Three questions......

[cpaharley2008]

(1) tire pressure monitoring system: any suggestions?
(2) bearing repack: how many miles do you perform?
(3) shade canopy: any suggestions for something lightweight?

[padlin]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

(1) tire pressure monitoring system: any suggestions?
(2) bearing repack: how many miles do you perform?
(3) shade canopy: any suggestions for something lightweight?

1. Popular on another forum, Tireminder. User replaceable batteries, screw onto valve stems. On the might buy list.

2. Good question, spec is once a year or 12k miles, always a contentious issue.. I've got 7k from last year and looking at another 10k this year. May do it over the summer, undecided. Will readjust the brakes irregardless. On previous I did it every 2 years but only did about 5k a year.

3. NOT the Northern Light by Eureka. Bullet proof but heavy and bulky. You've seen the Clam, looks and sounds nice but not very compact.

[fudge_brownie]

Questions about repacking bearings is a bit like how often should one wax your fiberglass trailer? Never, if you are so inclined.

In the five years I have been on this board I am of the opinion that the answers you receive are very much on the conservative side. Sometime too conservative, a bit of overstatement comes out of this group. If one person can think of a potential dire consequence of doing this or not doing this, it will be mentioned. There is nothing wrong with this, just you, as the reader has to be able to take this into consideration. If I did all the "must do" maintenance, modifications and add ons I would never be able to enjoy this wonderful trailer.

This is an older crowd, not affluent as compared to a group that owns big pushers, frugal as shown by their purchase of a product with long life and high resale value and interested in preserving their assets. Thus I would bet if one could do a scientific study you would find that the majority would do it at least every two years. This being an average there would be the long distance travelers who do it every year and some who have never done it.

I do not think it is as critical as we think. These trailers have large diameter tires, that helps; they are not submersed in water like a boat trailer and they have a quality axle system. In particular, I think the factory installed lubrication would be the best as everything is fresh and tight, that first lub could wait as long as five years or 50,000 miles. I think once you tamper with the bearings you need to be more vigilant and perform maintenance on a more frequent basis.

Sorry for a bit of hijack on your thread, my intent is not to offend but to better describe the readership.

[Dave&Kathie]

We love our Paha Que Cottonwood shelter. See post #15 here: http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f7...ng-5112-2.html It's expensive but we have used it now for 5 years or so through wind and rain (it rarely gets wet underneath, unless the rain's coming down sideways) . We had at least one EZ Up bend and collapse. Bought another heavy duty one but it weighs 48 lbs! The Paha Que weighs about 20 lbs and packs into a fairly small bag. Ours is a 12 foot, they also make a 10 foot. I notice there is a 10 foot model now with awnings and sidewalls. We have friends that have been know to bring a 10 and a 12 foot to Bandon. One for the picnic table and one for the bike shelter.
Kathie

[floorpanel]

I can understand frequent lubes for a boat trailer because the wheels are often in the water. I guess I need an explanation of why our trailers need relubeing every two years or x amount of miles. I am 70 years old and have never lubed wheels on an automobile and never had a problem

[gbaglo]

Just had new tires put on the trailer. Asked my mechanic to repack wheel bearings since it had been two years. He objected. Asked if I had it in water. Said he'd pull the hubs and have a look, but it wouldn't be necessary to repack.

[sjnuss]

TPMS

I have the Tireminder and use with mixed results. Bottom line is that it does what it is supposed to do and alarm when you have a low (or leaking tire or change in set temperature) and that is what I have come to rely on it for. But....

-First I have had to have the "head" unit replaced twice which I must add was done through TM at no problem. A quick call, discussion of the issue and a new unit was on the way.

-The sending units on the wheel tend to go through batteries but they are easy to replace (also need to pay attention to the O rings on the sending units for dry rot).

-I use the sending units to set tire pressure, i.e. use as a tire gauge, but I sometime question the accuracy especially after the trailer sits overnight. The temp reading is sometimes too high for the ambient temperature at the start of the day. Also I sometimes have to take the sending unit off then put pack on to get a more accurate tire pressure reading.

I have nothing to compare this to but overall despite it's shortcomings I would not be without it. Service from the company has been great and the few times I had a tire issue the system worked as advertised. After experiencing a blow out in Houston, TX rush hour freeway traffic in our previous Casita I will never travel without some type of monitoring system.

Steve

[craiginpetaluma]

My three EZ-UP Eclips II aluminum ( much lighter than steel ) has served me 10 years in catering/street food business. I don't really know how many times they have been set up and taken down, dropped , thrown in the truck….. but numbering in the 1000's. and they still work like new today. They are very expensive but set up and take down by one person is a pleasure not the struggle I see with cheaper units. Ive had them untied in 12 mph winds and still don't blow over, tied down they have handled 20 mph winds. The weak points are the tops, they develop holes in wear points from wind, but patch well.
There is lots of turn over in the food business, mine were 2 years old and 1/3 original price when I got them.

[Ian G]

I am a mechanic and although those that repack wheel bearings infrequently probably won't experience problems the chances of bearing failure due to improper lubrication will increase based on the frequency of repacking ... basically servicing wheel bearings is a preventative process (nothing worst than a mechanical failure while on vacation or in the middle of nowhere).

Wheel bearing grease degrades due to heat, load and age, for those technically inclined here is a study https://www.stle.org/assets/document...ring_Tests.pdf Remember on most single axle trailers the load on the bearings is about 50% greater than on the tow vehicle (ie a 17' Escape loaded weight is about 3000 lbs or 1500 lbs per wheel whereas a 4000 lb tow vehicle averages about 1000 lbs per wheel).

In short, as a mechanic, I would recommend repacking bearings at least every second year regardless of mileage and annually for those driving long distances, it is easy and inexpensive for the benefit of reliability.

[civi]

I had just got my 2014 scamp inspected in Nov. before winter storage. Asked about how often to do the wheel bearing, he said about every 2nd/3rd year if used seasonally, Also said to have them done by a RV shop when you get it inspected B/C you have those new type where if you do not know how to do it or you don`t do it often enough you are prone to get grease on the brakes. Then there will be issues. Carl