[bobbecky]

If you are bent on delaying annual maintenance, I would suggest, and this would still apply even if you did do the annual maintenance, having at least one full set of bearings and seal, and grease to keep onboard, just in case you did have a failure on the road. Several years ago, maybe three months after doing my annual inspection and bearing repack, and at the south end of Laredo, TX, we were alerted to a brake problem by a couple guys in a pickup. Upon pulling off the road, we discovered the right rear wheel at an abnormal angle, held on by the plastic fender. I disconnected the truck from the trailer, loosened the lugnuts, and proceeded to raise the trailer with the hydraulic leveling system. As the trailer came up, the tire/wheel/drum assembly fell over onto the sidewalk. The outer bearing had failed, even though it was completely covered in grease. The brakes on the backing plate were trashed, but fortunately the spindle was still good. I called a number of places in the town, but no one had anything to replace the damaged parts. We were back on the road in less than two hours, because I had the bearings, seal, grease, and the tools to replace the bearings and races. Of course no brakes on that wheel, but we weren't stuck in Laredo.