Trailer Bearings and grease

[Rory McNeil]

I recently had to replace a bad wheel bearing on my 24 foot Wells Cargo trailer, with 5200 lb Dexter "NevRLube" axles. The only bearing I could find in the area was a Chinese made unit in a National Bearing box. Does anybody have anything good to say about these off shore bearings, or should I be looking to find some North American made bearings, if that is even possible these days? Also, I have Lucas "Red and Tacky" grease, anybody use this grease on their trailer bearings, or should I look for a different brand? Most of my racing happens close to home, rarely more than a 3 hour tow, normally only 1 hour, with about 2500 miles a year of towing. any thoughts on how often I should be repacking my bearings? Every year seems like overkill, but 4 years obviously is not enough! Odd thing is that the inner bearings still had plenty of clean grease on them, but both outers on the rear axle were brown and rusty.