Bearings problem

[Howard]

I bought two new bearing hubs with pre-installed bearings and grease. With less then 1000 miles I noticed that one of my dust cover was missing. After further inspection I find out the outer bearing had fell apart. The inner ring of the bearing remained on the axle spindle and was still held on by the castle nut. I replaced that one bearing and now the bearing on the other side of trailer is going, grinding coming from the outer bearing. Hubs slipped on with no problem, no wiggle to them, tire and hub spun freely when installed, wth? I believe they are rated for 1200 lbs which is plenty. Did I just buy cheap bearings?

 

[nomowork]

Possible.

I once bought bearings that only had packing grease in them.

 

[Derek]

I once bought bearings that only had packing grease in them.

This was also my guess.

 

[Howard]

Thanks guys, the package says "greased and ready for assembly" on front

 

[bcbouy]

even cheapo bearings should wear better than this.

 

[Derek]

Thanks guys, the package says "greased and ready for assembly" on front

I do see that now. Can you replace the dust caps with bearing buddys so they will stay lubed even when in and out of the water?

 

[jasper60103]

I bought two new bearing hubs with pre-installed bearings and grease. With less then 1000 miles I noticed that one of my dust cover was missing. After further inspection I find out the outer bearing had fell apart. The inner ring of the bearing remained on the axle spindle and was still held on by the castle nut. I replaced that one bearing and now the bearing on the other side of trailer is going, grinding coming from the outer bearing. Hubs slipped on with no problem, no wiggle to them, tire and hub spun freely when installed, wth? I believe they are rated for 1200 lbs which is plenty. Did I just buy cheap bearings?

I'm thinking the seals may have aided in this failure. I just did my end of boating season checks, including my wheel bearings. A little water spilled out when I removed the bearing buddies on both wheels, but fortunately the bearings were still well packed/greased and showed no signs of wear.
So my guess is the seals failed allowing water in. There are better seals than the standard ones that come with the bearings/races set (shown below). The better seals have a double lip and spring. I will give those a try next time.