CARAVAN WHEEL BEARING | Everything you need to know | REPLACEMENT |Service |Maintenance | Adjustment

Maintenance on your trailer is just as important as the maintenance on your tow vehicle and the wheels bearings are the lifeblood of keeping your trailer in good health.
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In today’s episode I’m going to talk about how often to check your wheel bearings, how to check, what to look out for, how to service and adjust and of course how to replace your trailers bearings.
Although these serviceable items can be dealt with by a service agent, knowing what parts and tools to carry and how to change these bearing could not only save you money in the Australian outback, but time and the ability to avoid a mechanical breakdown in remote areas.
It may be a somewhat of an intimidating task if you haven’t done it before, however it is very possible by anyone with or without specialised training.
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and it has provided you with some useful information to keep your wheels turning and your hubs from burning.
00:00 - Introduction
00:50 - How to check your wheel bearings
01:44 - Routine maintenance
03:17 - Removing the wheel and bearing assembly
04:24 - What are we replacing?
06:40 - Removing bearing cups
07:30 - Inspecting the old bearings
09:14 - New bearing kit
09:36 - Installing new bearings cups
11:38 - Packing the bearings
14:33 - Re-installing drum assembly
15:13 - Bearing tension
16:48 - Conclusion
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[@petermills1402]

Caravan wheel bearings of similar design in 4wds will often last 100k kms and so will van bearings if one extra step is taken. Seal those end caps with waterproof glue or silicon and no moisture or dirt sneaks inside that ‘so called’ interference fit. My AOR ‘full Offroad van bearings are 50k old now with two minor external checks/adjustments at 20k intervals. At 50k still perfect but end caps are fully glued in after every check. Where I live condensation is a thing and moist air can condense inside end caps which is not good for longetivity of bearings. Also when knocking in new bearings with an old outer ring use a thin metal grinding disk to cut the old ring through, then the old ring will literally fall out after knocking in the new rings.

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, so I've actually tried the sealing of the dust cap a couple of times now and found it didn't really help at all in my case. Maybe its something to do with this model of the Cruisemaster setup, or maybe it's coming in from the otherside, either way it didn't work for me 🤔 Great tip with the old ring though, thanks 👍

[@petermills1402]

But really, replacing wheel bearings at 20 km intervals is in every way an overkill. Best to seal them up tight so no dust or daily water vapour in the air gets to condense inside the caps (this is what happens in real life and is the arch enemy of wheel bearings), adjust them properly, check them every day driving with a quick wobble test and check temp as you suggest. All cars have fully sealed bearings (gaskets, caps/drive flanges/etc bolted down) and most car bearings last 100k ++kms (even crappy designed landrover/old toyota hubs), no reason at all why caravan bearings do not last as long except for the 1930's design of hubs/integrated drums that we can change slightly or change to disk brakes so servicing is a breeze. I wonder why most cars now have fully sealed bearings that last years and often 200k kms?@@XploringOz

[@johnstaring3210]

Agree totally with what you say. My Lotus has done much more km and to this end I have only replaced one bearing, only because I wasn't sure about it. Still carry a full replacement set (and seals) though as some sizes can be hard to get in remote areas.

[@peterwest5661]

Well done. Top tutorial. One thing that I was worried about, taught as an apprentice. Never hit a hardened thing (bearing cone) with a hardened thing (hammer) . Only once in a thousand it can be bad for your eyes.

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate. Appreciate the tip, I'll certainly keep this in mind for future work 👍 Thanks

[@richardwalsh5570]

AS A 40 YEAR fitter and Turner, when you remove the bearing cap and see great that looks like new you are not going to find much wrong or need to replace bearings. A wSte of money and resources, just a check and adjust would be all requited with grease looking like new that hasn't been over worked.

[@mjhmech4903]

Hmm. I've probably done more wheel bearings than 99% of people reading this and I would NOT be making such assumptions when there is so much potentially at stake. Do it right - do it once. Given most van manufacturers run Chinesium wheel bearings that would actually be quite a gamble!

[@richardwalsh5570]

@@mjhmech4903 someone with experience can easily identify a potential problem

[@lucysoutdoors]

Great explanation on the wheel bearing, just an extra tip, if you place the cups in a freezer (if you have) over night will help with a easy- peasy fit👍👍

[@XploringOz]

That's a great idea hadn't heard of that one before 👍

[@Robert-cu9bm]

Only problem would be you are introducing water on the inside of the cap.

