Just about finished my trailer, your advice and guidance is priceless, and I much prefer to watch some who finds it difficult or making a mistake than people who cut the mistakes out via editing Cheers West Ozzie here

You say these videos turn out harder than they should do. I am sure the majority of people doing this work also encounter the same issues, Which makes your videos some of the most helpful on the net. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Your video shows what it's like in the real world where everything isn't new and doesn't just pop right apart. Real problems with real solutions. GREAT JOB - KEEP IT UP!

I have to say first class, just spent 4 nights watching all your video posts better than watching tv, there is nothing you cant find an answer for thanks stu very entertaining and informative

Top man, it’s good to see that professionals get problems too. Most blokes only show you how smooth the job goes. We all come across problems in life it’s how we get over them that’s important. Cheers mate top channel . Col

Great video to encourage the amateurs among us to have a go and not to panic when the going get tough! Thanks for all the details you included.

A few extra tricks, Use a grinder with a cut off wheel to slice through the old races to tap in new ones which makes it easier to remove afterwards. Rotate the hub whilst tightening the nut which may help to align or make both cones parallel, then back off to required preload tension, usually about 2 to 5 newtons. Make sure those pads you use to knock in seal ring are clean so as not to introduce debri into clean grease.

I’m sure someone has already said this before but put the new bearing races in put them in the freezer for about an hour they will slide right in

I think this has to be the best DIY video I have ever seen. Great work and thankyou.

Theres something so good about hearing how to do something by an Aussie for an aussie... thanks mate helped me change bearing over Chrissy holidays when everything's shut.

Well, last year I built up and made kayak trailer and with the help from this video put in new hubs and bearings and made it from New Jersey to Florida, 3000 miles round trip. Well this year I did my big boat trailer. Twin axle that was used in salt water and was never maintained ( I am the second owner). After two years of re-doing the boat, I did the trailer. Went from old rusty drum brakes to stainless discs. New hubs and bearings. Replaced the drop down axles and spindles. Well, last year you mentioned to me something about the "rust gods". I now have some new respect about salt water and what it does to metal. The rust gods made me pay, but in the end they let me finish. Thanks Man !

Best hub and bearing install video I have ever seen. Great work Mate !!!.

Very nice job of explaining how to remove/install bearing buddy and remove/install races. Great video for someone looking to do their bearings for the first time.

You should do a video on how to add a brake system onto a boat trailer for people that don't already have brakes on a trailer but would like to put brakes on it

The difference between a do it yourself and a seasoned mechanic is the ability to over come obstacles that come with dealing with corroded, frozen, stuck, or worse case- broke off parts, bolts. Many do it your selfers don't have the skill, knowledge, nor the mechanical devices to overcome. Thanks for showing what it takes and the patience you took with the frozen bearing sleave.

If you weld a small part of the race it will shrink and come out easy. Love your channel!

Great video, thanks heaps. I couldn't get the races past flush and I looked at buckets of US videos but yours was the only one that gave a practical description of how to do it. Thanks again.

An old trick for outer bearing races is to put them in the freezer while you take the hub apart and punch out the old outer races . When you go to fit the new races you can also preheat the whole hub before fitting the now frozen new bearing races. If you do this you will often find that the new outer race will almost fall in to the hub and need a very light tap to seat the outer race fully.

The other trick if can't get the races out, run a bead of weld along tne races and tney just about fall out. Love your videos. I am a very experienced boat owner but love the great explanations. You are saving a lot of money for your watchers.

Thank you. Fantastic video well thought through and great instructional video.

Great video , here's a trick I've learned from doing wheel bearing races on semis and trailers . Take your welder and put a bead on the race . You'll find it will fall right out as the bead cools it will pull the race looser .

Showing people how to do this (with all the difficulties they WILL run into) is awesome. If you take the old race and grind/sand a tiny bit off the outer diameter of the old race, you will be able to easily remove it. No punch needed. GREAT VIDEO!

I will have to open up my trailer hub and grease it in abundance. Thanks a lot

Very interesting to me personally. Every single step you did was just as my father taught me in the early sixties. He was big on treating wheel bearings with respect. We did multiple circuits of Australia towing trailers or vans. I followed in his footsteps as I aged. I can't recall either of us having a hot bearing.

You have a very strong ability to tell a good story. Thanks for the tips.

