How to PROPERLY Replace Trailer Wheel Bearings

[00:00] Hey guys, ChrisFix here and today I'm going to  show you how to replace the wheel bearings on   your trailer with the most in-depth video on the  internet. So, let's get started.   So, whether you have a car trailer, an enclosed trailer, a utility trailer, horse trailer, a camper, a large boat trailer

[00:16] or a small boat trailer, after watching  this video, you'll be able to replace the wheel   Additionally, I'm going to show you how to change your own tires   at home yourself using one of these manual tire  changers. I actually mounted it up to a pallet.  

[00:30] That way it's portable. You can move it around.  You don't have to drill into your concrete. And   this works incredibly well. And the reason why  we're changing the tires is because look at this.   Look at how bad that is. We have tread separation  there. The rubber is all dry rotted. We have the  

[00:43] belt coming through and it's all rusted. These are  just not safe to drive on. It's not even holding air. So, we're going to change those out with some  nice new Trans Eagle tires I got from Priority Tire. They recommended these. So, I can't wait to  get those in. And I'm also going to show you guys  

[00:59] how to find the correct size and load rating for  your trailer so you get the correct tires so it's   safe to drive on. So between the new bearings and  tires, this is going to be an awesome setup.   And here are all the tools  and products you're going to need to get this  

[01:12] job done. As always, we're using common hand tools  so you could do this at home yourself on a budget.   So we have a rubber mallet, hammer, pliers, punch,  ratchet, sockets, pocket pry bars, torque wrench,  

[01:25] So, those are the tools. Here are the products. For each wheel on your trailer, you're going to need  a cotter pin, a seal, two bearings, two races,   and it's very, very, very important that you use  high quality wheel bearings. Do not cheap out here. 

[01:39] These are essential for safely trailering  down the road. So, use a name brand that you could trust. And these are made in the USA. I will teach  you how to find the parts numbers to all these for   your specific trailer. It's actually pretty easy.  That way, you could get the correct parts.

[01:53] is made for trailer bearings. We have our grease  gun. And then we're going to be installing our   bearing buddies. These are awesome. They help out  so much because they keep a positive pressure of  

[02:05] grease. Always feeding the bearings grease.  That way water and dust don't get into the   cutaway that I got water jetted so you can see  what's actually going on. I'm a visual learner,  

[02:18] so I wanted to show you this. We have our seal,  inner bearing, outer bearing, and then I can teach   you how to properly tighten down your axle nut.  So many people make this mistake and ruin their   are all the tools and products you're going to  need. I'll link everything down in the description  

[02:33] Now, the first thing we need to do is jack up the trailer. That way, we could get the wheel off. If you have a double or even triple  axle trailer and you need to lift up a wheel with  

[02:47] no tools, all you need to do is slide a couple of  pieces of wood in front of the other tire to make   a ramp, then drive the trailer up onto the wood,  and now the other wheel is free up in the air and   this is a real quick and easy way to lift your  wheel off the ground, and it comes in handy when  

[03:03] you have a blowout on the side of the road and you  need to change your tire. So, keep that in mind.   But, in this case, we have a single axle trailer  and a jack. So, let me show you how to jack up the   trailer. Now, the first thing I like to do is if  you can have your truck attached to your trailer.  

[03:17] That helps out tremendously. It provides a point  of stability right there and it just makes it a   lot safer to jack up a trailer. The next thing you  need to do is go to the other side of the trailer   and chalk off both sides of the wheel so the  trailer can't roll. Now, back on the other side,  

[03:30] let's break all five of these lug nuts loose  with the tire on the ground. That way, the wheel   done with common hand tools. With the lug nuts  loose, now we can get the jack under the trailer   frame. And I like to place the jack in front of  the tire, which is more towards the middle of the  

[03:45] trailer to keep it balanced. Now that the tire's  off the ground, let's get the jack stand under the   frame, in front of the tire, and behind the tire.  That way, we have a nice stable platform to work   on. Now, we can let the trailer down onto the jack  stands. And I like to pump the jack back up so it  

[03:58] lightly touches the frame just for extra backup.  Good. And finally, let's remove the lug nuts and   the wheel could come off. Now, we could remove the  plastic cap. And with a rubber mallet, we could   hit the dust cap until it comes off. Good. And  the rubber mallet prevents damage to the dust cap.  

[04:11] which is what prevents the axle nut from vibrating  loose. And once that's straight, it should pull   right out. Beautiful. Now, you never want to reuse  your old cotter pin. Always replace them with   brand new ones, especially on a trailer where the  axle nut relies on the cotterpin to keep the wheel  

[04:27] from coming off. Now, I haven't touched this axle  nut, but if it's installed properly, it should be   able to loosen by hand. Beautiful. So many people  overtighten these, and this ruins the bearings,   method to tighten this down when we install the  new bearings. So, let's remove the nut completely.  

