*Important trailer information reminder*

[Yeller]

I went over my bearings last night. Hopefully that is something I wont have to worry about for my next trip.
Question: How tight should the castle nut be on the washer/bearing?

I know there are a lot of techniques but here's mine. Tighten with a wrench while spinning the tire to good and snug like for any 3/8" bolt (9/16 head) back off 1/2 a turn and retighten with my fingers until the nut is 1/12th turn from snug. if you can't remove it easily with your fingers its too tight.

 

[Yeller]

here's the info on a sample of the tires Anything Ford was referencing.

https://simpletire.com/samson-st235-85r16-881422-tires

 

[Yeller]

Bearing buddies are great on small trailers with no brakes. on trailers with brakes if the seal fails you just greased your brakes. most trailers use a very poor seal so this has a good likely hood of happening.

 

[Justafordguy]

Talking about tires, anyone reading this who runs 16 inch Load E tires should look at going to load G tires the next time you buy some. No new tech, just mentioning it in case someone hasn’t heard about them.

I agree 100%, I upgraded the Cheap factory E rated tires on my 5th wheel to 14 ply, G rated, all steel belt, commercial tires and the difference is like night and day.

 

[CA Monkey]

trailer tires are a problem in general... most have moved on to LT (light truck) tires and have never gone back. I know its controversial but it's the truth. Don't take my word for it but if you are having trouble with trailer tires, look into it. Some trailer manufactures offer it as an upgrade from the factory now.

 

[jmangi62]

Thanks for the tire date code picture. I do better with a pic!

Same here, thanks.

 

[Yeller]

trailer tires are a problem in general... most have moved on to LT (light truck) tires and have never gone back. I know its controversial but it's the truth. Don't take my word for it but if you are having trouble with trailer tires, look into it. Some trailer manufactures offer it as an upgrade from the factory now.

Correct, trailer tires in general have major issues. The problem with LT tires is if you are running over 6000# per axle the tire is over loaded. Example the axle weight on my single axle trailer is 6200# with the bronco, spares, firewood, fuel, ect. which is over weight for LT E rated tires. But if you run under the 6000# number nothing wrong with LT tires unless your in a state that requires ST tires. Some LT tires are rated for trailer service and some are not. The all steel commercial trailer tires I'm running are about the same cost as a decent LT tire and rated at 4400# each.

 

[ScanmanSteven]

Yelled, I’m out of town this week, can you swing by and do mine so it’s ready for me? I know it’s in the wrong direction but hey, for a friend? If you don’t get by I’ll definitely check them.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Most of us don't have 7k axles, most are 5k and if undersized 3.5k. For those the LT tires are a perfect choice. 7k axles are the big boy and are not the regular cheap trailer tires that always fail. The trailers at work with 7k axles take massively heavy tire and wheel combos. I hate changing them, so far I have only had to do one on the side of the road.

For bearing temps I make it a habit to just feel the sidewall and the hub area with the back of my knuckles at each stop. The IR gun is neat but can leave you in a panic when one side is 10° warmer than the other, then you realize that is the side in the sun. The knuckle test isn't that sensitive but will tell if something really is off.

 

[56f100bbw]

Buddy bearings on 5 of my trailers and bought new master track ST tires with recent date codes tires are 10 ply 50 bucks each on CL no issues at all

 

[Yeller]

Yelled, I’m out of town this week, can you swing by and do mine so it’s ready for me? I know it’s in the wrong direction but hey, for a friend? If you don’t get by I’ll definitely check them.

Sure I’ll get right in that on the second Friday of next week

 

[Boss Hugg]

Sure I’ll get right in that on the second Friday of next week

Suddenly, I feel like being out of town the second Friday of next week... It's only a "few" hours drive between Scanman and myself and the job doesn't take that long. Can you get to mine too?

 

[Yeller]

Suddenly, I feel like being out of town the second Friday of next week... It's only a "few" hours drive between Scanman and myself and the job doesn't take that long. Can you get to mine too?

sure sounds like a good time:-*

 

[sprdv1]

Suddenly, I feel like being out of town the second Friday of next week... It's only a "few" hours drive between Scanman and myself and the job doesn't take that long. Can you get to mine too?

y'all are needy.. lol

 

[sprdv1]

Great thread and reminders. I just shot some grease into the bearing buddies on my boat trailer last night. I'm going walleye fishing tomorrow on the Detroit river.

Lucky.. Enjoy and good luck