How common are well-maintained wheel bearing failures? I thought I would ask before spending $80 on four Hub Savers. IMHO, $80 for essentially washers seems high. Along this line, are there Hub Saver competitors?
Well maintained bearings will rarely if ever fail. I would bet money that most bearing failures occur shortly after a bearing repack....and not the fault of the bearingsHow common are well-maintained wheel bearing failures? I thought I would ask before spending $80 on four Hub Savers. IMHO, $80 for essentially washers seems high. Along this line, are there Hub Saver competitors?
Alaska! Wow! For some one like me living in Phoenix, AZ Alaska would be quite the trip.I pack my bearings every other year. Been doing it this way on 4 trailers since '96. All are all China ones. I carry spares but have never had a failure.
There is no replacement for good maintenance.
But, then again, I have a friend that never repacked the bearings on his Lance trailer for years with no failure.
Helped him repack them last year before his trip to Alaska.
When we drove down to the Phoenix area for the winter of '23, we met a few people from Alaska escaping their winter.Alaska! Wow! For some one like me living in Phoenix, AZ Alaska would be quite the trip.
Working in the automotive field as long as I have, there are so many 'mechanics' that just do not get how these bearings work.Proper bearing adjustment results in ENDPLAY, not preload.
Preload - does this mean the tighten the bearings too much? Or does it mean the tighten the bearings and then back off just a bit for proper adjustment/lack of freeplay?Working in the automotive field as long as I have, there are so many 'mechanics' that just do not get how these bearings work.
100%, if it is a wheel hub, it probably has freeplay. That is because as the hub heats up, the clearances get tighter. When it gets tighter, there is more heat. With that heat, the bearings get tighter, until they fail.
When it comes to transmissions/differentials, as the case heats up, the clearances get looser, which is why they tend to have preload. That is my understanding on how things work.
I think the ideal set up is when the item is at operating temperature, the preload/freeplay would be darn near 0.
I have seen so many tapered wheel bearings fail because mechanics feel they need to have preload.
A differential also changes the direction of torque. This puts a lot force into the pinion and ring gear trying to pry them apart.The case can actually stretch a little. Those bearings need a little preload.Working in the automotive field as long as I have, there are so many 'mechanics' that just do not get how these bearings work.
100%, if it is a wheel hub, it probably has freeplay. That is because as the hub heats up, the clearances get tighter. When it gets tighter, there is more heat. With that heat, the bearings get tighter, until they fail.
When it comes to transmissions/differentials, as the case heats up, the clearances get looser, which is why they tend to have preload. That is my understanding on how things work.
I think the ideal set up is when the item is at operating temperature, the preload/freeplay would be darn near 0.
I have seen so many tapered wheel bearings fail because mechanics feel they need to have preload.
I have to disagree. On a recent trip to the midwest from the east coast we had a wheel bearing failure. The failure was not the result of lack of regular maintenance. The bearings and brakes are checked and serviced every year. The last service, bearing replacement and repacking, was performed in December of 2023. The failure occurred in October of 2024, 10- months since being serviced. The failure occured on I-10 near Pensacola Fl. We were lucky, there was a safe place to pullover near an exit. The wheel did not fall off but was only held on by the bearing nut on the axle. Maybe a rare occurance but scary when it happens. Any preventative technique, hub locks maybe, could prevent a potential disaster from happening. If we had lost the wheel in a worst case scenario I would not be responding to your post.I agree with Dryfly: properly maintained bearings will treat you well, barring failures that cannot be foreseen. IMO, the bearings/brakes should be checked out as soon as you bring the trailer home, regardless of whether it's new or used. And then every so often, I'm not a yearly bearing greaser. That way you start fresh, and have base line to work from. And I would also forego using the zerks, they simply aren't necessary and can cause a person to getreer sloppy with the maintenance.