[04:43] Then, there's an important washer right behind the  nut that you need to remove. Don't lose this. And   now, the hub should slide right out. So, with  the hub removed, let's replace the seal and the   bearings. Now, it's very important that you put  this down in a clean workspace. You do not want  

[04:56] anything that is sandy, that's gritty, that's  dirty, cuz you don't want that getting into the   hub, which will ruin the brand new bearings and  cause this to prematurely fail. Speaking of dirty,   it's also a good idea to have a lot of paper  towels on hand because this could get a little  

[05:09] messy with all the grease that's in the hub. So,  let's get started. And real quick, to give you   a better visual of what we're doing since this is  kind of enclosed and hard to see, I cut out a hub   so you can get a good view of the bearings inside.  So, first we'll need to remove the outer bearing,  

[05:23] and that'll come right out. Then, at the back of  the hub, we have a seal and the inner bearing.   The seal is going to take some force to pop out.  I'll show you a trick on how to get that out very   easily. And then we'll remove the inner bearing.  And all that leaves are these two hardened steel  

[05:37] races. To get those out, we're just going to use  a punch and hammer it out. So, now that you have   a good visual, let's get her done. And the first  thing we need to do is remove the outer bearing,   and that just comes right out. Then, we could flip  this over, and we need to remove the seal and the  

[05:50] inner bearing. Now, to remove the seal, there are  a few different methods, but I have one method   that requires no tools and is very easy to do. So,  let me show you. So, all you do is go back to your   axle, and you're going to get your hub and place  it back on the axle. Just like that. Almost like  

[06:04] axle nut on all the way so all the threads are  engaged. Now, so you have an idea of what's going   to happen, we're going to pull the hub out, and  the axle nut is going to act like a slide hammer  

[06:17] and remove the bearing and seal. So, we want to  give this a firm yank. Beautiful. And that's all   there is to it. No tools needed. And you can see  the inner bearing and the seal are removed. Now,   let's get the axle nut off. And then let's remove  the bearing and the seal. And it's that easy. Now,  

[06:33] here are two other seal removal methods I want  to show you as well. And for the first method,   we're going to be using the classic seal removal  tool. So, get the skinny end of the tool and place   it behind the seal like that. And then just  use the tool to pry the seal out. Good. And  

[06:46] that's all there is to it. And now you can remove  the bearing. And the final seal removal method I   have is to use a selftapping screw. You want to  use a relatively long screw and you want to drive   it into the seal. And make sure you leave a good  amount sticking out. That way you could grab it  

[06:58] with a pliers and pull it out. This method works  great for spots that you can't use a puller in,   remove the bearing and make sure you clean up any  metal shavings. That way, it doesn't get into the   hub. Okay, so with the seal and bearings removed,  the last thing we need to do is remove the two  

[07:13] races that are inside the hub. So, first you want  to remove all the old grease from the hub. That   way, we could clearly see the races we need to  remove. And I'm just using a paper towel, pushing   it all the way through to clean all the grease  out. Then let's hit it with some brake cleaner to  

[07:26] do a final rinse and flush out any dirt we didn't  pick up with the towel. Beautiful. So with most of   the grease removed now we could clearly see the  races. There's one on this side and there is one   on that side. And now we could go and punch them  out. Let me show you how. So this is the bearing  

[07:40] race or bearing cup. It is a hardened piece of  steel that is pressed inside the hub. And how it   works is the bearing fits inside of this and rides  inside of it. So it's very important that when we   replace the bearings, we replace the races. Too  many people only replace the bearings and they put  

[07:54] them in the old races and that causes them to wear  out prematurely. It's one extra step. It's really   quick. Let me show you how to do it. So, just as  a better visual, we have our cutaway here. You   punch like this, and we're just going to hammer  along the race. And the punch is going to be able  

[08:09] you want to make sure that you use a flat punch  like this, not a pointed punch like that, which   could damage the hub. All right, so let's get the  flat punch on the edge of the race. And I'm using  

[08:21] a 4-PB hammer to work my way around the race to  try to evenly punch it out. Now, you really want   to hit it hard to get that race out. Light taps  just aren't going to move it. You're going to need   a good amount of force. So, just keep hammering  your way around the race to work it out of the  

[08:34] hub. All right. And just like that, the inner  race has been removed. Now, let's go remove the   outer race. And I realize not everybody has a nice  vice like this, so I'm going to show you you could   get this job done with blocks of wood as well.  And since we're going to remove the outer race,  

[08:49] we're going to face this down, push the wood  together, and now the bearing has space to   pop out. So, same as before, work your way  around the race and walk it out of the hub.

