This is exactly how I learned to pack bearings back in the early 70s...good job!

I've owned two of these trailers, my father in law also owned one. NEVER had issues with bearings. Just seems like something that gets hyped up on the internet after a recall and now the helpful Ace Hardware folks say, "yep, in addition to cranking on 148 nuts and bolts, gotta repack those bearings..." with a cheap piece of plywood and some 2x4s, stock LED lights, and stock bearings on my rig- I've helped friends move, done 4-6 dump runs, two film shoots- and have yet to have a single failure/issue with it.

You don't need to take the bearings out and do all that. The blue stuff is just standard grease suitable for axles. All you do is put the wheels on and pump some more grease through the grease fitting which hits both bearings. I wouldn't mess with the seals or you're asking for things to leak.

For the 1st time, I saw someone pack bearings the way I learned in high school in a class that doesn't exist anymore. Good job! 👍 PS I was in high school in the late 1960s and 70s.

The inner bearing and seal can be removed by using a 32mm socket and tapping the inner bearing outer cage from inside the hub. Easier, faster and less effort. And Lubrimatic High Temp Disc/Drum Brake Wheel Bearing Grease is one of the best.

Thank you so much. I am working on putting my 1920 lb trailer together now. I had the bearings full, but didn't know what to do about replacing the grease between the bearings. It's been a LONG time since i did anything with bearings like this. You have been a huge help. Looks like I need to get more grease. I agree that the way these come full of grease is ridiculous. Spent so much time and mess cleaning them.

"packing grease" I have owned a dozen of these HF Trailers over the last 25 years, never changed the grease out till it was well worn after 5 years and never had issues... now I am not saying do not add grease, I am saying removing the blue bearing grease is not needed when new. The Blue Grease is a high-quality, multipurpose, extreme-pressure (EP), lithium grease for industrial equipment operating under heavy loads and at high temperatures. Best to just Inspect all the parts as you build it and after 100 miles check the hubs, after 3k miles swap the grease.

Thanks for the very thorough explanations.

that rear bearing trick is something I'll never forget. ty

I just finished doing my bearings....this video has 18k + views... think I was the one that viewed it the last 3k while working on my trailer...... Thank you...thank you... thank you...!!!!!

Outstanding video. Thanks for taking the time to teach this! You saved me a lot of trouble.

Tip when spraying brake cleaner, wear eye protection. I've had it splash off of what I was spraying and go back into my eye. Never again, that stuff is harsh.

I appreciate the information and the dry humor, very enjoyable lol

Is the grease seal at the rear bearing rubber? I have a hub with a rubber seal.🤷‍♂️

Very helpful and well done - Thanks! I wil do this the grease replacement right away, but do you think the titres are any good for other than local driving - like a hundred miles on the highway with moderate weight of a few hundred pounds - what did you do, tire-wise? Oh, and by the way, did you have any trouble with the lighting that comes with the trailer - mine does NOT work correctly at all and makes the whole dashboard in the car flash (honest, it's crazy, so i gotta figure out what the problem is now after going exactly by their wiring directions).

Thanks for the 'heads up',, on the low shipping grease, possibly a dry bearing, and the replacement parts. I wonder with the right sizes, if we can match up some Timken bearings and some CR seals??????

*crenelations not castleations Thanks for the breakdown. Super helpful!

very high quality video!

I believe the old wisdom: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :)

You guys are over thinking it , I just added grease when new and still great at 18 years......

One informative and cool video.

I put the grrease gun back on and pumped more geese into grease hole I spun the tire after I had done everything and my wheel spun freely on the right not on the left tire it stopped after a few spins like 5 does that mean I might have tightened the screw to right on the axle should I loosen it up a bit ? What do you suggest?

Thank you for this wonderful video. Too many new trailer owners think that "trailer in a box" items are ready to go. You found dry bearings, which could be a disaster on the road.

They tell you to clean out the shipping grease because it's not road worthy? What else did they cut corners on? Cheap, soft steel? I was thinking about buying a HF trailer. Now I'm not so sure.

