[VAC] Re: Re Packing Wheel Bearings

["Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer" <geraldj@xxxxxxxxxx>]

It is important to get the old grease and the chips of failing rollers
and races out of the bearing. And to see those chips or the damaged
surfaces. If the races aren't perfectly smooth as new ones, they will be
working on breaking up the rollers (or be damaged by the rollers which
ever give up first) and could lead to a locked up wheel, or a wheel
falling off from wrecking the spindle.

Best to take bearings, hubs, and seals to the parts store. The races in
the wheel hub need to be pressed in and out. I sometimes succeed with a
hammer and brass punch, but now that I have a hydraulic press, I don't
have nearly as much trouble getting them straight. The auto parts store
with a machine shop can do that pressing rapidly and cheaply. So take
the hubs, the bearings, and the seals to get it all done in one trip.

Its probably a good idea to use grease made from modern front wheel disk
brakes on cars because the brake drums on a trailer can get really hot
if worked a lot.

Gerald J.