[09:05] Beautiful. And just like that, we remove the  other race from the hub without using a vise,   just two blocks of wood. So, it's out with all the  old parts, the races, the bearings, and the seal,   and in with the new parts. Now, you might be  wondering to yourself, how do you know which  

[09:18] parts you need for your trailer? Because it's  not as easy as with a car where you have a year,   different axle sizes, which means different  bearing sizes. There's a lot of variables. So,   one foolproof way to know the exact correct parts  you're going to need is to take the old parts that  

[09:35] we just removed and look for the part numbers. So,  I'm going to clean the grease off of this bearing.   This is the outer bearing. And you can see right  there it says L44649. So that is the bearing part  

[09:47] outer bearing. You also want to check the inner  bearing because sometimes they could be different.   But in this case, you could see they have the same  exact part number. And just to show you, here's   the new bearing, L44649. It's the same exact part.  Same thing goes for the old races. There should  

[10:04] be part numbers stamped onto them. And right  there, L44610. Both the outer and inner races   are the same part. And then if we check the new  part, L44610. So, we're good to go. And finally,  

[10:17] the hardest part to find a part number because  usually it is mangled or it is rusted is the seal.   Just to give you an idea, we have a brand new  seal here. And here's the part number. Actually,   that's the size of the seal. But either way,  it's on the rubber. And there's no way we're  

[10:30] going to read anything off the rubber on this.  So, what you do is you get a caliper like this,   and we're going to measure the outside diameter  first. So, that is 1.98. And then we're going to   measure the inner diameter where the rubber is.  And that's about 1.2. And then our width here,  

[10:45] which is about 0.25. And that'll give us the  exact size we need. And now that you know how to   find the correct seal, there's two other things to  look at when you're buying seals. The first thing   is the coating on the seal. Some of them have a  coating on it, like this one in the blue. Some  

[10:58] of them are raw metal finish, like that one right  there. They're both the same size, but the coating   helps it seal better when your trailer goes in  the water, like for a boat. Now, most seals today   are coated like that, even if it's not for a boat.  But if you have an uncoded seal, I'm going to show  

[11:12] you how to use RTV on this to make it so that it's  like a coated one. That way, you could seal it up   properly. And the second thing is the lip of the  seal. There is a single lip seal and a double lip   seal. So, for the single lip seal, it's exactly as  it sounds. There's one lip on this seal that seals  

[11:27] in all the grease and seals out all the dust and  water. Now, for the double lip seal, we have two   lips. We have an outer lip right here. You can see  that edge right there. And then we have an inner   lip. You can see that edge right there. And the  outer lip seals out the dust and water. The inner  

[11:40] lip seals in the grease. So when you're buying  your seal, try to find a double lip and coated   seal for your application. That's everything  you need to know about seals. All right,   so now you know how to find the correct parts  for your trailer. Let me show you how to properly  

[11:53] install them into the hub. So first, we want to  find any burrs or scratches like that one right   there inside the hub. And we probably did this by  accident with the punch when we hammered the old   race out. And although this is small, I can still  feel the burr with my finger, which means it needs  

[12:05] to be smoothed out. So, grab a scouring pad or 800  grit sandpaper. And just lightly sand it smooth.   feel it anymore with your fingernail. And now we  won't damage the new race when we push it in. Now,  

[12:17] here, which is pretty common. This is where the  seal mounts and sometimes moisture gets trapped.   Again, all you need to do is grab a scouring pad  or 800 grit sandpaper and smooth this down. Now,   you're not going to sand so much that you get rid  of the staining. it's still going to be there.  

[12:32] brake cleaner and clean out the hub so there's  no dirt or grit that could damage our new wheel   bearings. Then I'm using a plastic bristle brush  to agitate the surface and make sure we really   get everything clean. And finally, we can give  this one last spray down with the brake clean to  

[12:46] flush out any dirt. Okay, and check it out. That  looks great. So, with the inside of our hub nice   and clean, now we can install all the new parts,  starting with the bearing race. And to do that,   there are two different methods I have. The  first one is using a really nice bearing race  

[13:00] and seal driver set like this. I'll link one in  the description that doesn't break the bank and   to your big brand part stores. Vance Auto Parts,  O'Reillies, AutoZone, Napa. A lot of times they  

[13:13] they're kind of incentivized. But just  in case you can't find this driver set,   I will also show you how to get the job done  using a big socket. So, let's get started. Now,  

[13:25] there are two different sides to the race. We have  the wide edge side, and then we have the narrow or   skinny edge side, and then it kind of tapers in.  You want to make sure this wide edge side goes   down into the hub like that. So, the skinny edge  is facing up. Now, we could grab the correct size  

[13:40] driver from the set. And you'll know you have the  correct size because the shoulder of the driver   needs to fit on the narrow edge of the race,  just like that, and be nice and flush. That way,   we could drive this all the way deep into the hub.  Now, if it's too small, like this one right here,  

[13:55] it's going to fit inside, and that is not good. We  do not want to drive down onto this surface that   the bearing rides on. And if it's too big, it's  going to overhang, and you're not going to be   able to drive this down deep enough. So, find the  correct driver that fits right on the edge, just  

[14:08] like that. Now, to set this up, let's grab the  part that you hammer and put the driver on the end   of it. Then, we can just finger tighten the bolt  on the end like that. And this is the final setup.   Now, real quick, we want to remove the race. And  we need to put a very thin coat of grease on the  

[14:21] inside of the bore. That way, when you hammer  the race in, it doesn't gall the surface. Now,   let's get the race back in. And remember, the  thinner edge faces up. Now, we can get the driver   on the race. And you want to begin with light  taps to get it started. That way, it goes in  

[14:33] evenly. And once you drive it in a little bit and  see it's level, now we can hammer it in with more   force. And you'll know that race is seated all  the way in because it'll feel and sound different.

