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Don’t fix what isn't broken. Good advice or not? I hadn't "changed" the wheel bearings on my trailer for ???? A couple were only a couple years old, others older, perhaps four or five years and I doubt back then, I didn’t worry about them whether they were made in America – probably Chinese made bearings.

So I changed all four wheels with Timken bearings. I’ve heard some Timkens are made in Mexico, but they were all stamped, Made in USA.

Right or wrong? I don’t know. But with road trips to Wisconsin and Michigan coming up, I feel better.

Good Job Mike wheel bearings always should be checked before a road trip that includes extended high way speed. It is almostas easy to replace as properly clean inspect repack as it is to change them . My vote is just put a new set in . Be sure to take a good look at tires are well. Especially down in the treads replace tires that show any cracking down in the treads. These cracks appear long before the dry rot cracking is seen in the smooth sidewalls of a trailer tire . Have a safe trip

As life is teaching us daily, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Way better to attack it early than just keep cruising along pretending problems don’t exist.

I did mine this spring just because it’s been a few years. They never ran hot and were smooth. Every one of the smaller outer bearings had some damaged needles. All of the larger inner bearings looked new. Took a good part of a Saturday and have a little peace of mind for a few years.

And you cannot infinitely press new races into hubs. In one of my hubs the races fell out with very little effort. The new races would just fall into place. So I bought 2 new Kodak hubs with rotors and replaced the bad one. Then I loaded the other new one for a quick change spare. I used a little loctite on the worn hub to keep the races in place and loaded that one as a last resort “get me home” spare. Each time you press a race in and punch the old one out there is some material wear. At some point new hubs are necessary.

At least my races went in with a snug fit. No worries there.

Tractor supply sells the hubs ready to use, I guess depending on what size you need, nice for a spare.

I have replacement hubs and keep them with me. In fact, none of the hubs on my trailer are original equipment. I put about 10.000 miles annually on my trailer - more than most people ever put on a trailer in their lifetime. However, don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the TSC hubs are made in China. I wouldn't be surprised if Eagle, Shorelander and other trailer manufacturers don't use Chinese hubs/bearings. (They aren't covered by warranty.)
Actually, I don't really know if Chinese bearings are inferior to US made bearings. There's probably some Chinese bearings every bit as good or better than some American made bearings. How to tell? I would guess most producers of "cheap" bearings in the US moved their production to China years ago when the industrial climate changed and thousands of American factories and millions of American jobs were benched.

Hey BN,
Do you think it is better just to buy a complete hub rather than rebuilding on with all the mess and labor to do so involved? I am facing this once the season is over. The trailer will be 2 seasons old. I keep the hubs well greased and I remove any displaced grease from the hub during the addition of new grease.

That DEPENDS on many things. Not counting any labor costs the price for complete hub will be about three times as much for a complete hub than a "bearing kit" - say about $45/$50 for complete hub and around $16 for a bearing kit. Since I bought Timken bearings and a triple lipped seal, my bearing "kit" cost about $22 per wheel. Of course, if you buy complete hubs, you probably won't know if they are fitted with American made or Chinese bearings and you may get a single lipped seal. If you are going to pay someone to do the work, you have to factor in the labor. Couple hundred? At least a half hour per wheel, I'd guess, to R&R the bearings. Swapping out the hubs is about 10 minutes per wheel. There are plenty of YouTube vids about how to do it. The hardest part is popping out the used races. Second hardest part is inserting the new races. As with everything, the first one will seem impossible - the fourth one will be a piece of cake.

It is a messy job. I wear latex gloves and break out a new roll of those blue shop paper towels and the mess is about the same as when I do a fish fry!

All that said, two year old bearings aren't very old, especially if you've kept them well greased. I just changed mine because I know most of them were several years old, I had the time and I can do the work myself competently. Peace of mind more than anything. More than likely, tear the wheel apart, clean the old bearings, re-lube them, pop in a new seal and wait a couple more yearsl