[@craiggambetta694]

David Attenborough love child...great video tough

[@richardwolski5899]

Great video . explained well,cheers

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, always appreciated 🙏

[@michaelhermans4753]

Excellent breakdown on bearing replacement, I prefer bearing buddies to dust caps on my boat trailer, keeps the grease pressurised which helps to stop water ingress. Also the colour of the grease changes if water gets in Another handy tool is a hub puller, as failed bearings have a habit of fusing to the axle, saved me and others on a few occasions I also take spare hubs(with bearings) makes Change out on the side of the road much quicker and cleaner Wearing disposable surgical gloves also makes it a much cleaner experience I keep a few pairs in my kit

[@XploringOz]

Some great tips there, thanks for sharing with all of us. Certainly some things I'll consider moving forward 👍

[@Robert-cu9bm]

Boat trailers have a different use case. The bearings get very hot then submerged into cool water, that rapid cooling pulls water through the seals and into the bearings. Bearing buddys are pushing against that force.

[@michaelhermans4753]

@@Robert-cu9bm good point I did not think about that

[@Susieandchris]

Thanks for taking time to do video . I found the video very helpful

[@XploringOz]

Awesome, thank you and I'm glad it could help 👍

[@WallaceDyki]

Thanks mate - great video and well timed. You’ve given me the confidence to give this a crack myself in 2024 👍

[@XploringOz]

Awesome, thanks mate glad it was helpful 👍

[@BottleJackBuddy]

Great how-to Video

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, appreciate it 🙏

[@mykelphotography]

Another ripper helpful video, thanks so much Nathan for sharing

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, appreciate that, glad it could help 🙏

[@paulmorrall5719]

Thank you so much for this video, this has given me so much confidence to ensure not only do I carry spares but I know how to change and inspect them. Thank you 🙏

[@XploringOz]

Awesome, that’s great to hear and thanks for the feedback. Good luck with your maintenance 👍

[@greg174videos]

Another excellent instructional video Nathan. Many thanks once again for the time and effort you put into your work.

[@XploringOz]

Thanks Greg, always much appreciated. Hope you both had a great Christmas and New Years 👍

[@michaelnugara1]

Thanks heaps mate. As usual another excellent vid. Spot on instructions.

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, appreciate it 👍

[@louiskudlak2241]

Very informative, thanks for sharing

[@XploringOz]

Glad it was helpful! 🙏

[@regryan8044]

Thank you so much for an amazing video. 5 ⭐️

[@AbbynDoogs]

I’ve only recently subscribed to your channel. I have learnt a lot and your way of explaining things is impressive. I’ll be keeping this video in my maintenance folder as a reference. Thanks so much 👍

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate, I appreciate that feedback 🙏 Glad you are enjoying the channel 👍

[@remoteflyboy]

Thank you, nice informative video, and very easy to understand with good explanations 🙂👍

[@slowboat6021]

great work as always Nathan, can I add Don't forget to re-torque the wheel nuts after 100km...

[@XploringOz]

Great tip! It doesn't take much for them to work loose over a short period of time!

[@mjhmech4903]

@XploringOz Most caravan manufacturers use Chinese wheel bearing kits. Although the quality of some of these bearings has improved immensely, personally I would prefer for my own peace of mind to run a quality USA or Japanese wheel bearing kit eg: Koyo, Timken, NTN, CBC kits etc. $140 for a full kit of quality bearings & seals for parallel bearings on a tandem van/trailer is pretty good value VS a bearing failure in the middle of nowhere!! Another tip: make a driver to instal the new grease cap from a 70mm exhaust tube offcut re parallel bearings such as you have here. Saves the frustration of trying to get new caps on without damaging them😗

[@XploringOz]

I hear you, quality is a big consideration, particularly when heading out remote like we do! Thanks for the tip, that's a great idea! PS. We are back in Kalgoorlie now, need to catch up at some point 👍

[@SkylinersYeti]

The video was about wheel bearing BUT it is a great time to check your bake pads.

