Can there be too much grease ??

[pecheux]

Today on my small boat trailer (800 pounds capacity) I removed the hubs, cutter pin, and outside bearing and packed the inside with water resistant grease and remounted everything back. Then I was told by a neighbor that saw me do it that it should not be packed and that air is needed inside along with the grease. Do I need to remove some grease ? Or is it ok the way I ve done it ?

Thank you.

 

[twag4]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

You are good!

 

[hemidoc]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

Did you pack the bearing(gob of grease in palm of hand and push grease into and through bearing)or did you fill the whole cavity with grease? If the latter undo and do what's in () or got get some bearing buddys

Edit I may not have been clear but the bearings must be removed to be "packed". Pull them out, lay a gob of grease in your palm and press the edge of the bearing down into your hand until grease comes through the bearing turn and repeat until all of the bearing is full then coat the race with grease and reinstall. Nasty job

 

[JasonB]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

I keep a box of latex gloves just for this job...

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

Did you pack the bearing(gob of grease in palm of hand and push grease into and through bearing)or did you fill the whole cavity with grease? If the latter undo and do what's in () or got get some bearing buddys

Edit I may not have been clear but the bearings must be removed to be "packed". Pull them out, lay a gob of grease in your palm and press the edge of the bearing down into your hand until grease comes through the bearing turn and repeat until all of the bearing is full then coat the race with grease and reinstall. Nasty job

Tx for your reply. What I did is like so: I did not have to remove the wheel, I simply removed the outter bearing and inserted the tip of the grease gun as far as I could within the inside cavity, then pumped until the grease overflowed. Then pushed the bearing back in, (then excess grease came out) and finaly remounted the ajusting nut and the cap. So then I figured the inside cavity was full. The original question is: can it be too full ?

 

[j_martin]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

Tx for your reply. What I did is like so: I did not have to remove the wheel, I simply removed the outter bearing and inserted the tip of the grease gun as far as I could within the inside cavity, then pumped until the grease overflowed. Then pushed the bearing back in, (then excess grease came out) and finaly remounted the ajusting nut and the cap. So then I figured the inside cavity was full. The original question is: can it be too full ?

You just stuffed grease into the cavity between the bearings. You have no idea if the inside bearing is damaged from water, or wear, or dirt. You also have not put any grease at all into the inside bearing.

To repack (re grease) the wheel bearings, you have to remove the wheel, and the grease seal, which usually totals the seal. Then you remove the inside bearing, clean everything out with solvent, carefully inspect the bearings, both visually and by feel, then repack by forcing grease into the rollers, putting in the inside bearing and grease seal, and re-assembling.

If you aren't using a pressure grease system, like bearing buddy or red-eye, then it really doesn't make any difference if there is grease in the hub between the bearings or not.

MISSING THE INSPECTION OF THE INSIDE BEARING COULD BE A FATAL ERROR.

Yes, I'm yelling. That's the main point that needs to be understood.

hope it helps
John

 

[cgrooves]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

EDIT: What he said (I got beat to the punch)

The original question is: can it be too full ?

The only bad thing that would happen from making the hub assembly 'too full', is the excess grease getting on your wheels, tires, etc.

A whole lot of people use the bearing buddies, which allow you to pump enough grease into a 'spring loaded' assembly to maintain positive pressure inside. In short, no air is 'needed' inside the assembly. Not that air would hurt anything, but it isn't required.

Today on my small boat trailer (800 pounds capacity) I removed the hubs, cutter pin, and outside bearing and packed the inside with water resistant grease and remounted everything back. Then I was told by a neighbor that saw me do it that it should not be packed and that air is needed inside along with the grease. Do I need to remove some grease ? Or is it ok the way I ve done it ?

Thank you.

I doubt anyone is going to say that the way you did it is 'ok', but you do not need to worry about removing any of the grease you just put in. The reason I say it isn't 'ok', is because it isn't the proper way to do bearing maintenance. You should really take the hub off, remove all of the existing grease, take out both bearings (clean & inspect), re-pack the bearings (providing they do not need to be replaced) and hubs and re-assemble (installing new grease seals in the process). You will also get all kind of opinions on how to 'set' the assembly once you put it all back together. Hope you didn't overtighten the castle nuts when you re-assembled. Feel the hubs with your hand after you've traveled to see if they are getting too warm.

