Wheel Bearings

spida · Guru

Wheel Bearings

jetj · Guru

Good advice from experience. When they collapse, it's a bugger.!

turbopete · Senior Member

be very careful with the amount of grease you pump into the bearing buddies.too much grease will blow the seals,, really bearings only need to be checked once a year say 40/50 thousand k Peter

spida · Guru

turbopete wrote:
be very careful with the amount of grease you pump into the bearing buddies.too much grease will blow the seals,, really bearings only need to be checked once a year say 40/50 thousand k Peter

thank you Peter - he did mention not puting too much in and blowing the seals but I thought he said every 3000km or so. Way more often than you suggest. I will just get a man/garage to do it anyway confuse At least I am very aware now and think I may have had a lucky escape - Perth to Queensland and 13,000km! You would think they would have been done when I bought the van (2006 and from a dealer) and should be fine still! Makes me wonder.

wendyv · Guru

Another thing to have checked is the electric brake magnets.
We found we got about 30,000 km out of a set of magnets - but that was a mix of dirt and sealed roads, and small single axle van.
We always carried a spare set of magnets - they never "go" in civilized places!

beiffe · Guru

A good way to keep and eye on your bearings is to use a infrared thermometer to check you bearings when you stop. Only takes a few seconds as you walk around your rig. You also check your tyres as it will show any tyre under pressure as it will be hotter than the others. great for other things such as checking the ground temperature the temperature of your cooking utensels as well as lots of things in your travels.

Regards
Brian

Cruising Granny · Guru

It's a simple maintenance thing. If you do the tug, you do the van, especially if you've done a lot of long trips with long breaks in between.
If you're on the road full time with only short breaks, once a year is good as long as you monitor.
Most of the time it requires repacking with grease, not necessarily new barings and seals.

03_troopy · Guru

beiffe wrote:
A good way to keep and eye on your bearings is to use a infrared thermometer to check you bearings when you stop. Only takes a few seconds as you walk around your rig. You also check your tyres as it will show any tyre under pressure as it will be hotter than the others. great for other things such as checking the ground temperature the temperature of your cooking utensels as well as lots of things in your travels.

Regards
Brian

Or even feel the temperature with your hand on the non hubcap type wheels. Something I often do as force of habit when I stop for fuel or whatever.

Cupie · Guru

As a part of my routine maintenance. When home for at least 4 weeks, I put the van on stands & take the opportunity to remove all wheels, check the magnets & repack the wheel bearings.

I have had the same running gear for >!50,000KM of blacktop driving ... It's all about maintenance & driving habits in my opinion.