Wheel bearings and seals for the SeaCamper trailer: I’m placing this information here because when I was looking for it prior to going to pick up my 1971 SeaCamper, I could not find this information anywhere on the internet. I wanted to bring wheel bearings and seals with me so I could swap them in before beginning the 1,000 mile tow back home.
My boat/trailer had sat for 25 years, with no maintenance records prior to that so the wheel bearing condition was an unknown. Compounding the problem is that I could tell from the photos that these trailers use the now-obsolete “Dexstar” style Dexter axles, with their funky 4 on 9.44″ bolt pattern. Even searching for that, without specifically for SeaCamper trailers, turned up no wheel bearing spec. I did suspect these are 3500# axles, and they are “probably” the same wheel bearings used in most car and boat trailer axles, but I wasn’t sure. I have now confirmed that they are the same.
Anyhow without knowing this definitively prior to the trip I wasn’t able to source and bring bearings with me. So after picking up the boat/trailer, our first stop was to the tire shop to swap on the new tires I had brought. Our second stop was at a nearby Napa Auto Parts where they were kind enough to allow me to R&R the wheel bearings in their parking lot so we could positively ID them. We did have one hub that was heating up during that short leg of the tow so I pulled the hub, fished out the inner and outer bearings and inner wheel seal, and took them inside to ID. The bearings had numbers stamped on the inner races but the parts counter guy had to pull out a caliper and measure the seal to properly ID it. Here are the results. Note that these are NAPA part numbers, but they should cross-reference at just about any auto parts store:
- Outer wheel bearing: PBR5
- Inner wheel bearing: PBR4
- Inner wheel seal: 55024
Also, in case anyone needs it, the tires are 185R14C 8PR 102/100R. That’s what the old ones were, so I brought four new ones and swapped them on prior to the long trip home.
NOTE: this information is for our 1971 SeaCamper trailer with its original Dexstar axles. Do not take it on faith that the trailer you are buying has the same axles and bearings. If it has the 4-spoke Dexstar hubs it’s most likely the same. But some later SeaCamper trailers may have been made with different axle types, or a previous owner may have upgraded to a more modern style axle. If the axles are 3500# capacity axles, chances are these are the correct bearings. If they are 5200# axles (what these trailers *should* have been built with, and what some owners have swapped to already), they will be something different.