[14:48] Perfect. And you can see that race is bottomed  out. It's seated against the lip in the hub. So,   we're good to go. And just in case you were  wondering why we can't use a punch to install   the race, it's because if you miss the edge  here and you go up against this surface right  

[15:01] here and scratch that or nick it, it is ruined.  This surface has to be a perfect finish because   the bearing is going to sit inside of here and  roll against it. So, we can't have any damage   to this surface at all. Now, our driver is made  of aluminum. So when it sits inside that race,  

[15:16] even if it bangs up against it, it's a softer  metal than the hardened steel in the race,   so it won't cause any damage. So now you know  how to use a driver. Let me show you the trick   to using a socket to get the other race in.  And this race is for the inner bearing. So  

[15:30] the outside edge of this race. And then you also  need to make sure that the socket fits inside the   hub like this. That way it can be driven all  the way in. So, just like before, add a thin  

[15:43] coat of grease on the inside of the hub to prevent  galling. And then fit the race into the hub with   the thin edge facing up and place the socket  right on that edge. And we can hammer it in.

[16:01] races are installed. We are ready for the next  step, and that is to install the inner bearing   and then bearing seal. Now, these bearings do not  come greased from the factory. They are completely  

[16:14] for nothing. So, let me show you how to properly  grease a bearing. And there's two ways to do that.   The hand packing method or using a bearing packing  tool like this. And I'm going to show you both  

[16:26] ways. And real quick, before you start packing  the bearings, make sure your gloves are clean. You   don't want any grit or anything on them. Make sure  you have paper towels out and ready to go cuz this   could get a little messy. Also have the garbage  can next to your workspace open ready to go so  

[16:39] that way you can throw your paper towels right  in because your hands are going to be covered in   grease. So, let's get started. This is the grease  I'll be using. I'll put a link in the description   to it. It's designed to work on trailer bearings  and it won't break down if water gets in it. So,  

[16:51] it in my left palm. Then you're going to get your  bearing and we want to force the grease in between   the bearing cage right where the rollers are.  You can see there's an opening right there. Also,  

[17:03] on this side, there is an opening, but that  opening is smaller. So, we're going to force it   into this opening until it starts coming out the  top here. So, here's how you do it. All you need   the bearing down and drag it against your palm to  pack that grease into the bearing. And you want to  

[17:19] just keep repeating this process until the grease  comes out the top of the bearing, which means it's   packed with grease. And if you take a look at the  top of the bearing, you can see it's starting to   get filled with grease. Perfect. This is exactly  what you want to see. So, now we have this part  

[17:31] of the bearing packed. We need to turn the bearing  a little bit and repeat the process. Again, you're   just scraping the edge of the grease with the edge  of the bearing, pushing it into your palm, packing   So, let's turn the bearing and keep packing. And  for some reason, I find this very satisfying.  

[17:47] We're still using an old school method that's  been used since the industrial revolution. Okay.   And then when you run out of grease on your palm,  you could get more or in this case, there's excess   grease that built up on the inside of the bearing.  And this should be plenty to finish the bearing  

[17:59] it's recommended to repack them using the same  exact method once a year or every 12,000 mi,   whatever comes first. That way, the fresh grease  keeps the bearings in good shape. All right,  

[18:12] and all the roller bearings. And then if we flip  this over, you can see there's complete coverage   of grease on the other side as well. And then any  excess grease that you might have on your hand,   and not dry. And that's how you pack a bearing  by hand. Now, we need to pack the other bearing.  

[18:30] on the bottom. So, first remove the dust cover.  This is nice cuz it keeps the grid out. Then,   unscrew the plunger. And now, we can put the  bearing in here. And you can see there's holes   center like that. Then, grab the plunger and screw  it back in. That way, it centers the bearing and  

[18:48] seals it off so the grease only has one place to  go, through the bearing cage. Now, we need to push   this down to force the grease up into the bearing.  And it does take all your body weight to get this   thing to work. And this is exactly what you want  to see. The grease pushes right up through the  

[19:01] bearing cage all at once, making this a quick and  easy method. And that's it. Now we can unscrew the   plunger and take a look at that. Perfect. So,  while this packing tool packs the bearings very   quickly and nicely, you still want to add some  grease to the outside of the rollers so they  

[19:15] aren't dry. All right, so now you know how to pack  bearings, let's go install them into the hub and   finish this up. So, first get some grease and coat  the race. That way, it's well lubricated. Then,   we can install the bearing tapered end down. That  way, it fits into the cup of the race. Good. So,  