Thorough and well demonstrated. I managed to change my bearings today thank you. I was a bit intimidated by the inner races but I followed your tap-tap-tapping method until they loosened. My hub had two round channels running in the same direction as the stub axle which allowed me to get my metal rod snucked in behind the bearing shell. It took a good ten minutes for the first to pop out and only two minutes for the second one. I would've given up earlier had I not been inspired by your video. Brilliant!

Great video. Nice to see a little struggle getting old bearings out. I’ve watched many fix it videos that made it look much easier than it ever is when attempting myself... great in-depth video! Thanks

Way more thorough then most of the other guys. Nice job!

Thanks Stu! It's actually great to see a DIY video where the pro has trouble. Makes me feel better when things don't go to plan. It's also really helpful to get some ideas on what you can try when things get stuck.

Thanks so much for this video. I have only ever done wheel bearings with a mate years ago and this is a great video for us amateurs. Excellent idea to use the old races to hammer the new ones in place. Thanks mate.

Big thanks for all the videos you create! Very straightforward and easy to follow, as well as good troubleshooting tips for common problems that people might encounter. Your work is very much appreciated. Cheers!

Well done. Great narration. Not to much, not too little. Enjoyed your patience on the difficult removal!

Yet another sensational, accurate and informative video Stu - very well thought out and taught. I saw quite a few others that lack so much of the detail you clarified.

Still my go to video to remind me about the tips and tricks especially for removing and installing the new races. Awesome video as always.

Wow, awesome video mate. I spent a while looking through videos on here hoping to find something with such detail. Being Australian was a bonus :)

Hello Stu, when I do the bearings, I put a very fine grease film, on the back of the bearing race. It makes it easier to replace the bearings at the next service. I also use the copper anti seize grease, on the wheel studs and the bolts that holds the brakes housing.

Cheers mate for the video....just a FYI I rang up a marine dealership and they wanted $670 to change bearings out on a single axle trailer + what ever else they find along the way!

I watch this every year before I change them to be sure. Thanx mate cheers from rockhampton

Thanks so much. I decided to get a new rotor which made the process pretty easy. 10 years dipping the boat trailer in salt water did it in.

Really great video! Always wondered about how to do this, and your video took all the mystery out of it for me. Excellent job!

Just went through all the same hassles and trailer configuration as this. It was a nightmare and I can't believe I didn't see this vid until now! Would have saved me hours. Took me ages to work out I could use the old ring and a piece of timber to smash it in the last few cm

Thank you very much for this video. By far the most detailed and comprehensive video I've seen about bearing replacement

Just finished my first bearing replacement -thanks for the detailed video, helped a lot.

part way through replacing my trailer wheel bearings when I got a bit stumped on how to get the seal into the hub. Googled and watched a shit super cheap video that was not much help until I found this video which pointed me in the right direction. I should have watched it before I started as it would have saved me some grief. Thanks for posting

Great video Stu. What I've found works really well to get a new race in is to use an appropriately sized socket inside the race (just like the bearing carriage would fit in the race) and then a block of wood and a hammer. Much easier than trying to align the old race correctly to get it past the lip and saves you having to tap it out *again*. Granted, sockets aren't designed to take the impact of all those hammer blows, but I haven't had a problem yet and it gives the safety police something to wring their hands over.

You made it clear on how to push the Marine Grease through the bearing, to fill it properly. THANKS Again.

Great video found tip on prefilling the buddy good idea. Just a point if you cut through the bearing cup you are using to drive in the new cup with a angle grinder with a cutting disk to split the ring on the edge it will come out easy.

Fantastic video mate, and the things that you say go wrong or it should be easier than what we see just gives us amateurs some more confidence in ourselves. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, it greatly appreciated.

Your tutorials are amazing. Just been working on my boat trailer and can't quite get the cotter pin in so think one of the races is out of place. I'll go take another look. Really appreciate these videos so helpful! Thanks from NZ

Great video. I just had to do this on a boat trailer I bought a month ago. Discovered the bearings were bad as I was backing in to the driveway when a wheel fell off. Just glad it wasn't going down the highway

Just stumbled across this channel being a boating "Tragic" I love it, every aspect! Re: life on or near the water. Regarding your comment "everything seems to be harder to do than it should" Just about sums life up in the real world, anything worthwhile is made sweeter if you have to struggle a wee bit harder to achieve. I love your tenacity, the way you punch on through. Cheers keep up the good work.

