Reasons for Wheel Bearing Maintenance
Wheel bearing maintenance is not an exciting topic, but it is something in which campers should know. As members of several Facebook camping groups, we have learned that wheel bearings on campers should be packed with grease routinely. On this topic, we have seen recommendations for annually and for every 10,000 miles.
This maintenance prevents unnecessary friction on the bearings and enables the identification of worn bearings or a dry axel. Grease breaks down over time and the heat generated during braking speeds up that process. Therefore, adding fresh grease addresses this problem.
This maintenance is an important safety procedure. First, if bearings are not properly greased, the wheels could lock up and cause an accident. Additionally, the axel could also be damaged by improperly greased wheels.
Our Wheel Bearing Maintenance
As we have had our camper for about eighteen months and have towed it close to 10,000 miles. Clearly, it was time to perform this maintenance.
We contacted a local RV dealer to have the work done as my husband has a very bad knee. They said that they do not usually do the work and that it would be a significant wait. However, they informed us that a local tire dealer has a person who routinely does this task. We contacted him and got an early morning appointment. The technician completed the task in a couple of hours for $150.
E-Z Lube System
We later learned that if you have one of the later NuCamp campers with the E-Z Lube System, it is a very easy and quick process to add fresh and remove old grease using a grease gun. Our camper has this Lube System. The link below is to a very informative video with detailed instructions. If we had known it would be this easy, we would have done this ourselves.
It seems that many who own campers do this work themselves. To assist, there are several YouTube videos with detailed instructions. It is my understanding that it does not require a lot of special tools.
Sealed Bearings on Some Models
There is one last bit of information provided by a reader of this post. Early T@B models have sealed bearings that cannot be cleaned or repacked and it was recommended that owners keep a set of bearings with them as spares. This is probably true for some other camper models as well. It would be a good idea to determine if this is true for your camper if you have an older model.
Whether you do it yourself or find an expert to do the job for you, I encourage new campers to not ignore wheel bearing maintenance, an important safety task.
If you would like to read more about what we have learned on our camping adventures, we have a Camping Resources page for new campers you might want to visit.
Happy and Safe Camping!
