Chinese trailor bearings

[skchevota]

I have had my 70 stored over at a buddys shop in fort collins for the last few months because of my lack of room, and its lack of windshield I could not have it out side. So I get a call from by buddy that they have an emergancy job coming through and need all the space they can get for the next week of so. So I grab my trailor and head to go pick up my truck. I showed up just about dark and my chevy fird right up like I drove it 5 minutes before. I was stoked, I even took it for a drive around the business complex. I drove it up on the trailer and noticed grease all over the trailer wheel. I cheked them before i left and it was clean, I look down and see that the cap is missing. I thought I must of lost it, then i moticed that the spindle nut was not in the center of the hub. I gave the wheel a shake and sure enough the bearings were gone. Luckly there was a napa dow the street that carys a full line of trailer parts. I pull the wheel and hub an find plenty of grease( I grease them regularly) but the bearing is in pieces. When I drove out the races it said CHINA right on them. What a load of crap! Amarican made trailer with chinese parts. i go to napa and guess what, they cary the same china crap bearings. The guy asked if i found eveything ok and i said yea, these ar e chinese just like the ones Ipulled out. he thought that was funny. I thought it was funny that a company called red neck trailer parts, sells parts that are as far from red neck as you can get. My point to all this is check your trailers often, if it has the same crap bearings as mine no amout of grease will make them last. Yu can bet the first chance I have I will be pulling the other hubs apart to see it they ara about to go. I did not have my camera with me but I did take a couple of shots when i got home of the 70s home comming!

[OARNGESI]

What gas tank does that truck have

[special-K]

That`ll leave a burr under your saddle.What gets me is "that`s the way it is" and we`re just supposed to accept junk so someone can make a bigger profit margin.II`m willing to pay or quality.It`s cheaper (and safer) in the long run.There are still American made bearings and other parts.But,when I ask it`s usually an "I dunno".When did life become a crap shoot?Most just accept it an take it for granted.I remember "Jap Junk"(sorry to the pc crowd.That was the accepted term back then) when the first "Japanese products made for America" came over here after WWII.That changed to the concensus that if it was made in Japan it was a quality product.I wonder if that`ll happy with Chinese products someday?It`s a damn shame to lose our jobs,net worth,and be deep in debt to a nation just to get junk in return.

[theyammieguy]

Well, you can't just grease a bearing and expect it to last. Tightness of the axle nut should be checked as well. I see bearing failure all the time due to improperly adjusted axle nuts.

[Andy4639]

I hope you packed the bearing with grease. If not you will need a new one again in a few more trips with the trailer depending on how much you use it.
I have a 10' utility trailer I haul golfcarts on to the beach. 5 hour drive each way and I have packed the bearing's once a year. I've had the trailer for 12 years and replaced the bearings one time so far. Porper maintance is the key here.

[LockDoc]

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I was having problems with my trailer bearings (made in China) so the last time I had one go out I went to Standard Bearings Co. and bought all new Timken bearings and races. No more problems....

LockDoc

[skchevota]

I would be ok with the non us parts if they had the ame quality. I just wanted to vent. I also check the bearing preload often. One thing I have noticed is that the cheep bearings wear a lot faster so the preload goes away. You can bet i packed that bearing very well, and the hub, Then my axles have a zerk fitting on the spindle that pumps grease in to the center of the two bearings. If I have time next week i will pull apart the other three and see how they loo. I will give you guys an update.

The tank in my truck is a Summit 20 gallon fuel cell. I removed the foam because I did not know how it wouldreact to Diesel fuel. I mounted it side ways so the lines come off the sump to the driver side. The sump feeds from the middle of the tank so it has plenty of fuel at any angle. If you want more pics i can get you some close ups. i had a build thread for it a yearor so ago, but i have not updated it because the project has taken a back seat to customer builds. I will hopefully get back to it soon, especialy since it is at the house.

[71/454]

I started out as an Recreational vehicle technician, a motorhome mechanic. Needless to say I've done enough trailer bearing repacks that thinking about it just rolls my eyes. I too always found the cheaper bearings were not worth putting in, you would do them again in a years time. Now I will only use a quality bearing like timken or fag it's just not worth the labour and not to mention being stuck on the side of the road.

[72armyswbtruck]

Timkin all the way.