If you ever have to open up a wheel hub on a trailer, chances are you're going in to either grease the bearings or replace them because you didn't. The key is to make sure the "boat trailer bearings" stay greased on your own terms, so you don't find yourself replacing them on the side of the road at an inopportune time.

When installing boat trailer bearings or replacing them, you need a pair of pliers, a lug wrench, a hammer, a flathead screwdriver and the necessary means to jack the wheel up safely. Be sure to loosen the lug nuts with the lug wrench first. Once the wheel is in the air, all you have to do is follow a few simple steps.

Once you have clean, dry parts ready for reassembly, it's time to gob on some fresh bearing grease. With boat trailer bearings, you'll need to grease the entire hub to help keep water out. Otherwise, just grease the race surfaces and pack the bearings with as much grease as they'll hold. You can perform this task by hand or with a bearing packer, which typically costs $20 or less. Once packed, insert the inner bearing and seal, followed by the outer bearing and seal. Be sure to grease the spindle along the way. Once these are back in place, all you have to do is install the washer, castle nut, and dust cap or bearing protector. Then simply put the wheel back on and jack the trailer back down.

Let's face it: When you tow a trailer behind your vehicle, all you really want to do is get your payload from one location to another with minimal effort. You don't want the trailer to rock and rattle any more than is necessary, and you sure don't want it to slow you down. Luckily, you have a friend in this endeavor: boat trailer fag bearings.

You can't see these towing components without dismantling your trailer's wheel assembly, but bearings are in there doing you a world of good. They help to provide a smooth towing ride and prevent friction from slowing you down and unnecessarily wearing out your trailer's parts. Without them, heavy loads could grind wheel movement down to a standstill.

Your mechanic is probably treating your bearings like those on a car. ie they should be in perfect condition and suitable for high speed driving for 100s of thousands of Kms.boat trailer bearings are different story because they get dunked.The only practical answer is for you to do iko bearing service yourself. I have tapered roller bearings from an old larger car front wheels. 

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