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I will soon be purchasing a 1994 Macgregor 26S in Massachusetts and will be driving it back to Connecticut. I have heard horror stories of trailer wheel bearings failing due to lack of grease. I am not sure what condition the wheel bearings are in. What do I need to look for when inspecting them (I'm a fairly unmechanical person), and if they do need grease, how do I add it? Thank you for any help/advice!

If the axle is original, there are either Bearing Buddy type hub caps, with a grease fitting in the end, or plain caps with no grease fitting. Some replacement axles have a grease fitting in the axle spindle itself (E-Z-Lube), with a grease passage drilled through the spindle to the inner bearing.

If it were me, I'd pull the hubs apart and inspect and relube the bearings before taking a trip like that. Drum brakes should be inspected and tested, also. To inspect the inner bearing, you'll have to remove the seal, which can't be reinstalled, so you'd need a new one. If digging that deeply, I'd just put in new bearings and grease seal and feel secure in knowing the wheels won't fall off.

Brakes are another issue, as drum brakes that haven't been used in a while usually are a mess. You're in a salt water environment, so it's a good bet they're in bad shape. Even if they don't work, you have to be sure they won't apply and stay applied - I burned up all four brakes just bringing mine home the first time about 20 miles. It could have been a lot worse.

If the drums are off while doing bearing maintenance or replacement, and the brakes are in rough shape, you'd probably be better off removing the shoes or the backing plate with everything so at least you don't get stuck with locked brakes, or have a fire. But then, you'll have no brakes for sure. Drive slowly, and use a big two vehicle.

If you want to see some videos on bearing changes and brake replacement and maintenance, sniff around http://www.etrailer.com for tutorials.

While a full take apart and inspection may be best, may not be so easy at the seller's location. I might consider bringing along a hydraulic floor jack and jacking up each wheel and spinning by hand - you should hear and feel bad or dry bearings. Even better if you take the wheel off. Also a good way to see if the brakes are seizing.

Make sure the bearings are lubricated afterwards.

As far as brakes, are you driving a vehicle that is large enough to handle the braking if the trailer brakes are not that good? If not, suggest at least testing to see if the trailer brakes work.

Once home, I would do a full inspection.

Join Boat US and add the trailer club option before your trip.....

Full bearing inspection when you get home...

Take the time and check them there. If you can't check them at the owner's place find a vacant parking lot to have a look. If you are not mechanically inclined I would highly recommened finding a local trailer shop or even a nearby auto mechanic. Bearing repacks are fairly simple though time consuming if you have not done them before. I say this because when I purchased my 26X this spring I towed it 1500 miles to my home. I was told the bearings had been recently repacked and I have disk breaks on the trailer so I did not bother to do an inspection. I pulled into a service station for fuel 175 miles from home and noticed the left rear hub was completely gutted and riding on the spindle. The bearings had indeed been repacked as the grease in the other wheel bearings was clean as a whistle, however, the person who repacked that wheel forgot to install the cotter pin on the crown nut. Macgregor axles are custom made and since I didn't have time to wait on one to be shipped from Cali I had the shop cut out both axles and replace them with ones I can actually replace parts on. As I am a mechanic I knew better than to drive off with a trailer I was unfamiliar with but I was in a hurry to get back home and the PO had taken good care of the boat so I took the chance, rolled the dice, and paid a high price, but I got lucky that the wheel didn't fly off down the highway and strike a vehicle at 65 mph.

Azzarac wrote:... If you are not mechanically inclined I would highly recommened finding a local trailer shop or even a nearby auto mechanic.....

I agree. If you haven't done it make sure you know what you are doing. Most of us older guys/gals have all driven cars in the past with front wheel bearings similar to trailer bearings thousands of miles without failure or thinking about them much. We also usually had a mechanic repack them and install them so the job was usually done right.

I believe the most common cause of trailer bearing failure is not so much lack of grease but improper tightening after packing them with new grease. Most people the first time they do this will think that properly tightened bearings are too loose and would then tighten them tighter and cause them to overheat and fail. Then usually blame lack of grease which just got all burned up.

Make sure you know how to properly tighten them before messing with them. If possible watch a mechanic or a friend the first time that knows how.

Our Mac trailer, and I think that most do, uses standard bearings and a hub for a 3500 lb. axle. If you don't have brakes consider buying another hub that will come with bearings installed for less than $40 at most parts houses. You still need to know how to tighten and lock the spindle nut though. It is an easy, but messy job, that anyone can do once they know what is involved,

Sum

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Sumner wrote:Most of us older guys/gals have all driven cars in the past with front wheel bearings similar to trailer bearings thousands of miles without failure or thinking about them much. We also usually had a mechanic repack them and install them so the job was usually done right.

Ah, the good old days, except that I was the mechanic repacking the spindle bearings, for better or worse. Starting in junior high school. Most of the cars I owned, Jeeps excepted, had drums with spindles. Even had to travel from CT to a NJ Turnpike rest stop and replace the bearings on a buddy's girlfriend's car after they ran them down to where they were almost welded to the spindle.

As I'm sure you remember, we got a lot of miles out of a service, but then, we weren't putting the front ends under water on a regular basis.

ck this

Need a lot more information. Is the Trailer stock steel with single axel? What type of axel bearings are they? ( stock, buddy bearings,axel grease fittings) .
Also ck the Steel frame for structual support, (Toung beam ).
Know the history of the boat and if it's been in Salt Water often.
I would recommend you to do a lot of research on this forum for your boat and Trailer.
Your first post, would recommend replying to others who have given support.
Dave

abiehl wrote:I will soon be purchasing a 1994 Macgregor 26S in Massachusetts and will be driving it back to Connecticut. I have heard horror stories of trailer wheel bearings failing due to lack of grease. I am not sure what condition the wheel bearings are in. What do I need to look for when inspecting them (I'm a fairly unmechanical person), and if they do need grease, how do I add it? Thank you for any help/advice!

It's tough trailering a used boat home long distances. You put a lot of faith in the PO that the bearings have been maintained. Mac power sailor trailer bearings are near design capacity and will fail fom perfect to unusable in a short time.

I checked my bearings in Ludlow MA once....all fine, no heat or grease leaking, and 90 miles later the outer bearing was gone and I was running on the inner bearing only. Axle was shot and had to be replaced.

See here ..... http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... er#p177743