Grease coating inside face of rims?

[ski1559]

Now onto my next trailer problem.

On closer examination i found that the inside face of both rims have a fine coat of grease covering the rims.. I have bearing buddies on the rims (I have to check when I get home if they are knock offs or real ones). Why would this occur?

Thanks,
ski (no trailer experience)

This trailer pulls a 14 ft starcraft aluminum boat.

 

[woosterken]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

sounds like its time to replace the grease seals in the wheels.
it is caused by pumping to much grease in the BBs and blew out the rear seals.
time to take them ALL apart ,clean and check the bearings and races , repack the bearings , and replace the seals.
the old seal should have a parts number on them, if not take one with youto the parts shop, they can match it up.


woosterken

 

[Lrider]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

sounds like its time to replace the grease seals in the wheels.
It is caused by pumping to much grease in the bbs and blew out the rear seals.
Time to take them all apart ,clean and check the bearings and races , repack the bearings , and replace the seals.

Woosterken

x2

 

[robert graham]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Maybe buy/install Bearing Buddy Bras, the little rubber caps that slip onto the Bearing Buddy to prevent grease from slinging out and onto your wheels and tires. Walmart sells them in pairs for about $3. Good Luck!

 

[ski1559]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Thanks guys.
Put that on my list of things to do.

ski

 

[JimS123]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

sounds like its time to replace the grease seals in the wheels.
it is caused by pumping to much grease in the BBs and blew out the rear seals.
time to take them ALL apart ,clean and check the bearings and races , repack the bearings , and replace the seals.
the old seal should have a parts number on them, if not take one with youto the parts shop, they can match it up.


woosterken

"Blew out the seals"

Obviously, too much grease.....BUTTTT

Did the pressure ruin the seals? Once the grease is all out and the pressure is back to where it should be, why wont' the seals just go back to their place and all will be OK again? Why the need to replace the seal?

 

[woosterken]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

let me see if this explanation makes sense

\ (seal lip) facing into hub
-------------- (axle shaft)
/ (seal lip) facing into hub equals.. good seal


/ (seal lip) facing out
----------------- (axle shaft)
\ (sael lip) facing out equals BAD seal lets grease leak out

it cant seal because the lip of the seal is turned inside out.
some seals have a double lip with a little spring band inside,when it blows out it breakes the spring band

woosterken

 

[can-amsledder]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Maybe buy/install Bearing Buddy Bras, the little rubber caps that slip onto the Bearing Buddy to prevent grease from slinging out and onto your wheels and tires. Walmart sells them in pairs for about $3. Good Luck!

He said "inside" That would be the rear seal leaking.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

let me see if this explanation makes sense

\ (seal lip) facing into hub
-------------- (axle shaft)
/ (seal lip) facing into hub equals.. good seal


/ (seal lip) facing out
----------------- (axle shaft)
\ (sael lip) facing out equals BAD seal lets grease leak out

it cant seal because the lip of the seal is turned inside out.
some seals have a double lip with a little spring band inside,when it blows out it breakes the spring band

woosterken

Good explanation...yes, it makes sense.

I asked because I have had this issue twice now and both times when I took the hub apart I could see no problem with the seal. A visual examination showed the rubber to be OK and popinted in the right direction. I DO use the spring loaded ones and the springs were still intact. Since it was already apart I replaced the seals anyway but I wasn't sure it was necessary.

 

[Pelletmonster]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

deff blown grease seals,see it all the time at my work.... due to pumping to much grease in the hubs... do yourself a favor and get rid of those Bearing Buddies, run a solid grease cap and pull them all apart every year or everyother (depending how much u use this trailer and how far trips are) and repack the bearings and replace the seals when u do this job.. i see nothing but problems with those bearing buddies here. due to letting water in and destroying bearing,bra's falling off or whole BB missing,pumping to much grease in..... good luck!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Good explanation...yes, it makes sense.

I asked because I have had this issue twice now and both times when I took the hub apart I could see no problem with the seal. A visual examination showed the rubber to be OK and popinted in the right direction. I DO use the spring loaded ones and the springs were still intact. Since it was already apart I replaced the seals anyway but I wasn't sure it was necessary.

The reason why most replace them every time is that people destroy them getting them out of the hub.