[19:29] you want to try to find a seal that has a double  lip. And you also want to try to find a seal that   has a coating on it. So, this seals up perfectly.  In that case, you would just put it like that and  

[19:41] then hammer it in so it's flush. But just in case  you can't find a seal with a coating, I have an   uncoded seal here. I'm going to show you how to  add your own coating using RTV. So, let's remove   the coated seal. And for the uncotated seal,  we're going to get a bead of RTV on the outside  

[19:55] like that. And then just use your finger to spread  it out. So there's a really thin skim coat all the   way around. You want to make sure there's complete  coverage all the way around. And again, it just   needs to be a thin coat because this is a tight  fit. And this coating is going to seal the water  

[20:08] and dust out. Now, we want to add the seal right  away. And there are two sides. We have the cupped   side, and that goes towards the bearing cuz it  holds the grease. And then we have the flat side,   which faces up. Then we'll use a rubber mallet to  carefully tap in that seal. And you want to work  

[20:20] your way around the seal trying to tap it in so  it goes in evenly. Good. And that's nice and flat.   The last thing to do here is to fill the open area  between the bearing and the seal with grease. So,   double lip seal. Beautiful. So, with the inner  bearing and seal properly installed and greased,  

[20:38] we will add some more grease a little bit later  on through the zer fitting once this is on the   axle. But for now, let's flip this over and  install the outer bearing. So, first I like to   add just a little bit of grease to the inside of  that hub. You see the bore in there right in the  

[20:50] middle. There is no grease and it is completely  dry. And we do not want this to rust because then   flakes of rust could get into the bearing and  cause this to fail prematurely. So, there's a   little bit of a debate of whether or not to keep  this empty or add grease. And my suggestion is to  

[21:03] add a little grease. You just want like a/4 in  around the entire bore. It's a little coating   that is what I've always done and I've never  had any problems. Now, let's add some grease to   the race just like we did to the other race. And  finally, we could add the bearing tapered end down  

[21:19] and push it all the way in. Okay, so now that  we're done installing everything into the hub,   let me show you how to properly install this onto  the axle. And before we slide the hub on, first   thing we need to do is clean the axle. Actually,  real quick, these leaf springs on this trailer  

[21:31] have seen better days. They are falling apart.  Look at how rusty they are. And they're definitely   not safe to drive on. So, you know what that  means? Out with the old and in with the new. So,   now let's get back to cleaning the axle. So, get a  towel and we want to remove all the old grease and  

[21:44] dirt from the axle. Also, right here where that  seal rides always collects dirt and grease. So,   make sure you get this nice and clean as well.  With the axle clean, now you want to inspect the   inside of the axle right here. This is where  the seal is riding. Just to give you an idea,  

[21:58] here is the seal, and it will ride right on here  in the hub. And this spins pretty quickly. So,   it's pretty important that this surface right here  doesn't have a big groove. I can't grab anything   is grab my scouring pad, or you could use like  an 800 grit sandpaper, and we're just going to  

[22:14] lightly clean this up. And it's just going to  freshen up the surface. That way, our new seal   has a nice clean smooth surface to ride on. Now,  if this surface is really pitted from corrosion or   might have to replace the axle cuz it's probably  not going to seal properly. In this case, we are  

[22:30] good to go. Same thing for this surface right  here. If there's a lot of corrosion or grooves,   you might need to replace the axle. In this case,  we have a little bit of corrosion, but nothing I   let's get it installed. So, cover the axle with  a coat of grease to prevent this from getting  

[22:45] corroded. Good. Now we can install the hub. And  remember, the studs are facing out. And also,   I like to put my thumbs on the outer bearing. That  way, when we install it, it doesn't pop out. So,   slide the hub on carefully so you don't damage the  seal. And make sure it's all the way seated on the  

[22:58] axle. Good. Now, we need to make sure we install  the washer. And don't forget to do this. Also,   my fingernail. So, we're good on this side, and  we're good on the other side. It's important this   is smooth and flat because this is what sits up  against the bearing. Finally, add some grease to  

[23:13] both sides of this washer. Then we can install  it. And now we can get the axle nut on there   and handtighten it all the way down. So with our  axle nut just fingertight, now comes one of the   most important parts of this entire process, and  that is making sure we tighten down the axle nut  

[23:27] properly. If you overtighten it, you'll ruin the  bearing. If you undertighten it, you'll ruin the   bearing. There's a specific way to tighten down  trailer bearings because they're tapered. So,   let me show you. Okay, so at this point, it's just  handtight. Now, get your torque wrench set to 25  

[23:39] ft-lbs onto the axle nut. And then you're going  to spin the hub and tighten the axle nut a little   bit. Then you're going to spin the hub again. And  we're spinning this that way the bearings inside   see evenly as you tighten it down. Perfect. So  that's 25 footbs. And the hub feels like it's  

[23:51] bound up and not turning smoothly anymore, which  is fine. So let's spin it and double check to make   sure it's torqued. Good. Now you want to get a  regular ratchet or a wrench and you want to set   it to the 12:00 position. Then we need to loosen  the axle nut about an eighth of a turn or 45°.  