 

[boatmor]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

No there can't be too much grease. Some spindles come with a grease zert in the end that runs grease all the way to the back side of the inside bearing so that when you grease the hub the grease flows through the spindle,out between the seal and inside bearing then through the inside bearing, through the hub and out through the outside bearing. You can actually change the grease that way by pumping grease until you see the new grease coming out the front of the hub. Another type hub has the grease zert in the back of the hub between the seal and inside bearing that does the same thing. I put grease zerts in the back of my hubs so that I can flow the grease through the inside bearing out through the outside bearing.
If the amount of grease was detrimental then they wouldn't make them that way.
When I remove the bearings I just replace them instead of inspecting them, that way I KNOW what I have.

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

You just stuffed grease into the cavity between the bearings. You have no idea if the inside bearing is damaged from water, or wear, or dirt. You also have not put any grease at all into the inside bearing.

To repack (re grease) the wheel bearings, you have to remove the wheel, and the grease seal, which usually totals the seal. Then you remove the inside bearing, clean everything out with solvent, carefully inspect the bearings, both visually and by feel, then repack by forcing grease into the rollers, putting in the inside bearing and grease seal, and re-assembling.

If you aren't using a pressure grease system, like bearing buddy or red-eye, then it really doesn't make any difference if there is grease in the hub between the bearings or not.

MISSING THE INSPECTION OF THE INSIDE BEARING COULD BE A FATAL ERROR.

Yes, I'm yelling. That's the main point that needs to be understood.

hope it helps
John

Thanks John, I am sure you are right about my flaw, but no I had not checked the inside bearing since the outide bearing was neat, and there was still plenty of grease everywhere inside, and the trailer is not old and has very little milage and I dump the boat about 1 mile from home. My motivation for adding grease is by far due to the fact that it goes in water (fresh) once or twice a week, and I wanted to take advantage or this new blue grease I got that is waterproofed. As I pushed the outside bearing back in (needed slight pressure) a bit of grease came out from the inside (back side of the wheel and shaft) where the wheel and the shaft ends so I thought the grease had to cover or go via the inside bearing. Did it ? I dont mind being wrong again and prefer to correct than have problems.

Thank you.

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

No there can't be too much grease. Some spindles come with a grease zert in the end that runs grease all the way to the back side of the inside bearing so that when you grease the hub the grease flows through the spindle,out between the seal and inside bearing then through the inside bearing, through the hub and out through the outside bearing. You can actually change the grease that way by pumping grease until you see the new grease coming out the front of the hub. Another type hub has the grease zert in the back of the hub between the seal and inside bearing that does the same thing. I put grease zerts in the back of my hubs so that I can flow the grease through the inside bearing out through the outside bearing.
If the amount of grease was detrimental then they wouldn't make them that way.
When I remove the bearings I just replace them instead of inspecting them, that way I KNOW what I have.

Thanks for your feedback, my wheels dont have zerks and I did not know that adding grease within the hub cap would allow it to flow true the outside bearing and all the way on the shaft to get to the rear bearing. Oviously I am wrong since they make grease buddies.

As per John's advice, admitedly I was not concern with bearing wear since the trailer has very little milage done mainly at low speed.

From the feedback I got from this post I guess I may need to re-do that job huh ? LOL

Thanks

 

[j_martin]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

One reason for the complete clean out is that different greases don't mix.

The inside bearing is usually the one that goes bad. That is because when you dunk a warm wheel hub into the lake, the air and grease inside can contract, and pull in a drop or 2 of water past the seal. Eventually that gets the inside bearing. The outside one will be pristine in most cases.

Pack em right with the pretty blue marine grease, put on red-eyes, and top em off when needed (usually just a few times) with the same blue grease in one of those bitty grease guns. Maintained like that, you won't be pulling a hub for about 15 years or so.

hope it helps
John

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

One reason for the complete clean out is that different greases don't mix.

The inside bearing is usually the one that goes bad. That is because when you dunk a warm wheel hub into the lake, the air and grease inside can contract, and pull in a drop or 2 of water past the seal. Eventually that gets the inside bearing. The outside one will be pristine in most cases.

Pack em right with the pretty blue marine grease, put on red-eyes, and top em off when needed (usually just a few times) with the same blue grease in one of those bitty grease guns. Maintained like that, you won't be pulling a hub for about 15 years or so.

hope it helps
John

Thank you John ... that sounds like a plan. Dont exactly know where to get those "red eyes' or 'grease buddies' yet but I ll be shopping.

I plan to get one of those grease units on asap.

Have a great day

 

[dingbat]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

The over greasing of bearings is a common failure mode.

http://www.mrotoday.com/mro/archives/MRO Coach/Geyer/GeyerON06.htm

In addition, over-greasing limits the life of grease in an application. Over-lubrication causes excessive heat buildup in the bearings, especially if the grease has nowhere to go as pressures rise. If the bearing is unable to function properly, the seal will typically expand outwards and eventually fail. This causes the grease and bearing components to become exposed to dirt and external contaminants. With the introduction of foreign contaminants, bearing life and grease life is compromised

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

One reason for the complete clean out is that different greases don't mix.

