they are in good shape.
If you tend to camp close to home, every year is overkill.

[TucsonJim]

If you tend to camp close to home, every year is overkill.

I asked one of the axle suppliers the following question. "If I purchase a new trailer and put it on a permanent site, 100 miles from the factory, when should I service the wheel bearings?" His response was "once a year, or 12,000 miles." When I asked why the time constraint, he didn't know any answer other than to state "That's what the manual says".

Jim

[familytruckster4]

At last years 2021 GD national rally, Dexters training lead Bill Snider talked about the importance of the first service on a new RV. He stated that the first service would give the owner a chance to reset the bearing preload (or whatever you want to call it) because during the break in period the bearings would gain about .003 of play and resetting them after the repack would correct this and provide for longer life. Perhaps this is what the tech meant when he told the OP that he needed his done ? Its also a good time to check for overzealous greasing and blown out seals as well as wiring chafes and a general inspection.

Now, having said all that and acknowledging I posted the manual, After the first service where I correct all the initial problems I have enough faith to do mine on an every other year schedule.
I also in all my years and the countless trailers I have repacked (besides my own and the 3 trailers at work that I serviced) have never used a torque wrench to set the nut. Dexter states a 12: wrench or slip joint (channelock) pliers at full tension as being equivalent to 50 ft, never had an issue.

AND.... while your under the trailer its also a good time to retorque the U-bolt nuts on the axles. The chart is in the manual as well. The ones on my 337 were very loose and requires as much as 2 full turns to achieve the recommended torque value.


Scott

[Guest]

Scott,

Full force can range widely based on strength, and weight of the tech where a torque wrench gets it perfect every time. But folks can do what they feel is best.

Checking U bolts is very important, especially when new. A torque wrench on those is critical IMO.

Jim