[24:07] So it's between the 10 and 11:00 position. Now,  if you take a look at where the cotterpin goes,   you can see the castle nut is blocking the hole  for the cotterpin. So, you could try tightening   it just enough so that the hole isn't blocked  anymore. Now, the cotterpin could slide right  

[24:23] through. And you can see the axle nut is kind  of loose, which oddly enough is correct. This   allows the bearing to spin freely. And the spec  is for the hub to have between 1 and 5,000 of an   inch of play. Let me show you. So, I set up a dial  indicator on here. And let me just zero this out.  

[24:36] That way I could show you guys at least visually  what 1 to 5 thou looks like. So you can see the   axle nut is exactly how we had it. And if you push  the hub in, it goes to zero. And if we pull on it,   it goes to around 3 to 4 thou, which is within  our 1 to 5 thou spec that's recommended. And  

[24:49] the only reason I'm showing you this is because  most people don't have a dial indicator to check   down to 25 ft-lbs and then back it off about an  eighth of a turn. Even if you need to adjust the  

[25:01] axle nut slightly to fit the cotter pin, you're  going to be good to go. You're right in spec. Now,   let me show you the proper way to fasten the  cotterpin. First off, do not reuse your old cotter   pin. This axle nut is only on here fingertight, so  the cotter pin is holding this in place. That way,  

[25:14] it doesn't come loose and your wheel doesn't fall  off. So, first, push the cotter pin all the way   in with your finger and hold it there. Then,  grab a pliers and bend it outwards 90°. Now,   some more leverage. And you want to bend that  cotterpin as flat as possible against the end  

[25:30] of the axle. And that's about all I could do.  So now wedge the pliers between the axle nut and   cotterpin to keep the cotterpin in place. And then  tap the end with a hammer to flatten it out. Good.   Now your axle nut is securely locked in place.  That's not going anywhere. Now this is completely  

[25:43] done. All you need to do is install a dust cap  like this. You just need to fill it with grease.   Take a little bit of that grease, put it around  the edge of the cap like so. That way it doesn't   get corroded. And now use a rubber mallet to tap  the dust cap onto the end of the hub, making sure  

[25:58] it goes in as straight as possible. And with  that, you'd be good to go. But as you know,   I like going above and beyond and showing you guys  the best that you could get for your setup. And   I'm going to be installing these. These are called  bearing buddies. They work amazing for keeping the  

[26:11] water and the dirt out. So, let's knock this dust  cap off since we aren't using it. And install our   bearing buddy. This thing is awesome because it is  spring-loaded, so it keeps a positive pressure on   here. Let me show you. So, first, get a little bit  of grease on the end here. That way, it doesn't  

[26:26] corrode to the hub. Now hammer it on just like the  other dust cap, making sure it goes in as straight   as possible. Next, let's connect the grease gun to  the zer fitting and pump this up with grease. So,   pump it up and watch the plate inside the bearing  buddy get pushed outwards. And once you see it  

[26:41] pushed all the way out and stay out, it's filled  with grease. Now, I like to spread the grease   around inside to prevent any corrosion and then  push the dust cap on. Now, in the back of the hub,   not supposed to happen. This means the fitting  is bad. So, loosen it up with a 10 mm wrench and  

[26:58] pushing that grease out. Then, let's get a new  Xer fitting right in here. And I'm installing   an angled one. That way, I could more easily add  grease with the wheel on. Now, let's attach the   grease gun. And we're only going to need a few  pumps since we have that bearing buddy installed.  

[27:13] Good. And now we're done. All right. So, now you  know how to properly replace the wheel bearings   on your trailer. I did the other side as well, but  now we can't reinstall these old dry rotted tires.   So, I'm going to show you how to use one of these  manual tire changers to change your tires at home.  

[27:30] But first, real quick, how do you know what the  correct tire is for your specific trailer? First   thing to look for is over on the trailer tongue.  There is usually a sticker somewhere on the side   here. You can kind of see where our sticker was.  This trailer is pretty old, so that sticker is  

[27:44] long gone. Now, for this trailer, I know the  sticker exists. And if we take a look down here,   kind of near the tongue right over here, you could  see the sticker. And it gives you everything you   need to know. the tire size, the tire pressure,  which is very important, and also how much weight  

[27:58] each axle could hold, which is important for  finding the correct tire. So, since we don't have   that information, what we're going to do is go off  the tire that we have already. And what you want   to do is look right here, and this is our tire  size, 17580 R13. And then this number right here,  

[28:14] 92/88M, is very important. The M is the max  speed rating for this tire. And if you look   at the chart, that's 81 mph. And then the 92/8892  is for a single axle trailer. 88 is for a multiple  