What good bearings would you suggest to use? Could those OEM ones be replaced by a Japanese sealed ones?

THANKS! This really opened my eyes; I'm getting ready for a 3000 R/T trip carrying maybe 1000lb each way with the same HB trailer you have, and WOW! Gotta do this before I go! By the way, since I have no spare, should I change the tires (maybe made from rubberized paper mache'), too?

First time using a harbor freight greese gun was unable to remove is this the way to remove grease gun right angle and then pop out like you said in your video

Very helpful, thanks!

I was taught in auto shop class not to load hub with grease. When it gets hot and expands it will leak past seals. Just lightly coat inside of hub and a little around the bearings.

Are both bearings identical? I may as well replace all 4…

I absolutely need to do this to mine! Very informative sir! What about just replacing the bearings all together? And I've seen a lot of folks put on Bearing Buddies, thoughts? Lastly make dang well sure you put the lug nuts on correctly! Cone shape in, NOT the flat surface. From personal experience, it's an expensive screw up!

+1 for the Fifth Element reference

Good job

I see a lot of comments suggesting bearing buddies I have seen a lot more problems with ruining the seals caused by bearing buddies than problems actually solved! Pack your bearings correctly with a good high quality grease and they rarely need to be looked at again until after many, many miles. Biggest issues with these small trailers is people wanting to run 80 miles an hour on these small 8" wheels, do you realize how many rpm's those bearings are spinning at those speeds with those small tires?

Thanks for this. Really helpful. One of my HF dust caps fell off. Does anyone have any idea where I can obtain another one?

That 5th element quote killed me!!!

I never knew this about the "grease" that comes in the bearings. I have been running my HF trailer for about 8 years on the original grease. I wonder what it's going to look like.

Very good

Thank You…👍

Now just gotta do the other side!

Where did you get the idea that this is shipping grease? When items are shipped for protection they are coated in oil. Not packed, assembled, and greased. You read the instructions wrong. What it says is “Whenever a hub is disassembled (if a hub on a new unit requires assembly or a hub is disassembled for maintenance), the following procedure must be obeyed. Then it lists the steps. I am on my second trailer. After selling the first. Never repacked the bearings. Don’t waste your time.

Did you torque down the lug nuts after?

hey bro this maybe a stupid question sorry for my ignorance but do you have to balance the trailer tires ? i am new to trailers

Thanks for the video Dan. How fast do you take the trailer? Does the addition of high speed grease allow you to take trailer faster than 45 MPH?

Re the "update," I had the same issue with one of the two hubs after repacking, but I also replaced the OE dust covers with Bearing Buddies, so the slight pressure applied by the spring plate built into the Buddies (3 psi) might have contributed to the leakage. I think part of this is due to the inner hub surface that mates with the seal being too rough/uneven to allow a proper seal. The effect is compounded when you yank out and re-use the seal ... the seal may "look" intact, but it is damaged nonetheless. If/when I pull out/re-do the bearing job again, I'm going to check these surfaces and hone them out a little, if/as needed, to smooth out any rough spots, AND replace both seals with new ones.

Great informative video. I wonder why they just didn't opt for the better grease? They are only reducing the cost by pennies and adding much more labour to the customer. I wonder if anyone has burned up their bearing by not changing the grease? My inner bearing was completely covered by grease out of the box and the entire assembly was much more packed with grease. Very interesting.... Lol. Have a nice day

Are all trailer bearings the same size or is there a specific size I need to replace for my harbor freight trailer?

So the axels aren’t like 1 1/16”?

Its easy. Wipe out some of the original grease. Then start pumping quality grease onto the grease fitting. And use the trailer and pump grease as needed. Now the model i have has a grease valve fitting.

I take and put back on trailer without outer bearing, install nut on shaft, abruptly yank wheel/hub off, may take a couple of yanks but bearing and seal will come off normally unharmed.

