Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

[clemsonfor]

I recently did bearing in my trailer! had the boat about a year and they have been slingin greese out eversince i got it and for a while before apparently! So i buy new kits clean everything up including the wheels and pack new bearing and put in new races, now its backtogeather went to the lake to fish a little yesterday and about 2-3miles down the road i see my driver bearing buddy fly off, so i watch were it goes off the road turn around and get it. No problem right (figure it was not in good even though i was sure it was) get a couple tools no hammer, adn try to hit back on, no luck so i grab a rock and hit it in. Pull back on and another 1.5 miles slower this time comes off again, go get it and bang back in, even slower now i get the last 1.5 miles to the ramp and it is almost out again? i hit it back in and launch, when i come back and leave it flies off about 1.5 miles down so i just leave it off since its not far from the house.

What is causing this, it fits snug in the hub, ie need a rock or hammer to seat it. It did not do this before, i had several hundred miles on the trailer since i had it with no come offs. I did notice when i got back that the castle nut should have been tightend so i could slip the cotter pin 1 or 2 lugs over to snug it up it was a little loose and the rim would wobble maybe 1/8-1/4 ". could this play be jostling it enough to cause the cap to come off, have not fooled with it yet, i will tighten the castle nut but not sure if this is the problem or not, wanted some other opinions befor i try it out again.

I thought maybe driving the races in gouged the hub so the cap wont fit snug (but like i said you need a hammer to seat it in the problem side), i guess the only way to tell is to try the fautly one on the other side?

Pleae offer any ideas i may be missing!!

-Nate

 

[wire2]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I suspect the wheel is vibrating from the play. The bearings may not have been seated fully, making a bit of play.
Raise the wheel, spin the tire by hand while tightening the castle nut, until the wheel binds. Then back off the nut until the wheel just spins freely. Pin it there.

The bore for the cap/bearing buddy may be a bit sloppy also, as an added precaution, I'd clean the bore and buddy, apply some blue (removable) Loctite and hammer in.

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

When i got back and saw the loose wheel i suspected the wheel vibrating as the cause of the problem also, as it was the only thing!

-NAte

 

[88FW200Horizon]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I repacked all four of my wheel bearing this summer and had the same problem with one wheel where the bearing buddy kept spinning off after a few miles. What was happening was on that one wheel the cotter pin was bent near the edge of the wheel hub so the bearing buddy would catch on the edge of the cotter pin as the bearing buddy rotated spinning it off after a few miles!

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

Bearing Buddy 2s came standard on my 13 yr. old Skeeter trailer. I've heard of this happening on other trailers, but never with mine. I've only owned the trailer for about 3 months, but I knew the previous owner, and he never said anything to me about it before.

Like I said, I've seen it happen in other trailers, but it's mainly for 3 reasons. The first would be a faulty cotter pin like stated above. Second would be that the bearing assembly is too loose allowing play in the wheel, and finally, the wrong sized Bearing Buddy installed on the trailer. It may fit snuck when you tap it in, but if it doesn't fit so snug that you have to knock it out with a hammer to remove it then it's the wrong size.

I've also seen where people seal the bearing in with a thick coat of paint just around the area where the Bearing Buddy meets the hub. This is a little extra insurance if you suspect a water intrusion. It can also help hold the B.B. in.

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I have to hit them with a hammerto get them off! Yes i do belevive after entering and digging out greese and tighning the nut down and backing it off 1 notch that it indeed was to loose but after wiping out the "faulty" one i saw where it looks like something was rubbing in the cap of the buddy. I beleive that after thinking about the pin while thinking about it that the pin might not have been bent over enough and when the cap rotated it was possibly hitting inside the buddy cap so it was slowly pressing it off by hitting it!

-Nate

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

OK i took the boat out for the first time since retigtenig each wheel nut with pliers then back them off then retighten to snug finger tight, then placed pin in making sure wheel still turned, also made sure cotter pin was bent over good. On the way to the ramp i stopped just before the spot it fell off the first time to see if it was workin loose, it was still snug. Drove the rest of the way to the ramp 3-4 more miles then back home and then to the store another mile round trip. After i got home i checked it again and it was close to falling off, the same one. No tire play cotter pin is bent good enough i think berrings are new and sound smooth, same tires as before? im lost now!

 

[djvan]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I've read before that if you jack up the troubled wheel and spin it look for wobble in the buddy. Mine had it so I placed an object on the floor next to the wheel so that it could be spun and the object was near the buddy's edge. Then keep whacking the buddy until it runs true. (kind of hard to explain I hope you get the idea) Also I put some red locktite on the lip before installation.

DougV>

 

[dingbat]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

When is the last time you had that tire balanced? I've seen an out of balance tire throw them as well.

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I dont know if the tire is balanced, i dont remember seeing any weights ill have to look again. i bought the boat a year ago and the tires came on it. That would make sense except for the fact that before i changed the berrings that it did not fall off and the trailer had far more than 10 miles on it before i did this so if the balance issuse was a problem i would not have had a berring buddy the day i got the boat b/c i towed it about 20 miles home!

Maybe my whacking it made the cap not run true i am going to jack it up tonight to look at it again and ponder. will test for play and see if it looks like it runs true.

thanks for more suggestions

-Nate

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

Chances are that when you replaced the outer bearing race on that hub you may have distorted or over sized the hub slightly. Try taking a center punch and make some "sizing" indents around the inside of the hub, (peen the inner area where the cap fits into the hub), and install it with Loctite sealer. Sometimes simply tapping around the outside of the hub shell can also tighten the fit. That area of the hub is pretty thin, and hubs are made of a very soft cast iron. I had a few on my larger trailer that didn't want to stay put, I simply peened the edges slightly and installed the Bearing Buddy caps with some hydraulic sealer. Some trailer hubs are also more precisely made than others, I've seen some that are pretty sloppy.

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

i had though of this, as i hinted at it in my original question, i think your on to something. ill have to try it to see if it comes loose again (it loctighted w/no beating) if it does i'll have to get the punch out and the hammer and start beating before i give up and get a new hub!

-Nate

 

[CatTwentyTwo]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

I had the same problem with one hub on my tandem axle trailer. I drilled and tapped the hub for an 8-32 set screw and dimpled the Bearing Buddy where the set screw contacted it. You might try this if all else fails.

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

Just put brand new Bearing buddies on my trailer, and towed it 120 miles yesterday, no problems what so ever.

I had to pound them to get htem in though, and I used a 5 lb sledge hammer.

Bryan

 

[clemsonfor]

Re: Berring buddy falling off hubs!! Watch-out

just a follow up on this post. Didn't want to leave you without a final update. I took several peoples advice on locktight. I cleaned the hub and buddy with carb cleaner, used qtips for hub, and reseated it. I have made the trip to and back from the ramp twice now and the berring buddy is still in place! It may still work loose and i may have to try and ding in the hub to create more pressure like reel fishin suggested but for right now im leaving it till i see signs its loosening. It befor retightnih the castle nut and assuring the cotter pin was bent all the way it sell off 3 times and i kept it off the last time and then with the adjustments it still after the say 7 mile round trip was about to fall off upon inspection in my yard after the trip. So not falling off or sign of movement in 2 round trips is a deffinate fix/improvement!

-Nate

Thanks for help and opinions as always.