[@XploringOz]

For sure, it certainly is. I went into this in more detail in my last maintenance video a couple of weeks ago 👍

[@johnflynn556]

A great and informative video (especially seeing how I have just picked up our LRX). One thing I learnt, remove my wedding ring before packing the grease (right hand dominant) :)

[@XploringOz]

Awesome, glad it could help and great to hear that you have now picked up the mighty LRX 💪 I hope it will provide many comfortable and trouble free nights on the tracks for you on your new adventures. Haha, yes that is a good tip! 😂

[@iandibley8032]

G'day Nathan good advice, after a recent rough 17k trip I replaced the bearings also. I machined up installation tools for cups,seal &dust cap. I also wash up and examine the bearings removed , this tells a story about bearings, brinelling possible water contamination, scoring from dust entering, or slight discolouration due to slight over tension. I have Cruisemaster discs, and I find the only issue is removing the cups. The lip to punch on is very small & and the pin punch doesn't locate easily. A simple notch cast in at 180 degrees would make removal much easier. Safe travels

[@XploringOz]

I agree with you there regarding the Cruisemaster cups, however once the punch was 'worn in' it seemed to work well 👍 They certainly tell a story, that's for sure!

[@mjhmech4903]

As you would have discovered whilst removing / installing the bearing cups from the hubs there is very little edge to get the punch to bite onto. I notch the hubs with a die grinder once the old cups are removed & the hub is wiped clean of grease. The hubs are then thoroughly cleaned in kero and the inside of the brake drum cleaned with brake clean or similar. This iwill enable easy removal the next time..... I have just re done my set on the Coromal - much easier this time!!

[@iandibley8032]

@mjhmech4903 We think a like, I ended up doing exactly the same thing. I can't believe Cruisemaster wouldn't have done the same from the factory. 👍

[@snoordman4831]

If you look up on YT "replace bearing trailer/caravan" you get a lot of videos but none are as well filmed, narrated and edited as yours Nathan! Very well put together and will sure come in handy for a lot of people doing the maintenance themselves. Ooh yeah, happy new year mate! 🤙🏼

[@XploringOz]

Thanks Simon, I appreciate that 🙏 I hope it can hope others out on the tracks, of maybe those who aren't quite confident enough to try themselves at the moment. I hope you and family had a great Christmas and New Years and look forward to catching up soon 👍

[@OutbackOutlaw]

Informative as per all your vids mate. I note you mentioned you regressed the axle before putting the hub back on, however you didn’t do that in the vid.

[@XploringOz]

Thanks mate. Yes, I did omit that step on this video, however it is still something I would regularly do... just not on video apparently 🤪 🤦‍♂️

[@davedave5457]

great vid mate though i did have a chuckle at "torque the nuts down" as you finger tighten them on the video, i know you obviously did torque them up but it was just funny. keep up the good work.

[@spudboy1328]

Thanks for that. I'm going to have a crack on my TVan bearings now...

[@XploringOz]

Awesome, I hope it went well! Hope the bearings were in good condition?

[@DarrenBoxhall]

Those bearings you took out were still immaculate. Stop judging them by the grease colour, grease naturally gets darker with a bit of heat. I'f I were you, I would concentrate on just making sure they are packed well every few thousand ks on the outers and making sure there isn't play

[@XploringOz]

I can see how it may look like that, but I can assure you, they weren't immaculate. It's an easy job to prevent the potential for a bigger job in a difficult location. This isn't just a regular 'van' that gets taken out on weekends and holidays to the nearest caravan park. It sees some rough and rugged terrain which would certainly add to the degradation

[@DarrenBoxhall]

Yeah fair enough mate. Love the content of your vids​@@XploringOz

[@XploringOz]

Cheers mate 👍 @@DarrenBoxhall

[@Robert-cu9bm]

The average person wouldn't be able to tell how the hard facing looks.

[@richardwalsh5570]

Don't need to remove cup to repack or inspect. Look at them in the hub. Just take the cones out and obviously clean up everything. If you don't have cleaning solvent, Petrol works the best with stiff bristle little brush and plenty of rags. A messy job 👍

[@iandibley8032]

The reason for removing the bearings is to look for any brinelling, scoring, or wear of cages and applying fresh grease. The cones can easily be checked without removing from the hubs.

[@adamnorton9701]

And can you get a follow up video on the air box after the round Australia Trip??

