"New to me" trailer

[NSO_Fishing]

On my "new to me" rig, the previous owner told me he changed bearings and seals early last spring and they were well maintained throughout the season. I checked under the bearing buddy caps and the grease there didn't show any signs of water intrusion. Nice and clean. Not cloudy at all. But, that doesn't say anything about what I CAN'T see.

Would you change the bearings just for peace of mind?

[Gone Again]

Peace of mind goes a long ways sometimes. I would disassemble, clean, inspect and repack the bearings. If bearings look OK you can reuse no problem. Make sure to replace seals as you probably will wreck the old ones when removing the inner bearing. Make sure you clean out all the old grease. Whatever grease you use, make sure you continue to use the same for adding at a later date. Different greases most times don't mix well.

[REW]

Nso,
No need to remove grease and repack.

First, jack up the wheel and spin the wheel and check for excess play and or grinding or clicking which is indicative of a bad bearing. But as long as the bearing does not click or grind, then:
Rather, just remove the hub and check for any signs of scoring on the spindle or race and check for the presence of water. If all is well, just reassemble.

As long as there is no water in the bearings, really no need to repack.

When do you repack the front wheels of your cars which have fixed bearings? The answer is never. As long as the bearing does not growel, you leave them alone. Now and then, you may need to change a bearing but for millions of vehicles, they go from factory to scrap yard with no bearing replacements.

The reason is that they do not have moisture in the bearings that rust and destroy the bearings.
So, for your trailer bearings, check for water. If water is present, remove check and repack and or replace if necessary along with seals. But, if no water is present - top off grease and continue.

Be safe

[NSO_Fishing]

AAR:

I pulled both sides apart for inspection and found nothing to warrant anything further. The previous owner left a couple tubes of bearing grease in the rear compartment of the boat. I think we're good to go!

Thanks all for the advice!

[mrwalleye5]

I agree with REW. Sounds like you got a gem.

[Owen]

Sounds like you got lucky, but personally I would have pulled them apart, and put all new bearings in.
I like to know exactly what is in those things.
We put a few thousand miles on in a year, and check bearings every spring, replace every other.

You can't really compare this to the vehicle wheel bearings, because of the side load a trailer is subjected to, when turning. It is a completely different stress when compared to a car or truck.
It would compare to driving in 4X4 through a bunch or corners.