I use a seal that has a rubber outer lips to help compensate for some the eccentricity typically found in the bore of hubs. They are very easily to remove without damaging the housing. The ones on my rear axles are almost 5 years old and have been in and out just as many times.

http://www.allsealsinc.com/pdf/SealDesign01.pdf
Here is an illiustration of the standard seal designs and a brief summary of their application. All too many seals sold for boat trailer use are of "B" design. I use the "TC" design on all my trailer applications.

 

[ski1559]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

here is a picture of what my rims look like.

 

[Snowfish]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Time for New Seals, hand pack with Full Grease Center cavity, and a lot of scrubbing. You should be fine provided the bearing are not pitted.

After it's squeaky clean, while on the bench, put the bearings in and turn them by hand. If it's not silky smooth, it's time for either new bearings & races or new hub set.

And go easy on the Bearing Buddies if you must use them. Regular grease caps, with regular maintenance, works best for me. No water intrusion yet, but it's only been 3 years since my trailer refresh.

I also replaced my chubby 10" tires & rims (pretty weather checked) with 6ply 12's. Looks like you have enough clearance to do the same if you choose.

Happy boating and good luck with your project! Cheers.

 

[dude11]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Yup--it's the seal-Most people create tro.without thinking.It's a boat trailer-how many miles do you pull it a year-Now think of your truck-how many miles do your drive a year-you don't grease it every time you go driving--so if it's greased correctly (the trailer) I'd say once a year is plenty.dude11

 

[northernmerc]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

As long as the seal is in place and undamaged, I don't worry about a little grease moving past the rear seal. If the bearing buddies are working as they should, they exert a positive pressure on the grease in the axle space. A little grease will then slip past the rear seal as well as past the seal on the outside of the axle. The positive internal pressure prevents water and dirt from entering.

If the seal becomes dried out or otherwise damaged, it should be replaced.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

As long as the seal is in place and undamaged, I don't worry about a little grease moving past the rear seal. If the bearing buddies are working as they should, they exert a positive pressure on the grease in the axle space. A little grease will then slip past the rear seal as well as past the seal on the outside of the axle. The positive internal pressure prevents water and dirt from entering.

If the seal becomes dried out or otherwise damaged, it should be replaced.

That's what I always thought, but you are the first person to affirm that.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Your axle seal is leaking. As stated above, this could be because you pumped too much grease into the hub and pressurized it, but it can also be a sign of impending bearing failure.

Don't ignore this! Pull the hub completely, clean all of the grease out of the hub and from the bearings and inspect everything. Bearings are cheap - if you have any doubts at all, replace them.

If the grease is black and feels gritty, your bearings are disintegrating. This should be obvious by looking at them, but once again, when in doubt, replace them.


PS: There are arguments pro and con for bearing buddies. I use them and like them. The trick to using them, however, is that you are only supposed to pressurize the hub to 3 psi. Many people overfill them.

If the BB is clean and used correctly, you are not supposed be able to pump them beyond the 3 psi, because there is a relief hole in the barrel of the BB, towards the outer portion of it. The spring loaded plate that moves outward, as you inject grease, will travel beyond that hole and allow grease to squirt out, if you keep trying to pump it in.

All of that is fine in theory, but all it takes is a relief hole that is blocked with dirt and/or dried grease, to screw things up.

Because of all of this, I pull my hubs about once a year, completely clean them and the bearings. I then inspect everything and put new bearings in, if I have any doubt about them. Sometimes, I will just replace them for the sake of doing so, while I have the wheels apart. Bearings are cheap and I sometimes feel that I am saving myself from having to fool with the wheels for the next year.

As for grease on the hubs, see my post in another thread about speed while towing. I just had a massive and premature bearing failure, due to my own stupidity. There was some grease on the inside of the hub, but not much. None-the-less, I think it should have been a tip-off to me, to pull the hub involved. Had I done that, I would have saved myself a bunch of trouble.

The other hub, which was installed new with new bearings at the same time the other one was, shows no sign of slinging grease. I pulled it apart this afternoon anyway, just to check.



???

 

[ski1559]

Re: Grease coating inside face of rims?

Thanks for the help. I just bought the boat so this is the condition I found them in. A friend of mine has a lot of experience with bearings, so he's going to assist me and show me how to do it correctly.

ski

Where do all of you buy bearings? NAPA, Autozone, tractor suppy?