I'm a newbie to this site as my wife and I have ordered a new 13' Scamp Deluxe Wood Front Bath with trailer brakes and it should be ready for pick-up by 28 December 2017.
I've read in some blogs that talk about checking your wheel bearings, repacking, and inspecting them. I was wondering if anyone knows what size wheel bearing kit works for the 13' trailer? Is there one that is recommended over others?
Thanks! 
Tom L.
We picked up our 16 new at the factory last month and made a stop in the parts department. I picked up a couple simple things that could get broken (i.e. snap caps, plastic power cord inlet) but didn't bother with bearings at this point. You might stop in and check out what they have available.
Just an FYI when I got home and crawled under the trailer I located a mfg. sticker from Lippert on our axle which contained the model number and other related info. I thought they used Dexter but apparently changed some time ago. The Lippert website has an owners manual available on-line as well which provides lots of detail including a section on the electric brakes.
On the way home (we had a 10 hr drive back to Illinois) I checked the hub temp after the first 40 miles and then when convenient as we stopped for a break or gas. Our hubs were always slightly warm to the touch and never hot. I took that as a good sign we got a good set of bearings out of the factory. :)
- Jeff
Good Information! Thanks Jeff!
-Tom
Just check em to see if they get hot in the first few miles, don't worry about them....Go Camping!
KVJ
Everyone talks about checking bearing temperatures but no one says how hot they should be. Mine normally run 5 – 10 degrees f above ambient air temperature. Shall we say more than 10 degrees above ambient is a place to start being concerned? What is a good guideline?
I had a new axle installed last year. On the first few local trips my hubs got fairly warm, hot actually. So hot that it was uncomfortable to hold my hand on them for more than a few seconds, but not so hot that they burned my hand. I worried about it, so had a friend who regularly did maintenance on his own equipment take a look at them. He added some additional grease, but said they were fine.
On subsequent trips, I had some grease flying out of the hubs onto the wheel which made a bit of a mess. I took the trailer from Michigan to North Dakota, and stopped at the Scamp factory to have a Fantastic Fan installed. I also asked them about the bearings and grease. They checked them and said that excess grease had just been forced out into the cap when the bearings warmed up. They said the seals were fine and that it was fairly normal for the hubs to heat up some until they break in and seat themselves. Their opinion: quit worrying, and just wipe out the cap occasionally until the excess grease resolves. I followed their advice. On the remainder of that trip I cleaned the grease a couple of more times, and never found the hubs getting any hotter.
This past winter I pulled the trailer over 4 thousand miles to and around Florida and back to Michigan over about five weeks. The hubs no longer spit grease, and they are only slightly warm after extended driving. Lesson learned? New hubs may heat up for a while until they break in. Just watch them and don't get overly paranoid.
Heating to the point of quickly burning your hand or smoking - now's the time to worry. Would also worry if previously cool-running hubs started to get hot again.
If you drive for a good distance and decide to stop and check your hub temperature it would be best to do it in a way that you can allow your rig to decelerate without using the brakes until you can pull over or off the road. Use the brakes as little as you can just to stop, get out and check the hubs. Feathering the brakes will raise the temperature of the drums from friction with the brake pads and if you are not aware of this you may inadvertently think the bearings are the source of heat. If your trailer dose not have brakes, check em any time you want.
To answer ac0gv's question. Warm is when you can lay your bare hand on the hub a leave it there for a little while. Hot is when you can can't touch it at all. Sometimes you can smell it before you go to check it and yes grease could be bubbling out (hot).
Just go camp!
KVJ
As KILOVICTOR says if you have brakes the hubs will get hot with brake use. The brake drum and hub are all one piece so using the brakes at all will heat the hubs. If you just came into a rest area from an interstate where you were driving 60-70 miles an hour you should expect the hubs to be quite hot.
This is all very good information! I appreciate everyone's input and will use it. Thanks!
Have a 2010 16' Scamp. Just replaced the original brakes with new brake backing plates, self-adjusting brakes, bearings and drums. The original brakes were starting to stick (reason for new parts). I used the same grease (Lucas Xtra HD) as before, tightened the castle nut to the same amount as before. The new brakes are not dragging or sticking. After driving 15 miles at highway speeds and no brake use (turned controller off) the hubs are 10 degrees or so above ambient air temperature. Then, I enable the electric brakes, drive around town a bit, then get on the highway for another 15 minute drive, the hubs are hot (I can keep my hand on it for a long time, though). Could this be just from brake use? One hub is noticeably hotter than the other, also. I then replaced the bearings, varied the amount of grease and castle nut tightness; nothing seems to change the temperature back down to the normal 10 degrees above ambient. Any suggestions? Am I being overly paranoid about this? Is this the new normal with all the new parts added? Would a temperature gun be a good tool for my bag? What is an acceptable temperature range for hubs at highway speed? What about after moderate brake use?
Thanks, Tom
Tommy Cook
It does not take much brake action to generate a lot of heat. Any chance you could get to the highway and turn off the controller going one way and check heat again then reactivate the controller for the return trip but use the brakes as little as possible. Even a slight difference in brake adjustment will give different heat results. It sounds like a period of break in will solve your dilemma.
Just my thoughts
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Pages