trailer bearing question

[dgopetactical]

1987 loadrite tandem axle
4550 GVW 2275 lb axles tires 14x 5.50
Hello,
trailer bearings are a new subject to me. After reading many posts I have decieded I know I can change my bearings

On my non braking axle I have 1 blown grease seal and little movement in another. I have decieded I want to swap out all my bearings and grease seals on that axle and start out fresh. I will do the braking axle another day when I read up on that.

Question:
What size bearings and grease seals do I get? I have no idead where to start.

Thanks,
Denny

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: trailer bearing question

The best way to do that is take a set with you to the store.

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: trailer bearing question

The best way to do that is take a set with you to the store.

can I take them to an auto store like autozone,napa, fishers etc.?

thanks,
denny

 

[srothfuss]

Re: trailer bearing question

Yes any standard autoparts store will have (or should have) trailer bearings. Although, I went to CarQuest to get mine and they had to order the sets from a seperate store.


To get some basic information on your Hubs:

• Measure the diameter of your axle spindle or the I.D. of both bearings to determine if the spindle is straight or tappered.
• Bearing numbers are etched onto the bearings. Write them down
• There is no race number that is visible.
• There should be a seal number eteched somewhere

You should be able to put most of that information into the computer to find parts online and then comparisson shop.

You can also drop your hubs off at a place like NAPA and they will rebuild them for a fee + parts.

 

[dimock44]

Re: trailer bearing question

Look for a bearing house in the phone book they usually stock most common sizes. and (depending) are close to or cheaper than auto parts.

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: trailer bearing question

Thanks for the info guys. I will pull a wheel and take the bearings and seal in to find a match. many thanks
Denny

 

[rogerwa]

Re: trailer bearing question

Or you could call Loadrite and get the sizes of the bearings and races and order them through the Eastern Marine website (take out the space an put a .com on it). Or you could get them here at Iboats

http://www.iboats.com/Bearing_Sets/....238560--view_id.238560--search_type.category

 

[Rusty Boater]

Re: trailer bearing question

If you have a Northern Tool and Equipment they should have what you are looking for or you can order online...

http://www.northerntool.com

 

[Bry21317]

Re: trailer bearing question

I could not find my bearings anywhere around me except for at Carquest. They were great in matching them up. I had some really large bearings in my axle, so they were not at any of the boat stores.

I had to special order the Bearing Buddy covers from the dealer, they are 2.441 inches in diameter, the standard that Overtons, Boaters World, West Marine cary seem to be the 1.98 version.

 

[srothfuss]

Re: trailer bearing question

Every single west marine I've been to never had the trailer bearing parts I needed. CarQuest was 1 mile away and was also super helpful in looking up exact replacement parts.

Although, it's worth mentioning that the parts guy didn't know that Chrysler had made trailers or sailboats for that matter. It took a little convincing to get him to open up the catalog and check. After he opened it up though it was really smooth sailing..

 

[bruceb58]

Re: trailer bearing question

If you change the bearings, change the races at the same time.

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: trailer bearing question

does anybody have a good link for changing the races. Everthing I have is on changing bearings and seals it just says to inspect the races
not how to do it.
thanks alot,
denny

 

[rheagler]

Re: trailer bearing question

Champion Trailers has a very good tutorial section... championtrailers.com

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: trailer bearing question

Champion Trailers has a very good tutorial section... championtrailers.com

Thanks will check it out

 

[srothfuss]

Re: trailer bearing question

You could also follow this link. It has some wordy instructions but there are videos of removing the race and reinstalling some new ones.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: trailer bearing question

I just did my bearings and races last weekend. One race came out easy, in the front, just a few minutes of banging to get it out. The rear race on mine was a real pain, it took about 30 minutes to get those out. I tried banging a flat head screw driver into it, to get it out, but that was not working for that one. I had a large, 7/8 inch bolt laying around and I ended up using this to get them out. It still took quite a bit of banging, but it was alot easier on this race than the flat head was. So you will need to try any and everything you may have to see what works best for yours.

Once you clean all the old grease out, which is the real pain, its not to bad of a job. Also, you might want to get a Seal Puller, it was easy as pie with that, but you can use a flat head screw driver or any other item for that. To put the new races in, I used the old ones to hammer them down, then before you get the old ones stuck, you have to switch to something else, to get them the rest of the way down. This is what I had to do, but it is not that bad of a job.

Just make sure you get them really clean. I used gas to clean off the grease, and then to make sure that I did not have any left over gas on the hub or spindle, I cleaned it really good with Brake cleaner to remove any residue. This just made it faster then only using Brake cleaner to me.

Hope this helps.

Bryan