The inside bearing is usually the one that goes bad. That is because when you dunk a warm wheel hub into the lake, the air and grease inside can contract, and pull in a drop or 2 of water past the seal. Eventually that gets the inside bearing. The outside one will be pristine in most cases.

Pack em right with the pretty blue marine grease, put on red-eyes, and top em off when needed (usually just a few times) with the same blue grease in one of those bitty grease guns. Maintained like that, you won't be pulling a hub for about 15 years or so.

hope it helps
John

I have to agree with the fact that some greases just don't mix. There are several different types of grease these days and some just do not work well together. I prefer to use a good synthetic water proof grease which has a good temp rating. I really like Mobil 1 red synthetic grease. The same goes for a few other brands.
I've been using several different synthetic greases, all seem to be fine.
The base of the grease must be the same for it to be compatible.
Mix two types and you can either have a separation issue or breakdown of one or the other type of grease. I do know that if I mix one of the common Green Grease synthetics with the older light blue marine grease, the result is a super thin, runny mess. I'm not sure why. The marine blue grease is pretty thick, at least 220 or better viscosity, while the Green grease is a bit thinnner, but when they mix, the result is about the consistency of gear oil.
The blue grease was either Gulf or Lubriplate, not sure, (I bought a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff about 10 years ago, the label has been gone for a while now, just finally used up the last of it last spring). The blue grease is a lithium base, the Green grease is only listed as being a polymer base.

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

The over greasing of bearings is a common failure mode.

http://www.mrotoday.com/mro/archives/MRO Coach/Geyer/GeyerON06.htm

Correct me if I am wrong ... but this concept goes against the idea of using 'grease buddies" or 'Red eye' kits since these will allows the cavity to fill almost completely ???

 

[AZMinyard]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

I had bearings repacked by a local fabricating shop that does a lot of trailer work for a grand total of $54. This covered parts and labor. Might be worth find a shop close to you, considering the amount of work and worry involved.

And yes, you can have too much grease - it will blow out the rear seal, allowing the grease to exit when hot. If you have a good splattering of grease on the inside of your rim, you have probably managed to do this.

 

[pecheux]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

I had bearings repacked by a local fabricating shop that does a lot of trailer work for a grand total of $54. This covered parts and labor. Might be worth find a shop close to you, considering the amount of work and worry involved.

And yes, you can have too much grease - it will blow out the rear seal, allowing the grease to exit when hot. If you have a good splattering of grease on the inside of your rim, you have probably managed to do this.

Hum ... that sounds unexpensive ... but since the job is already done I ll have to wait and see if I get any grease splatering ... and if so will have the ole job done by experts. The front bearing is easy to check and I did not see anything that looks like a seal ... but the rear bearing ... donno ... I took one wheel out ... everything came with it ... (in oposition to outside bearing falling off as I took the bolt off) and I replaced it all back as is.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

Correct me if I am wrong ... but this concept goes against the idea of using 'grease buddies" or 'Red eye' kits since these will allows the cavity to fill almost completely ???

A bearing buddy is designed to maintain a positive pressure in the hub. It is not designed to maintain a volme of grease. If you pull a "properly lubed" bearing buddy you'll find that very little of the bearing cavity actually contains grease.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

The over greasing of bearings is a common failure mode.

http://www.mrotoday.com/mro/archives/MRO Coach/Geyer/GeyerON06.htm

That entire article is oriented toward machine shop equipment. It doesn't mention trailers or for that matter, wheel bearings, even once. MRO Today is an industrial oriented website.

So although it was an interesting read, it does not apply to trailer wheel bearings.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Can there be too much grease ??

That entire article is oriented toward machine shop equipment. It doesn't mention trailers or for that matter, wheel bearings, even once. MRO Today is an industrial oriented website.

So although it was an interesting read, it does not apply to trailer wheel bearings.

A bearing is a bearing is a bearing.

There absolutely no difference between a L44649 used on a boat trailer than a L44649 used on a run out table. They are rated and lubed according to the bearings load and design speed.

Here is a link to the Timken bearing maintenance manuals. Notice that they don?t list trailer bearings separately either.


http://www.timken.com/en-us/solutio...s3_Inadaquate_Grease_Lubrication_Part1of3.pdf

http://www.timken.com/en-us/products/Documents/IndustrialBearingMaintenanceManual.pdf