Re: Grease gun and bearing buddies
No one mentioned it so I will. I recommend a grease gun with the pistol grip. The ones with the pump arm take two hands and that can be a hassle if you ever need to hold the end on the fitting.
I'll also add my two cents on bearing buddies. They were designed to do two things.
1. "pressurize" the inside of the hub so water does not leak through the seal and contaminate the bearings causing corrosion and wear. That's what the spring is for.
2. "Packing" the bearings (working grease into the bearing, under the retaining ring down on to the race) should no longer be needed because you are basically forcing grease through the bearings around the rollers and through the retainers and races which is exactly what "packing" is needed to do. You should only have to re-pack the bearings if you remove the hub for some reason like replacing the seal.
I recommend that you has someone help when you pump up the buddies. One person should watch around the seal to see if any water was forced out. If water does come out, you may want to pull the hub and inspect the bearings and races, especially the inner one.
