Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

[22E6441]

Last year I got my first boat, and it had bearing buddies on it. It also had blown seals.

The boat I bought this year had bearing buddies and blown seals as well.

I just replaced the bearings because they were showing signs of wear, and the seals were gone so what the heck. I've also decided to skip the bearing buddies with this rebuild.

I packed the bearings by hand pretty well...scrapping the bearings across my palm while jamming the new grease in them. Then rolling them on my palm. then scrapping the other side over my hand until the grease jams back out the other side again. They are packed.

I did not fill the inside of the hub with grease.

Then I put the dust caps on.

I'm kind of nervous about this even though I've found about a thousand web pages that say this should be fine....both for marine and non-marine trailer applications. I've also found a bunch of sites that say I should pack them all the way full. So....with my life in your hands, please vote in my poll.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Just finished bearings....

Re: Just finished bearings....

i fill the hub with grease. no air=no pockets for water to hide. and, im a firm believer in bearing buddies. but it should be alright if you keep an eye on it and take it apart to inspect from time to time.

 

[Thad]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Both of my boat trailers have buddies on them. My car hauler does not. But then again, I don't back it into the water. As far as not having them goes, checking and repacking every fall would be just fine. A lot of people do it in the spring. If you have water in there from the summer what will happen to it in a sub zero climate? You don't leave water in your outdrive or engine, correct? Then, in the spring, just for good measure and a piece of mind, check them again.

My dad's boat trailers have never had buddies and he follows this practice religiously. He hasn't changed bearings in 14 years.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

For about the past fourty years, I have serviced the wheel bearings on every car and truck I have owned. I repacked them just as you described. Every one has exploded and fallen off.......
Actually, I have never had a wheel bearing failure on a car, truck or trailer. That maybe because I assume responsibility for the maintenance and check things. I have had grease seals fail and replaced them, but never had a bearing disintegrate. I think the only advantage of bearing buddies is convenience.
Doesn't look like the voters on your poll feel that way, tho.
Must be the km thing....you don't know how much we fear metric conversions....

 

[Thad]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Must be the km thing....you don't know how much we fear metric conversions....

HA HA HA So true!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Hubs do not need to be packed full of grease. If the seals are good water shouldn't get get in anyway. Blown seals are almost always due to over filling hubs with bad copies of bearing buddies, or simply incorrect use of them.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

You don't have to pack the hubs full but I tend to anyway just to make for less room for any water that may get in to sit.
With Bearing Buddies, the hubs remain full. Just so you keep an eye on them, all should be fine. If you pull a cap off during the season and find water, you know you have to service the bearings and repack.

 

[22E6441]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

haha...metric vs standard. I got a kick out that comment.

Good point about repacking in the fall too. Makes sense to get any water out and have it stored with good grease. Same mentality with the lower unit oil, etc.

OK, I feel a bit better now. I know I greased the bearings well, it just doesn't seem like much grease for something spinning so fast for so long!

I washed the wheels really well so I'll notice any grease that escapes if the seal fails.

I'm going to a rental cottage in a couple weeks that will be about a 4 hour drive on the highway. I don't go too fast....basically I'll be traveling at the speed limit of 100. (km, not mph!)

Thanks for the responses. I'm curious to watch what happens with the poll.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

I'm going to a rental cottage in a couple weeks that will be about a 4 hour drive on the highway. I don't go too fast....basically I'll be traveling at the speed limit of 100...22E6641

Jeez....no wonder you don't have any luck with those bearings.....

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Hubs do not need to be packed full of grease. If the seals are good water shouldn't get get in anyway. Blown seals are almost always due to over filling hubs with bad copies of bearing buddies, or simply incorrect use of them.

My God...Silvertip is that really you??

Thank you so much for stopping in. I swear that you took a sabbatical just as I was trying to figure out how to add another battery to my twin motor rig with twin Perko switches...you won't believe how simple of a question created such a heated debate. No one else on this forum shares your electrical knowledge.... I think somewhere along the line I apologized for asking it....:redface:
Glad to see you back with us and hope you didn't clear out your air force.... Please stay, Rick
PS I will never say anything else bad about GM trucks...

 

[indy440]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

stop every so often and grab the hub. If you can't hold you hand on it then dont go any further...

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

stop every so often and grab the hub. If you can't hold you hand on it then dont go any further...

Should be no more than a little more than the air temperature.

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Honestly, I have no idea! But I voted as such to give you something to keep you at night.

 

[indy440]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

Should be no more than a little more than the air temperature.

mine always run warmer than that... especially on the pop-up with its tiny wheels going down the highway...

I've never towed the boat down the highway so I can't really compare that...

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

I don't think I would pack the hub full but, at the very least put a good film of grease on the inside of the hub to keep any rust from condesation at bay. Then on the inside of each bearing, take some grease and with your finger make grease dam, so when the grease in the bearing heats up it won't migrate to the center of the hub, rather it will stop at the grease dam.

Not to repeat a my reply to a post a couple up from this one but I think the ultimate key to success is a high quality double lipped spring reinforced seal like the ones made by Chicago Rawhide, high quality synthetic bearing grease which will also help keep hub temps down, and the CORRECT use of bearing buddies and you will be fine. Tear down and rebuild every two years and you'll be golden.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

If grease does heat up or thin, it won't likely migrate to the center of the hub, centrifugal force will send it to the outer most portion of the bearing cavity which is where the bearings ride. Unfortunately, this is also the area where water tends to lay if it gets into the hub as well.

If your that concerned, bearing buddies are cheap, for less than $20 you can be sure that the bearings are well lubed.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

I don't have bearing buddies on my jon boat trailer (some sort of weird metric sized cap ) and haven't had any problems. I; run down the interstate at "interstate speeds", pack them once a year, give the hubs the ol' touchy feely while stopped and all is well in the universe...

 

[22E6441]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

So...back from the cottage. All in all, it's about a 350 km highway journey....which is 3 and half hours at 100 kph. I drove at a speed of between 100 - 110 kph, or about 60 - 70 mph.

Checked the hubs for heat a couple times. Nothing. Running nice and cool.

Looking forward to repacking them them before I put the boat away for winter and seeing how they're holding up.

I now have full confidence in my bearings WITHOUT the buddies.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

I'm not sure if not packing the hubs full is really going to make a difference...but for good instructions check the tech articles on the Champion Trailers website...btw they do recommend packing the hub full....
www.championtrailers.com
I happen to really like the spindle lube axles they build for you to your specs...no issues with bearing buddies or blown seals...it uses the Tie Down super lube system where you have a dust cap with a rubber cap in the middle of it...pull that out...there's a grease fitting in the spindle of axle...jack up the wheel on that side...rotate the wheel.....pump grease in and it goes through the spindle...into the inner bearing...hub...then out the outer bearing because it's not under pressure..just flows out the hole in dust cap...you will see the old grease come out and get replaced by the new...can check for water intrusion...then replace the rubber cap and it's done...Any trailer I get in the future I want this on my trailer...

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: Vote in my poll....just finished bearings...

I have bearing buddies but being that you don't you will be more weary of your bearings I believe you may be in better shape than most because you will be aware of them. To many people neglect bearings and buddies just instill confidence.