Nice work DM - you show all the important tricky detail the others leave out! Thanks!

Thanks Stu; I'm looking at the same job as soon as it's warmer outside. This is a good reference vid. for me.

Been a few years since i done any bearings this was a great refresher Thanks !

Great explanations and I always enjoy your informative videos. So much know-how I never had before. Thanks for making them!

Great video thanks, very helpful as I had never changed my bearings on a boat with breaks. Apart from some rusted out bolts in the break calipers, it all, went smoothly

This has been great. I learnt a lot. Thanks for posting.

This is a great video, rarely have I seen such a good explanation of any process. Thank you very much

Hey Stu, love your show- especially after 10 pales Have learnt so many great tips and tricks watching your vids. I've found putting the hub in the wheel you too off is a great place to hammer the bearing races out of. Lots of love from Darwin x

Great video. Good to see when things are a little difficult like needing to use the heat to show what problems that can occur. Thanks

that looked like a gravy job with biscuit wheels !! great job !!

Hey Stu ! Thanks again. Did my bearings today. Not that bad. Getting that rear dust cover to set was a little tricky. All went well. i did your little dance for good luck before I did the job in the driveway before i did the job ! I owe you a beer, thanks ! Doug.

HAH, Brilliant! Thank you Dangar for saving me a trip to my auto store to rent a race installer punch. I had the same idea of using the old race as a punch, But as you mentioned, I was thinking of using it the wrong direction. I slightly growned down the OD of the old race on the grind wheel so it would fall out easily after use.

Stu, grind the outer circumference of the old bearing race a few thou. That way it will not stick in the hub and it is a lot easier to remove the old race after the new one is fully seated. Keep the old ones for next time. It is worthwhile drilling a couple of holes in the hub and into the bearing buddies for self tapping metal screws. Prevents them flying off at high speed and causing an injury. Also stops the discount shoppers at the boat ramp parking area from removing the buddies easily.

Nice video, explains everything that needs to happen. The freezer trick below is a good one!

Bloody awesome video as usual... thanks Stu.

A trick my uncle showed me was to take a set of old bearing races and grind the outside of them a little on a bench grinder, till they slide in and out of a hub without grabbing. Keep these for helping to seat new races, as you don't have to ever tap them out - they just slide out super easy once the new race is seated.

Great video! I have done hundreds just like that! if you have a slide-hammer another way is use it to remove the races. I find it much easier!

Thanks for video it was big help. When it came to getting out the old bearing outers there where two small slots cast into the hubs to allow a tool to be used to hammer them out . I noticed the one you had was well stuck so the slots helped. thanks again

This is a good descriptive video and one to follow for sure. If I could add one tip to other viewers though I suggest giving the old bearing races a quick touch up on the bench grinder to make the diameter a mickey whisker smaller than original size which helps to remove it again once the new one is seated. Keep them in the toolbox for future use.

Brilliant, well explained, very detailed. Thank you

Forget this! I'll just buy a whole new setup with pre-pressed races and bearings and install a new one! Thanks for saving my rear!

Your the man, love watching your vids stu

Nice honest video and no wasting time. If we meet one day I'll buy you a beer. Double thumbs up.

Love your steps to do the change but definitely would use the old brake pad to tap in the seal as it can make old dust/rust fall in

Excellent video sir. You are an outstanding instructor!

Great video with everything well explained !!

Great video, very informative. Made the job easy!

Thanks this is very helpful as others have said thanks for not editing the hard bits so we all have some work arounds when we encounter the same issues

Great video! Thanks for the in-depth walk through.

Thanks so much lots of information that makes the change for me a lot easier. Cheers from Canada.

Great vid, I’m going to be using this as a step by step in the next week or so in my shed,

Fantastic. Great info

I was shown a trick to removing the outer races. Fire up your welder on a fairly high amp setting. Weld a bead around the middle of the race. As the weld cools it will contract the race is it will latterly fall out. Saves a lot of frustrations.

