Took my 2010 Jayco Eagle into the shop for the pre-spring check up and a few other minor work. While there I was informed that I should have the seals repacked once per year. Well I missed one year not knowing is no excuse. Anyway they informed me that a seal leaked and we need both pads and magnets. My question how would you know if a seal has blown? Would there be something you would feel when braking? Kind of expensive lesson to learn.
Quote: Took my 2010 Jayco Eagle into the shop for the pre-spring check up and a few other minor work. While there I was informed that I should have the seals repacked once per year. Well I missed one year not knowing is no excuse. Anyway they informed me that a seal leaked and we need both pads and magnets. My question how would you know if a seal has blown? Would there be something you would feel when braking? Kind of expensive lesson to learn.
Seals are never repacked, the bearings are. You had a seal leaking grease into the brakes. Just replace the parts and enjoy the trailer, worry about more important stuff. If you start having brake problems that result in almost no braking from a wheel you might look into a leaking seal. If you want to repack the bearings once a year you must replace the seals at the same time.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed.
'09 299bhs Tango.
Actually they repack the bearings and replace the seals.
The only test I know would be to adjust the brakes low and lock them to skid on sand or gravel. If one wheel is not catching when the other are... maybe there's an issue with grease (or shoe adjust). The only full proof way to know is visual inspection for grease. I had one seal blow out and replaced the shoes. I never noticed any issue with braking. Not sure why you could not just clean up the magnet to avoid replacing that.
Maybe they ruined the seals when they repacked the bearings. You should get maybe 30,000 or 40,000 miles or 3 or 4 years befor you need to repack the bearings.
Far-N-Sweet , my first question for you would be;
-Have you been pumping grease into the " Bearing Buddy " with a grease gun
**** If you have been doing that you most likely have pushed too much grease into the chamber and the grease leaked past the """SEALS"""" onto the 'brake drum and shoes
and now the drum, shoes and seals are NO good. Complete brake job required.*****
Far-N-Sweet , there is NO such thing as "packing your SEALS"..... You can only pack your "bearings" and that is good for years if it is done correctly, unless it's a boat trailer which is submerged in water.
My guess would be that you have been pumping grease into the zert "bearing buddy" indiscriminately or the dealer is blowing in your ear with false problems.
In conclusion, if the brake drums and the brake shoes have grease on them, then repair and replace. If there is no visible problem like grease on the same, the dealer is taking you for a bearing ride.
I do mine 1/year (grease and repack bearings). It's not the most expensive thing to do and it's good preventative maintenance. I also maintain the refrig at the same time. It's required to keep your warentee active with Dometic.
If a seal leaked, it was either defective or someone pushed too much grease in the fitting and blew it past the seal. Maybe even the factory? Agree, you might have to replace the shoes and clean up the mess, but you shouldn't have to replace the magnet. I'm with the crowd that believes you should repack the bearings once a year, especially if the unit is used a lot.
2002 Keystone Cougar 286, 8,400lbs loaded, pulled with a 2004 F150 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 gears. Retired and enjoying life
Luke Porter wrote: I think you may be getting taken. Probably no reason to replace the magnet. Wipe off the grease, spray on brake cleaner on it--good to go.
Maybe go look at it?
I agree on the magnet replacement. Usually when you get grease on brake shoes, they will start grabbing at first. This is because the oil in the grease will soak into the lining material and soften it. Then once you get a lot more grease on it, you will start losing braking ability.
There is controversy here on how often you need to repack bearings. Some say once a year. There are others who say every other year. There are still others that go longer than that. I will tell you are went 9 years without doing it on a pup. Finally, the high temperatures in my garage on the ninth year (140 degrees) made the grease break into separate components. With hotel bills, air shipping, and labor, the new $200 axle cost me a little over $800.
If you decide to only have them repacked every other year, you need the wheels to turn often. Either go camping often, or store the trailer without weight on the wheels (also good for minimizing ozone damage to your tires). The latter allows you to go over and spin the wheels a couple of turns each month.
Now some will say you need to get in there and inspect and clean the brakes once of year anyway. Yes and know. It depends on how much you use your trailer. I tow mine a couple thousand miles a year. I don't need to clean and adjust the brakes every year. There are others who are putting 10K to 15K a year on their trailers. They need to do this yearly. Then there are those who tow more than 15K a year. They need to switch over to self adjusting brakes.
This topic always leaves me amazed. I've driven vehicles tens of thousands of miles without repacking the wheel bearings, and never had bearing failure. Bearing buddies? The EZ Lube hubs are totally different from bearing buddies. Bearing buddies pressurize the grease in the hub to keep out contamination....EZ Lube is designed to replace the old grease with new, completely filling the hub to keep contaminants out. Works well from what I've seen. I pumped new grease in the EZ lube hubs on the boat trailer (tandem axles) just a few weeks ago, and their was no salt water contamination present. The old grease will exit around the zerk on the end of the spindle. The old boat trailer we had had the Bearing Buddies, and sure enough, the previous owner had over pressured the hub, and blown a seal out.
I've seen a lot more bearing failure due to contamination from inspection or improper installation than from lack of lubricant. The wheel bearings on our fiver will be repacked when I inspect the brakes.
Will
2009 Chevy CC D/A 2500HD 4X4
2012 Rushmore 38CK
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