[28:26] axle trailer. And if you look at the chart, that  means our tire could hold 1,389 lbs per tire. So   that's about 2,800 lb per axle, which is about  right for this 19 ft boat. So we know which tire  

[28:38] size we need and the tire load rating. But what  brand do you go for? And I've had really bad luck   with trailer tires. I don't want to talk about it.  So I made a quick Instagram post asking you guys   what tires you recommend from your experience. and  I really appreciate all the suggestions. The top  

[28:52] voted comment was from Priority Tire and they  recommended Trans Eagle tires for towing. So,   I went on their website and I searched for my  tire size, which again 175 8013 and there are a   bunch of different options. I mean, lots of tires.  There's a bunch of high-end brands to more budget  

[29:06] friendly options. And I took a look at the tires  they recommended and it actually has a higher   speed rating of 87 mph and a higher load rating.  So, it's a heavier duty tire. Plus, you can't beat   the price. So, I ordered three of them, and I'll  explain why I got three for a single axle trailer  

[29:20] it's worth checking the homepage for the special  deals like these. And then there's also a discount   page, which I'll link in the description for you.  So, if you need tires for your car or trailer,  

[29:32] you could find some really good deals on here,  and hopefully that helps you save some money. So,   that's how you properly find which size tire  you need for your trailer. Thank you very much,   Priority Tire, for the suggestion and for  supporting the video. And with that said,  

[29:44] the air out. So go to the valve stem and remove  the dust cap. Then use a valve stem core tool.   And you want to insert this into the valve stem  and unscrew it. That way the core comes out.

[29:58] And check this out. You can see our core is all  corroded. So that's probably one of the reasons   why the tire wasn't holding air. Okay. So as the  air comes out, next we need to debead the tire.   So place it at the base of the tire changer. And  then this piece right here needs to go between the  

[30:11] rim and tire like that. Now get the handle that  comes with the tire changer and insert it here.   And then this gives you the leverage you need  to press the sidewall down and debead the tire.   So push it all the way down like this. Then you  want to rotate the wheel and push it down again.  

[30:24] Perfect. And you can see how the tire came off  the wheel. Now we need to flip this over and do   the other side. So get the tool between the tire  and rim and push down. Good. And you can see the   tire separated from the wheel. Now let's mount the  tire to the top of the tire changer. So line up  

[30:38] the lug nut hole with the hole in the base right  there. Then add the wheel holder. And finally,   insert the metal rod, which prevents the wheel  from spinning. Now, let's tighten down the top.   Then, snug it up with your tire iron. And now,  we can get the duck head attachment on here. And  

[30:51] wheels. And now, with everything all set up,  all you need to do is lubricate the duck head   with some soapy water. Then, slide your tire  iron under the sidewall of the tire. And then,   use leverage to lift the sidewall of the tire  up over the duck head like that. Now, we want to  

[31:06] lubricate the rest of the tire with soapy water.  And this is very important. It makes the process   a lot easier. Without lubrication, this is going  to be impossible. And now we need to spin this   duck head around the tire using the long metal bar  for leverage. And you're going to have to use some  

[31:18] force to do this. And what we're doing is lifting  the tire up over the wheel like that. Good. Now,   we need to remove the bottom sidewall. So, sneak  that tire iron down under the bottom of the tire.   idea of what's happening, here's a view from under  the tire. Now, we can spray this side down with  

[31:35] some soapy water. And you can't use too much soapy  water, so get it really lubricated. And then the   same process as before, work that duck head around  the edge of the tire, and that lifts the other   sidewall up over the rim. That way, we can remove  this tire off the wheel. Beautiful. And just like  

[31:48] that, the old tire could be removed. Now, before  installing a new tire, we want to install a new   valve stem. And to remove the old one, just grab  a cutters and cut the base right here. Then,   the valve stem should come right out. Now, we can  install the new one, all you need to do is get it  

[32:01] through the hole like that. Then, screw on a valve  stem puller all the way. And this is designed to   pull on the valve stem to seat it up into the  wheel. Perfect. And that's all there is to   replacing a valve stem. Now, an extra step I like  to do is to clean right where the tire bead seats  

[32:14] onto the wheel. So, spray it down with some soapy  water. Then, use a metal wire brush and brush the   surface to clean up any corrosion or old rubber or  dirt left behind by the last tire. Good. Then, we   can wipe it down to remove all that dirty water.  And make sure you wipe down the entire wheel. Now,  

[32:27] the wheel. And this is important to do so that the  new tire has a nice clean smooth surface to seal   to. Sometimes you could install a new tire and it  could leak air through the surface, especially if   there's corrosion or dirt. Beautiful. So, with the  rim nice and clean on the inside where the bead  

[32:42] seats, our valve stem is brand new and installed.  We are ready to install our brand new tire. So,   let me show you how. Okay, so now let's get the  new tire up on here. And in this case, I'm going   to be using this tire lubricant on the new tire.  It's inexpensive and works really well. But if you  

