Wheel bearing blues

[Crewdog]

Had been about 5 miles on freeway towing boat and thankfully a passing trucker honked and pointed at trailer.

After pulling off, sure enough left rear bearing was hot and liquid dripping from grease seal.

Boat US found a lowboy wrecker in about 20 minutes and should be here soon.

Trailer was just serviced at shop i've used before seveeal times.

Big shout out to our 18 wheeler friends and Boat US trailer assist!

Bill

 

[knotflying]

Bummer! Hopefully all works out well. I am a bit overkill. I carry two extra fully assembled hubs all greased and ready to go. A spare axle spindle and 4 sets of bearings and races. My wife complains that I could build a new boat and trailer with my spare parts. My retort, When something breaks, would you rather have extra parts or extra clothes and makeup? :lol:

 

[Irish Mist]

I do all my bearings before I leave on a trip myself. I had a similar problem. from a shop I use. The problem is you never know who is actually doing the work at the shop and I suspect that they feel it is a simple job and let less experienced guys do the work. It takes me about an hour to go around the trailer and check and top off all the bearings, then I know it is done correctly. As anyone with a vested interest in something, when you do the work yourself you are also making sure everything you see is ok and functioning as you go.
Hopefully the shop will look after you as they just did the service. Perhaps things where very over tightened to heat up that fast.

 

[Crewdog]

Update:

Brake calipers on left rear wheel stuck on; waiting to order new caliper assy from Float-on.

Bearings and spindle are fine.

Should probably replace other 3 calipets as well.

Ice cold Coca-Cola helps to smooth things out.

 

[harry ames]

If you don't have one, get an IR thermometer. When I'm headed out on any trip, I run for about 10 miles, then check bearing temps and compare them wheel to wheel. If they are within 10 % or so, then I'm good to go for another hour before checking them again. I also check tread temperature and compare wheel to wheel to indicate any potential for delamination of tires. 20 bucks or so at Harbor Freight for an adequate model of IR therm. Don't leave home without it.

I had on instance when my IR thermo check was good on my fifth wheel, but 30 miles later, one of the bearings was cooked. So there are no guarantees in life except bearing failure sometime and death...oh and taxes and bad politicians.

In your case, sounds like your shop may have pulled a boo boo on you.

 

[Scuffy]

One thing I do is replace my brake fluid every two years on our boat trailers. I just bleed a wheel at a time and keep adding fluid. That helps the brake system in general as brake fluid attracts moisture and water is heavier than the brake fluid and lays on the bottom of caliper pistons causing corrosion. It might add life to your brake calipers.

 

[Dale777]

Crewdog,

With my previous R27 and Float-on trailer, I had exactly the same experience as yours - bearing grease liquified and blew the cap off. I thought it was bearing and/or grease gone bad until I jacked the wheel to realize the caliper had seized causing too much heat for the bearing grease. After inspecting the other 3 calipers, they were all corroded and nearly seized. Float-on sent 4 new calipers at no cost, but I had use my labor for the work. Although I always washed down the calipers with fresh water after each salt water dunking, Float-on said I shoud also spray the calipers with Salt-Away every time. I did. Never another problem.

 

[knotflying]

I replaced my calipers, pads and rotors with stainless steel. The materials cost me around $1,500. A big difference. I still wash down with salt way each time.

 

[Levitation]

Had a wheel bearing break on the trip home (March). Ya gotta love those chinese bearings. It chewed up the spindle and the hub.
We spent the better part of two days (and nights) in the hills of the Kentucky-Tennessee border at a truck repair shop. It is a different world than this Michigan country boy is used to - did not know a human being could walk that slow without falling over :mrgreen:
But hey, they were able to country boy fix it and it got us home. Likely in a more, shall we say, urban environment they would have thrown up their hands and had to wait on a new axle - at least a week. But these good ol boys were used to working with what they had. Some filing, grinding, hammering, and several trips to town for various parts they got the wheel on the bus going around and around again - uhh trailer that is.
Since it is a welded spindle not a bolt on spindle, I now have a complete axle assembly on order. And yes Mike, I will be carrying a complete hub and bearing set with me in the future. This trip put the trailer over the 20,000 mile mark before having an actual breakdown - for whatever that's worth.