Wheel bearing caps come off while driving

[snerdwack]

Last year we had one of the caps on our trailer wheel (bearing) come off somewhere while driving. As you may have guessed, the bearing lost the grease and was destroyed.
Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any tips to make sure it is prevented if possible?
Thank you.

[JFlightRisk]

It's possible it has happened before, but it's an unusual occurrence. Sorry that happened. Have the brake drums ever been off for bearing service?

I tend to take a quick look at ours to make sure they're seated in all the way, before going any distance with it. I've never lost one as of yet.

The worst one I had was one of the original caps leaking a little grease and was obvious all over the white wheel. There was nothing obvious to the naked eye why it was leaking. I replaced it with a new one, and no more leaking. They're not very expensive.

[snerdwack]

Yes. We'd repacked the bearings. We'd traveled over a thousand miles with no issue. Just happened I guess. Now, I check every time I stop for gas or whatever.
Thank you!

[craigav]

I would suggest that perhaps the cap coming off was not the root cause of the problem. I have taken the caps off hundreds of time (over the course of many trailers and autos not hundreds of trailers), in any case, none of them had a lot of grease (or any grease) inside the cap as the purpose of the cap is not to keep the grease in, but instead to keep the dust and dirt out. I suspect what happened is that the bearing was going bad perhaps due to a lack of grease or just going bad and the heat of the hub caused the cap to come off. In any case, I am happy you were able to resolve the issue and regardless of the cause, having the cap is important to keep the dust and dirt out. I would suggest using a laser guided temperature gun and use that to check the bearings and brake temps often during your travels. ~CA

[Dbunke]

Originally Posted by craigav

I would suggest that perhaps the cap coming off was not the root cause of the problem. I have taken the caps off hundreds of time (over the course of many trailers and autos not hundreds of trailers), in any case, none of them had a lot of grease (or any grease) inside the cap as the purpose of the cap is not to keep the grease in, but instead to keep the dust and dirt out. I suspect what happened is that the bearing was going bad perhaps due to a lack of grease or just going bad and the heat of the hub caused the cap to come off. In any case, I am happy you were able to resolve the issue and regardless of the cause, having the cap is important to keep the dust and dirt out. I would suggest using a laser guided temperature gun and use that to check the bearings and brake temps often during your travels. ~CA

This I believe is the answer. I only had 1 fall off and the bearings were toast. I believe the bearings went first, cap second. My routine at every gas or rest stop is to go around and feel the hubs with my hand. Never hot enough to pull my hand off..

[us71na]

Originally Posted by snerdwack

Yes. We'd repacked the bearings. We'd traveled over a thousand miles with no issue. Just happened I guess. Now, I check every time I stop for gas or whatever.
Thank you!

One of the primary causes of bearing failure is improper tightening of the bearing nut when repacking the bearings. If you get it too tight the bearings will overheat and bearing failure occurs. If you don't know the proper method for tightening the bearing nut after repacking get a professional to do your bearings or at least get a professional to show you how to do it.

Don't fill the bearing cap with grease.

[bap]

Originally Posted by us71na

One of the primary causes of bearing failure is improper tightening of the bearing nut when repacking the bearings. If you get it too tight the bearings will overheat and bearing failure occurs. If you don't know the proper method for tightening the bearing nut after repacking get a professional to do your bearings or at least get a professional to show you how to do it.

Don't fill the bearing cap with grease.

Too loose is almost as bad as too tight. Loose bearings will get hot too.

[CBears]

Great information here!