Wouldn't packing with new grease automatically push out the old grease?

Thx u

Sucks ... doesn't it. Good/helpful video, with two items to note. It's easier to "thump" the rear bearing/seal out with the wheel still attached to the hub (easier to grip the tire than the much smaller hub), and the extra weight of the wheel gives more heft to each yank needed to dislodge the rear seal. Second, I HIGHLY recommend use of a denser, high-speed grease (e.g., Valvoline Cerulean) for re-packing the bearings on this particular trailer ... the high speed grease will not only hold up better in wet environments, it will help prevent overheating of the bearings/hubs at normal highway towing speeds. For an added layer of protection/convenience, replace the cheap OE dust covers with Bearing Buddies, which, among other helpful features, replace the OEM's awkwardly-located, non-standard grease fittings with easily accessible, standard ones.

When someone kind of knows what to do but has no idea why they are doing it or how a bearing works…. 😂

not proper cotter pin installation. ida. inward downward and aft

Looks like I found something I need to do for the used on I just bought.

I used my hf trailer for about 150 miles on the freeway the first time using it with the grease it came with, the bearing were busted by the time I got finished the 2 hour ride

A couple of other channels also recommend that the bearings actually be replaced as they are VERY cheap, inferior ones from the factory (in China). Also, the corrosion is most likely due to the salty sea mist on the ship coming over from China. Another good idea is to either replace the hardware with grade 5 or grade 8 and use lock nuts, not lock washers. It won't take much road use to loosen them up and you'll end up with missing bolts and a serious issue on your hands. I plan on welding mine together after I true everything up, that will make for a VERY sold base for my teardrop trailer.

It's packing grease. it says in the instructions 'REPACK THE BEARINGS'. You may have damaged the seals when you ripped it across the threads for the castle nut. Put a thin coat of grease on the axle and lip where the seal will sit before you slide the hub on. Not the best way to remove seals.

Back when I got mine you had to pack the bearn thy where not in the hub mine is an 1982 model still going today not bad for a 40 year old trailer.

Is it really necessary to fill the hub and dust cap with grease?

Couldn't you just replace the cap with a buddy bearing cap, fill it with good hitemp grease? Then as the cheap grease dissipates the good grease will automatically fill that void. Check it every long trip and refill buddy bearing cap as needed?

Changed the rubber seals with metal seals.

You are better off getting regular wheel bearing grease because it is heavier duty and will protect better than just regular grease.

I don't have much to contribute but I do know it's easier to take the dust covers off with channel locks.

you can put grease on your finger and inserted where the bearings are inside the wheel and surround them with grease without removing them, you can put the wheel on axel and spin it a bit, the grease with be automatically around all the bearing, then remove, the wheel and check, you will see the grease is inside and out of bearing. also if you don't wanna do any of this just put the,wheels on, as they came from manifacture ,and use your trailer around your town(about 40 miles or so) , then inspect the the axle,wheels,for over heat or any wavling or looze/shaking. if none, then wheels and trailer are good to roll 😉. 👍

Part numbers !

Very useful video thanks! Useful tip for you please invest in a tripod....they are cheap and the shaking/moving camera is tough to watch.

There is a grease nipple on the back of the hub so you don't have to remove everything. You put a grease gun on it and pump grease in it

Don’t take that whole rear bearing out just squeeze grease in the grease fitting and you’re good to go That’s why it’s dry just pack the front like the instruction say

Walter White lmao

Please don’t do what this dude does replacing the grease is fine but that’s all

Pretty cool, huh?

Well see how long that repair last smh

i love the WW comment. i bet alot of people didn't get it. lol

You need some latex gloves man. Rookie

I'm 60 years old. I have never heard of cutting of a portion of the cotter pin.

Seems like way too much grease...

crummy intro

I'll tell you what's a no go> that loud ass music at the beginning of your video. Do you know anything about editing? Some people listen on headphones and you blast the living shit out of em with that intro. Learn how to edit your videos> you are not alone in this regard.