When it comes to trailer bearings, there�s no ideal maintenance

Regreasing every 500 miles is what I have done along with inspecting the bearings, races, and seals every January

If you are using a grease gun to squirt in new grease; be careful, there are those that worry about blowing out the rear seal using this method

Soooooo........you blew a seal?

I�ve been careful not to

Dallas axle and hub can sell you a new one already made up and ready. Probably easier and cheaper just to replace it.

That could have ended up very bad! God was watching over you and your family!

As I rhetoricaly asked out loud where the hell my bearing buddies went while I was doing the initial inspection when I pulled over, my wife asked if they were those little silver pieces of metal she swerved to miss about 20 minutes ago. About that time, the kids who were following me said , oh yeah, that one wheel started leaning out a while ago.

Glad that everything worked out for the BEST! lesson learned!

Bearing Buddies are a joke they cause more problems than they solve. Simple thing how many times have you serviced the front wheel bearings in your truck I bet never. Wheel bearings are not designed to be pressurized the seals will not hold. Marine formulated greese yes in trailer wheel bearings. I repack mine once a year and use a dust cap just like my truck.

Had the exact same thing happen to me Mud. Went back to dust caps never had it happen again. Do yourself a favor scrap the bearing buddies go back to dust caps and marine formulated greese.

I agree with you 100% on the use of them. My father put them on the boat and I never relplced them because the dust cover for my hub was an odd size. I put an above average amount of grease in them the night before I headed to tyler. They have been removed multiple times because I do take out the bearings and check them frequently. Maybe the fit got loose and when I added all that grease, instead of blowing out the seal I actually pushed the B.B. housing out, or it pushed its way out over night. When they came off, it slung out the grease? Maybe I didn�t have the spindle nut on tight enough? I wish I was in front of the trailer right now, but thinking about the hub I took off, I don�t recall seeing the spindle washer. Maybe I forgot to put those back on? That would allow the nut to put force on the bearing in the wrong place which would cause the bearing to fail. The more I think about it, I know I didn�t have that washer when I took off the failed hub.

The spindle washers are very important. Sometimes they break due to just being old. If you can't recall them being there chances are they disintegrated due to fatigue.

When it comes to trailer bearing reseal if you have spare parts when you pick up afterwards something isn�t right. How many of these have you done over the years? Did Oskar distract you? I bet that was it.
Glad everyone is safe and you got all your stuff moved successfully.

Shark, I was thinking about asking you to come over and help me with my bearings. I have changed my mind.

I�m not an expert, but I bet I have done this process 20-30 times or more. I have had formal bearing training on more than one occasion. I think I know how to do this but I do admit to making mistakes. I did let someone borrow this boat during the hurricane and I don�t know if they took out the bearings for inspection. I don�t want to infer they may have goofed up and not done it right, but it�s possible. The bearings did get some salt water on them.



Lessons are never cheap or pain-free. Since I just learned one, I�m in prime shape to not make that mistake again.