Trailer Bearings Quandry

[Bobglas]

2012 Aluminum trailer. I've got replacement bearings OK but the seals have no identifying number or manufacturer. Anybody?

[RobertB]

1. Call Blue Water Yachts
'2. Call UFP with serial number on axle in hand
3. Measure inner and outer diameter and order by dimensions

[raycarlson]

Just curious why your putting bearings in after only 3yrs, i'm guessing 10-15 thousand miles..

[geminiI-Can]

Just replaced a leaking inner bearing on 2010 trailer. I feel your pain. It took me several try's until I found a parts guy who could find something. He used the Service Information booklet that came with the boat.
Seal Conversion Information
Seal description. Trailer Buddy. NOK. CR. National
233-168-SP2-1. 07027. AD2527EO. 16657. 473317

He called a supplier and they came up with a conversion to SKF 16657

I installed it and seems to be working so far. Good luck

[raycarlson]

A leaky bearing-----------------that's a new one

[grady]

What does a bearing leak? If the metal is coming out maybe you got it to hot?

[Bobglas]

"Just curious why your putting bearings in after only 3yrs, i'm guessing 10-15 thousand miles.."

Planning a trip to the Chesapeake, maybe 500 mile haul. I've had a small amount of water come out of one when I greased it. Thought I should check them and have a spare in case of failure on the road.

[Catigale]

Don't sweat that water Bob

It probably wasn't in the actual metal part of the bearing, just in the hub. Grease them up and go to it.

[WASP18]

I just talked to my local trailer shop today about possibly cleaning and repacking or maybe buying new bearings. My Mac trailer is 15 years old with the original bearings. The mechanic asked if I jacked up the trailer and spun the wheels to listen for a rumbling sound and what did it sound like. I told him I spun the wheels both ways and there was silence except for the whir of the spinning wheels. He suggested I do nothing, "just keep greasing them every year".

The PO had always greased them annually and so have I. The history of this trailer has been pretty much launch the boat in the spring and haul-out in the fall which probably averages about 80 miles a year. I painted it with (black) POR-15 two years ago after having new leaf springs installed along with new galvanized wheels and tires.

[Catigale]

I will second the advice that with such usage you should clean and repack and not replace the bearings.

If you get rumbling and funkiness, they need replacing. If they are quiet thats good, but they do fail rather suddenly and catastrophically, as I found out after 5 years/6000 miles.

[Chinook]

Amen to that. Catastrophic failure as in entire wheel coming off the axle and proceeding down the highway on its own, with the boat trailer now limping along on 3 wheels. Not a pretty sight. After that horse got out of the barn, I revised my maintenance schedule, and repack bearings annually, before the first time trailer hits the highway.