Sorry but I still don't agree. If he can't tell if they are bad or not then
he probably can't change them either. And contrary to Harry's suggestion
they are a lot easier to inspect that they are to change. Because if you
replace the bearings you should replace the races too. If one of the
bearings is bad then the race is bad too.

So now with no other knowledge except that this is a used trailer you guys
would all advise the guy to take it to a service center and probably pay a
couple hundred to have the bearings all replaced? Again does that sound
like the best advise you can give him?

I'd ask some more questions before I gave advice on replacing the bearings.
Like how old is the trailer? Where did the previous owner use it? How
often was the trailer and boat used. How many axles on the trailer? How
big is the boat? Was it used in fresh water or salt water?

All he asked was if he was going to have a problem because of the grease he
used. And all of you tell him to replace the bearings.

"Rod McInnis" wrote in message
...

"Lawrence James" wrote in message
nk.net...
It is extremely easy to tell if a bearing is bad or not with a visual
inspection.

You may have the experience, expertise and critical eye to be able to
inspect a bearing and determin if it is okay or not. Not everyone can.

If you are driving down the road, and hear a growling rumble that goes
away
when the car stops moving, you might suspect that a bearing has failed. A
failed brearing is pretty easy to spot. You pull the hubs, take a look at
the races, the one that was making all the noise is easy to spot.

If you had pulled the hub off 100 miles earlier and looked at that
bearing,
it would not be so easy to spot that it was about to fail.

I don't replace good parts. You don't even know how old the
trailer is, how much it was used, or if it even was used in salt water.
You
just offhanded recommend replacement with no other info about the
situation.
Does that sound like well thought out good advice to you?

Sounds like good advice to me. If the guy who was originally asked the
question was as much of an expert as you are, then he probably wouldn't
have
asked the question in the first place. Assuming that he does not have
your
level of expertise, then just routinely changing the bearings on a trailer
of unknown history is a good idea.

Rod McInnis