Trailer wheel bearing repacked

Hello,

looking for any recommendations for places in the Milwaukee area that provides this service at a decent price.  Called a couple places, both auto and boat dealers, ranged from 250-300.00.  I do not want to do this myself.

thanks in advance.

Yes I use the old race to seat the new ones when replacing, just pound (or  press) the the old one on the new one and the old one’s inner diameter leaves a ridge that can be punched out!

Agree that method works , did tons myself by hand automotive and trailer. The tool I showed just does it faster and cleaner that's all.

A side note if you grind down the outside of an old race you pull out so it slides in easy it works great for tapping in the new ones and you won't do any accidental damage. 

If you have regular greased bearings use your hand. Clean bearings first, put a gob  of grease in your hand and scrape toward your wrist till you see grease squeeze out of other end of bearing. Greased 100’s of bearings over the years no special tools needed! Make sure you use marine grade grease for boat trailers!

This is a handy tool to pack wheel bearings,  it'll push the old grease out too. It cost about 5 bucks,  I picked this one up at menards.  I've used them for years. You just hook your grease gun up to it.

The cool hubs or liquid cool hubs are awesome.

2nd on the Liqualube.  Got thousands of miles and many times in the water.  Hubs always run cool at high speeds. Have changed oil once in 12 years.

I got tired of packing trailer bearings every year and invested in the liqua lube bath system. I haven't packed bearings in 7-8 years but do plan on pulling them out this year for a quick inspection. I believe they were about $100 for the pair but well worth it.  https://www.liqualube.com/beats-grease.html 

One of the worst things that you can do to a bearing is to over grease it - they’ll fail in short order due to excessive heat build-up. 

You’re better off under greasing than over greasing...

Without visual confirmation of grease leaking out of the rear seal, guessing your hub had a bit too much grease in it. 

I’ve never really been sold on bearing buddies, they can give a false sense of security...

Remove, clean, inspect, and repack and you’re good to go for a year...

Replaced all the bearings, races, and seals and packed the bearings full as instructed in the past and via YouTube. After getting that all taken care of, one of the caps of the bearing buddy had shrunk and I couldn't get it back on, so I wound up getting new bearing buddies as well. I filled them accordingly (until the piston moves back some) and had the appropriate 1/8" play in the piston from the edges. After driving for about 45 minutes I figured I'd check them. The hubs were warm, but not hot. But when I checked the buddies, they were solid and there was no play. Had to buy a new grease gun because of course I forgot mine, but got some more in there until I had the correct play in the edge of the piston. Upon arrival about 2 hours later, same thing!  pumped some in before coming home yesterday and I stopped about halfway and that was the first time there was still play in the edges. Is this normal? I didn't see any grease coming out the seal or anything. 

Shoot, the entire assembly can be found at Farm and Fleet for about $50. For the price you are being quoted, you could just put on a couple of new ones and not worry about re-packing.

I typically tighten bearing nuts as tight as I can get them by hand, plus a quarter turn with a wrench.

The bearings expand a bit when in use, and they need a little bit of room for that. If you tighten them too much, you remove the ability for expansion, and the bearing can fail.

I’ve never put a torque wrench to it, but I would guess no more than 10 or 15 pounds - 90 is a bit too much. 

Also, over time bearings will wear. The only way to ensure that they are in good shape, is to remove them, clean them, inspect them, and repack them every year.

I replace them every three years, which may be a tad excessive, but I’ve never wanted to be left on the side of the road 300 miles away from my house, so it’s cheap insurance, the whole set up won’t cost you more than 50 bucks, and it gives you huge peace of mind.

I don’t have any issue with bearing buddies, but they are not a substitute for pulling the bearings. and inspecting them on an annual basis.

what are the tork specs on the bearing nut I aint to sure. I always pre loaded at 90 foot pounds and spin them for a few minutes then finish them off at about 125 foot pounds. I aint sure why I am asking as I never had a problem with this way of doing it.

Quality grease means everything! Some use lithium grease that is soap based and turns to milk if water enters (Not Good). Make sure to use an aluminum complex grease like Schaeffers #221 or Lucas Marine Grease. Aluminum complex is waterproof and will not emulsify with water. Schaeffers also uses molybdenum disulfied that coats and protects under high heat situations. Above all... do not mix greases as they may not be compatible. Always use the same grease and avoid being "That Guy" we always see with an axle jacked up and smoking.

There are many YouTube videos on how to do it yourself if you want to save some $$.

I use bearing buddies for years never had a problem I've always used mobile one grease just replace the bearings out every 5 years myself

My trailer gets more time than the boat motor does

Now that I've down sides my boat to those 13 inch wheels I can no longer get goodyears tires

What brand a 13in tire manufacturer is the best