How often should wheel bearings be repacked?

[Gone Kayaking]

My wheel bearings had just been repacked when I bought my trailer. I had heard that wheel bearings should be repacked annually, so have it on my annual maintenance list, but then it occurred to me that most folks probably don't tow their trailers 7,000 miles in one year. So here are my questions

Should I be having my bearings repacked before I go on more trips this year
How do I tell if they need to be repacked?
Is this a DIY or does it makes sense to get it done by a tire place?
Any old tire/wheel place (eg BIG O) or go to trailer yard?

[Bob]

Annually would be good, 10,000 miles would be good. You could probably go longer. When you stop along the way, get out and feel the hubs at the grease caps. They may be warm from braking (slowing down) but they shouldn't be hot. There are a lot of write-ups on DIY repacking; it isn't hard, just a little greasy. And there's nothing unique about camper bearings, any garage can do it if you don't feel like it.

On a side note, how often do you have your car's wheel bearings repacked? They used to recommend at every brake job.

[Gone Kayaking]

Thanks! I knew about the heat test....and so far they've been passing that. THere's lots of variation on this out there on the internet, figured I'd go with advice from my shasta homies. Anyone else want to throw in on this?

For my truck, a 2011 Nissan 2x frontier, the manual recommends brakes be inspected and replaced when worn which I would assume then means wheel bearings get repacked in the process but it doesn't specify a particular mileage.

[Bob]

Try this link:
repairingyesterdaystrailers.yuku.com/topic/2243/Wheel-bearing-grease-wheel-bearings-etc-#.TlVDh110qCk

[Gone Kayaking]

great link!