Thanks for the info Messiers
duggae and pilotwingz.
There is a ton of good info in what you wrote, p-wingz. This will live on in the search on Advice, and I will look to it in the future.
A few comments
– Last Updated: Jun-11-08 1:36 PM EST –
Based on the fact that I have been in the bearing business going on 38 years with no hope for parole.
1. Timken Bearings High quality. Yes compared to the Chinese brands which may come thru as OEM equipment on a trailer. But made in the USA I doubt it and defiantly not trailer wheel bearing sizes. Very very few bearings are made in this country any more but that is a whole different rant.
2. Mixing greases. The biggest concern there lies with mixing synthetic greases and the fact that an adverse reaction could destroy seals. I analyze bearing failures all the time and have never seen this actually happen but I guess it could.
3. Lubrication failure. While lack of or not enough ranks up at the top , over lubrication is right up there also. You would be suprised at how many times when I am out in the field looking at a bearing that is overheating and they keep pumping grease into it. I tell them take a tempture reading and then pump some grease in and take another reading and see if it gets hotter. If the temp goes up you have too much lube in it. Most of the time that is what the problem is.
4. With tapered roller bearings such as found in trailer wheels always change both the cone (the bearing) and the cup(the outer race) beacuse any damage on one will transfer back to the other in short order.
5. One last thing. I keep a bearing that failed from lack of lubrication sitting on the bookshelf in my office. The bearing cost $250.00. The failure did $250,000.00 damage to the machine it was in.
It was a hand-pumped grease gun
Even with that, you can still put enough grease in to damage seals.
When I took the Jeep in to the dealership, the service rep told me it happens frequently.
Thx, OB