[AT] Greasing trailer wheel bearings

[Francis Robinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Al Jones" <aljones at ncfreedom.net>


> All,
>
> I need to pull my tractor hauling trailer on about a 5 hr (each way)
> trip Saturday.  Running empty going and hauling about 1500 lbs coming
> back.  It has the factory "bearing buddy" type center caps on it so you
> can grease the wheel bearings with the grease gun.  I think they're
> Dexter axles, anyway the bearing buddy's are factory.  What kind of
> grease should I use? We use a multipurpose (Massey-Ferguson) lithium
> grease in the grease gun on the farm but I think it's a little bit
> "lighter weight" than regular wheel bearing grease. I wanted to make
> sure before I started pumping a bunch in there. (I know not to over-do
> it and run the risk of pushing grease out the inner bearing and all over
> the brakes.)
>
> Thanks!
> Al



    Hi Al:

    Most of the newer wheel bearing greases today are not the stiff old 
gummy stuff with added fiber that we used years ago. Any "good" chassis 
grease should serve you well.
    If you look at the bottom of your axles you may find a hole on the 
bottom of each one where they are drilled to allow the excess grease to push 
out and fall on the ground rather than push out onto the breaks. Many newer 
axles are drilled that way. The hole would probably be about 3" to 6" past 
the brake plate.
    Todays wheel bearings and greases are pretty durable and forgiving 
compared to those of the 1940's and 1950's. If it were me I would probably 
just add about a fair-sized teaspoon of "good" grease to eash one before I 
left and then hit them again about the same after  driving about an hour. 
When you stop check the temperature of each one. On a trailer with brakes 
though it can be hard to tell brake heat from bearing heat. Bearing Buddies 
got their start on boat trailers that are backed down into deep water. 
Brakes are not too common on the average smaller boat trailer.
    The subject of just how tight trailer bearings should be adjusted is one 
of those that we sometimes disagree about on this list. My personal choice 
is "tight enough"   ;-)   but not over-tightened. Given a choice I would 
rather the castle nut be a notch loose than a notch too tight. Others 
disagree... I have seen older bearings that were run too loose for a long 
time then over tightened and since the roller shape was then a little off, 
then running tight under heavy load resulted in roller fracturing. I learned 
that one the hard way on a 1955 3/4 ton Chevy. I was young... I thought that 
if I disassembled everything and cleaned everything well and packed them 
well and tightened them to specs that all would be fine. Not so... I hate 
doing repairs out on the road.   :-)   Now on an old loose wheel bearing I 
still disassemble and clean and pack but now I would always make them 
tighter than they were but not fully torque wrench tightened. Take out most 
of the slop but leave a notch or two of breathing room. On newer good 
bearings of course I would just tighten to specs.
    Maybe I like to run old stuff looser because I have gotten older and 
looser...   ;-)



--
"farmer"

Francis Robinson
Central Indiana, USA
robinson at svs.net