[32:56] have to do is spread it around the entire sidewall  where the bead is. And now we're gonna flip this   tire over and push it onto the wheel. Sometimes  this easily pushes onto the rim, but this tire is  

[33:08] a little stubborn and that's okay. Just get your  duck head attachment mounted and then spin it   around the wheel to push the bead of the tire over  the rim. Good. Now, we need to use the tire iron   to put the bead of the tire under the duck head.  Then, we need to add lubricant around the entire  

[33:21] bead and repeat the process. This is literally  just the opposite of what we just did. Instead   of removing the tire, we're pushing it back on.  And this last part takes a little extra strength   cuz we're really stretching the brand new tire.  There we go. All right, beautiful. The last thing  

[33:35] to do is to fill this with air. Now, before you do  that, if you have a yellow dot on the sidewall of   your tire, in this case, we don't have that, but  if you do, that is the lightest point of the tire,   and you'd want to rotate the tire to match the  valve stem. So, that dot would be right here where  

[33:49] the valve stem is, cuz the valve stem weighs  just a little bit extra. So, it helps balance   the tire. And real quick, just for reference,  here is what that yellow dot looks like. So,   these tires are for my barn fine restoration I'm  going to be doing. And you could see right here,  

[34:03] this is the light spot of the tire and it needs  to be matched up with that valve stem. But since   our trailer tires don't have the yellow dot, now  we can move on to filling the tire with air. And   I'm leaving the valve core in the stem to do this.  And at your compressor, you want to set the tool  

[34:16] pressure to as high as it goes. That way, it's  adding as much air as quickly as possible to seat   that bead. Now, you want to look on the side of  the tire, and it says to inflate to 65 PSI. So,   let's fill the tire up with air. And notice how  you could hear that air escaping, and the tire  

[34:29] isn't really filling up with air. Well, a trick is  to lift the tire at different spots to press the   bead against the wheel until it seals. Perfect.  And now you can see the tire is actually filling   with air. And that bead just seated. Okay. So, now  we need to pay attention and only fill this up to  

[34:42] 65 PSI. Don't overfill it. Good. Then we can get  that cap on the valve stem. And now you know how   to replace a tire with a manual tire changer. Now,  off camera, I mounted the two other tires. So,   all three trailer tires have been changed. And one  last thing, how do you balance the tires at home?  

[34:57] Well, the first option is you don't balance them.  They're small. They're for a trailer. You might   have a little vibration and in that case, these  are ready to go. But you could also use something   like balancing beads and these are actually pretty  cool. So, what you do is they come with these  

[35:09] bottles. And in these bottles are these little  beads. And here's what they look like. The beads   are made of glass. That way they don't absorb  moisture. And you're going to need about 3 oz,   which is about a third of the bottle for one  trailer tire to balance it. And the third option  

[35:21] balance it. So, that's what I chose to do.  And this shop has some nice equipment. So,   here's the process to balancing the tires. The  tech mounts the wheel to the balancing machine and   then lowers the hood. Then the machine spins the  wheel and checks the balance. And in this case,  

[35:37] you can see we need 3/4 of an ounce, which isn't  horrible. That's actually pretty good. And if you   look here, the laser points to exactly where you  need to place the weight. And then the tech could   hammer that weight onto the side of the wheel.  Finally, the wheel is spun up again and tested  

[35:50] to make sure it's properly balanced. And check  it out. We're good to go. Now, back at home,   let's get the spare tire on the trailer and torque  it down. Then we could get the port side wheel on   the trailer and torque that to spec. And finally,  there's one last wheel to get on the trailer. So,  

[36:04] let's handtighten all five lug nuts on there. Then  we could remove the jack stands and drop it down   so the wheel just barely touches the ground. Now,  let's torque the wheel to spec in a crisscross   pattern. And finally, drop it down the rest of  the way. And one last thing, in order to prevent  

[36:17] your tires from degrading over time if you keep  your trailer outside, tire covers like this are   inexpensive and easy to install, and they prevent  the UV radiation from degrading your tires. So, I   highly recommend it. But I don't need these right  now because we're taking the boat for a ride. So,  

[36:31] there you go. Now you know how to properly replace  the wheel bearings and the tires on a trailer. And   I'm really excited because now we could safely  pull this trailer on the road and test out this   project boat on the water. And man oh man, what a  difference. I'm glad we did this right away. This  

[36:43] trailer is riding nice and smooth, and I know  this trailer is now going to be reliable. Now,   hubs get completely submerged. But because we did  everything properly, it's going to keep all that  

[36:56] water out and keep those bearings in good shape.  So, there you go. I hope this video was helpful.   subscribe button for more informative how-to  videos like this. As always, all the tools and   products I used in this video are linked down in  the description so you can easily find them. And  

[37:11] now I'm off to seat trial the new project boat.  She is running great and this is a job well done.