Our pod is just 2 years old with maybe 5k miles at most. I thought I'd repack the bearings before I took it out on the first trip of the year and it's a good thing I did. I was very surprised to find that water had made it into at least one of the bearings (I still have to do the other side).

The contamination was only on the outer bearing, so the cap must have failed. The inner bearing looked good. As you can see from the picture below it has obvious signs of rust and pitting.

Luckily my local NAPA had a kit with everything (bearings, races, cap & seals). I picked up a couple just in case the other side has the same issue.

So... if you think squirting a little grease through the zerk will make everything ready to go, think again. The grease itself showed no signs of contamination and both the washer and castle nut were fine. If I had just topped it off I never would have known. Make sure that you (or a trusted RV shop) take the bearings apart regularly and inspect and repack. I'll be doing this every year from now on.

I also discovered a few interesting things about the brakes that I'll share in another thread (after I take the pictures).

Yep, I was so confident that it was going to be fine that I didn't even have spare bearings (just seals). It's worth it for the peace of mind and shouldn't take very long (unless they're rusted).

But once I pulled it off the spindle the dreaded rust color was obvious on the inner side:

Here's a side by side comparison of the caps (note the contamination was from the rubber plug, not the sides). I never even used the rubber plug:

Finally, here's the new seal I put in which seemed much higher quality than the OEM seals and went in much more easily (OEM on the left, new on the right):

You have motivated me (for one) to tackle this - this weekend if the weather holds.  My mileage on the R-pod is probably on  the high side for a trailer that is only 14 months old: about 12,000 miles.

I'll let the group know what I find.

 

It's not hard at all... just messy. I used the majority of a "box of rags" switching between messy jobs and clean jobs (like taking pictures). Since everything was new for me this time each step took a few attempts due to new tools and unfamiliar procedures. By far, the hardest was removing the rusted race, but even that only took a few minutes once I found a nice-sized metal rod to bang it out with. The videos on etrailer are a great starting point.

I just repack - and I'll check it again in a couple years.  As a reference, I have a cargo trailer with the same type of bearings.  I haven't touched them in ten years and they still run fine.  I'm sure they are due for service, but gives you an idea how long they can last if they don't get water in them.  If the seal does break you may only have a couple of months before they are shot.  

The best thing you can do for your bearings, after a repack, is just get in the habit of putting your hand on the hubs when you stop for gas.  This is one time when you can actually kick the tire to see if the bearings are tight enough as well.  As for temperature, they should be slightly elevated in temperature, but not burning hot.  If they are burning hot, get to the nearest place for repair.  If they seem warmer than usual, it might be time to service them when you get home.  It's a little harder to tell, because the R-pods have that plastic cover on the hubs.

                          Moe