Love your videos! Yeah, boat trailer wheel bearing replacement is my least favourite job but as you stress, critically important. I actually had a wheel fall off due to catastrophic bearing failure (completely shattered probably due to a corroded spacer). Fortunately it happened after launching the boat and driving back up the ramp - it's shocking and scary to see a wheel rolling back into the water from the rear view mirror. It's a tandem trailer so I still had 3 wheels to get the trailer parked and start the horrendous task of replacement in the car park at Berowra ramp in 40 degree heat. Fortunately it was one of the lazy hubs and not a brake hub. It happened shortly after I'd bought the boat & trailer and it taught me to be ultra attentive to all of the rolling stock. In fact it was so shocking that I rebuilt the trailer after that - including 4 new springs. The conjured image of one and a half tons of shattered fibreglass strewn across a road was too much for me. A few things I've learned to do to make the job easier is: 1) Use grease everywhere, like on the wheel stubs and nuts - nothing worse than frozen nuts when you are trying to remove a wheel. Yes, I do realise the double entendre! And no, they don't work loose as one might intuitively expect. 2) Grease the new races to facilitate easier pressing into the hub and it also makes removal much easier 3) When using an old race to drive the new race into the hub, just a single cut straight through the ring with an angle grinder makes removal unbelievably easy. Keep that cut race as a tool forever. 4) A cold chisel with the tip ground to a radius along the back of the blade so it sits nicely on the protruding edge of the race to be removed makes removal of stubborn races much easier. It's no longer much use as a cold chisel but very useful for race removal.

Oh those races were hard! I see why shops use a press now. Great video!

I have found that if you cut a 1mm wide slot right through the old bearing race it makes it much easier to remove once the new race has been knocked into place. You can then keep the old race for future jobs.

THATS SOME GREAT STUFF!!! THANKS ALL THE WAY FROM CALIFORNIA!!!

Excellent as usual my friend. I do wheel bearings fairly often. I love using the Bearing Buddies, and I have them on my own trailer. I have never seen cable actuated brakes before either, I have only dealt with hydraulic systems.

Hi mate a good guide for the mechanicaly challenged ,not completely useless with spanners my self , but first time I've done wheel bearings on a boat trailer ,mine was a little different they were integral wheels(hub and wheel in one) same principles,only thing I did was clean intire in side of the wheel hub,to remove all traces of old Grease and contaminants,same thing with axle.thank you very much for your guidance.

Glad I'm not the only one who has problems with that 'one thing" that just won't move. You are correct; it's sometimes easier to just buy a new hub with the outer races already installed.

Great video, no one every explained how to tell if it is a Holden or Ford Bearing short of what the wheel stud pattern is it, now I know square 45 mm or round 40 mm. I will probably make it easy on myself and buy the hub and bearing together for a quicker and easier job. Things not going right is real world and great to see. Love you video's and I get lots out of them, Cheers

Great video.very informative. Thank you Stu. I am a fan!

I enjoy your videos and this was another good one. As mentioned before, putting the bearing races in the freezer for a while will aid in the installation. I trailer my boat all over the Great Lakes in the United States to get to different dive sites. Whether I am going to a marina that's five miles away or three hundred, after I have driven a few miles I stop and feel the hubs. They should be warm, but not hot! If they are hot you may have a problem. Bearings always fail when you are in Timbukto, so it's worth while to check. I use bearing buddies and they work great. However, if your just getting on the freeway and hear a short whirring/buzzing sound, one of your bearing buddies has just parted company with your trailer. LOL

Thanks Stu - great video - I didn't know what I didn't know and I didn't know a lot. Cheers Phil

I think it's great that the job doesn't go straightforward because they never go straightforward either so seeing the problems that will arise and how to overcome them is superb. It's a bonus not a drawback!!

I have seen tire shops do this time and time again and it drives me crazy. They hammer the lug nuts on with an impact wrench and THEN put the torque wrench on the lugs. By doing that, you have already surpassed the torque rating spec. Yea I know, I've heard the argument that they have their air pressure set for 90psi and torque to 125 but tell me, why doesn't the lug nut move when torqueing down to 125. The idea is to lightly set the lugs snug and then torque them up to spec with the torque wrench. Great tutorial! keep em comin mate.

Great job ! this was a lot of help for a do-it-yourselfer . Thanks

great video. Fact of the matter is, most folks don't do regular bearing maintenance and what you went through is the norm. Greeting from North Carolina

Man, 10 out of 10 video. Best on the Tube