[@XploringOz]

For sure, I'll look to put something together 👍

[@searching4adventure]

I had a question regarding jacking the wheel up from the ATX suspension arm. I have the same Cruisemaster ATX Airbag suspension system on my Titanium Van. I’m assuming dropping the air on that side and it’s ok to place the jack on the arm as you did in your video? I have limited mechanical knowledge and always enjoy your very detailed reviews and KZbin vids. Appreciate in advance. Cheers. Marcus.

[@XploringOz]

Hey mate, so this is the recommended method preferred from cruise master. The jack goes into that recessed hole in the arm and they recommend all pressure is removed from the bags for the air suspension models 👍 Hope that helps, thanks Nathan.

[@searching4adventure]

Thanks Nathan. Very much appreciated. Thanks for replying. Cheers. Marcus.

[@johnstaring3210]

Whilst I am all for preventative maintenance I have to ask; Why should the trailer bearings be serviced more often than the tow vehicle bearings ? The bearings on my G&S chassis Lotus Trooper are very good quality (ie not chinese) and they have done tens of thousands of kilometres, maybe between 50-70K km, I check them regularly for heat stress (via a heat sensing laser device) and have re-packed them once, purely for prevention in case. The van manufacturers recommend repack/replace every 10K km but the maker of my car suggests no such thing over such a short distance, so why the difference ? Is this over-servicing if asymptomatic, or a ploy by dealers to keep their workshop busy ? Also, hooking up to your car is a great idea to prevent movement/instability, especially since you will need to ease the park brake to get the drum off. And still more ! If you are going to carry replacement bearings then consider packing them before storing in your trailer/car as it is much more convenient than doing it roadside.

[@adamnorton9701]

When do you think this set up is going to take on the canning stock route??

[@XploringOz]

I was really hoping to get it down this year, however I don't think that's going to happen with some events that are out of my control, so I'll look for maybe next year 🤞

[@adamnorton9701]

@@XploringOz how did the air box hold up.. on the big Trip

[@XploringOz]

Really well. Still highly recommend. I hope to get a long term review video out in the near future 🤞 @@adamnorton9701

[@TylerDurden775]

At 14:39 did you forget to regrease the stub axle? Great video otherwise, I am going to give it a crack.

[@jonathonwaechter1596]

Also the outer bearing cup in the hub is missing from your thumbnail all you need take a couple pieces

[@jonathonwaechter1596]

Ps did not watch

[@adamnorton9701]

Putting an angle grinder cut in the old race saves having to punch it back out

[@XploringOz]

I've been told this, something I'll need to try next time. Thanks 👍

[@DarrenBoxhall]

The bearings will last the life of the van as long as they don't get contaminated or run out of grease. Definitely don't need to replace anywhere near 20k

[@XploringOz]

I found them to become contaminated fairly quickly, whether this from multiple water crossing or the type of terrain we cover. Either way, its cheap insurance

[@Robert-cu9bm]

Depends if they used Chinese bearings or not. A quality brand like skf, nsk would easily go the distance.

[@RedBeard30-06]

Who carrys a thermal imaging camera

[@XploringOz]

…me? 🤷‍♂️ they come in more useful than you might think

[@ausguy4385]

20k kms 😂 you need to buy better bearings. No gloves.... 😂

[@DarrenBoxhall]

One more thing. You go through all this bullshit of replacing them all the time and all that....but you don't even preload with a torque wrench. You just guessed, or maybe that's why you need to replace them so often

[@GR8Tmate]

If you listened to what he said in the video, he stated that he didn’t have the equipment (torque wrench) to tighten them down to spec at the time of making the video (or on the road), so he demonstrated the technique to do the next best thing. Often with remote travel this is the way it’s going to be done. You seem to like flexing on someone else’s video, had you thought about doing your own, on your own channel OR do you just like to come and call BS on other peoples channels?

[@peterwest5661]

Top job mate. Very good tutorial. Only thing I wouldn't do is tap a hardened bearing outer race with a hardened head hammer. Could get nasty for your eyes.

[@DarrenBoxhall]

Not flexing. Just stating that maybe he might not need to replace them so often if he torqued then correctly. But as he said to me, be goes super remote so better safe than sorry. Which I agreed​@@GR8Tmate