i greese my bearings before i go fishing.
this is about 1 time every 2 weeks.

If you don't know the condition of you bearings, inspect them.
Inspect them annually.

Recently bought an eight year old boat and trailer - trailer is a McClain with EZ-Lube spindles. Guy hadn't pulled the boat more than 5 miles in 5 years, but had made short (less than a mile) trips to the lake and back during that time. He mentioned he'd never serviced the bearings during that time. Boy, didn't that turn out to be the truth. Popped the rubber dust caps off, and the old grease flowed out like chocolate syrup. The two rear wheels' bearings were water contaminated (looked like melted chocolate ice cream and about as thick. Cleaned and inspected all bearings and races, found one set pretty badly pitted and replaced. New dust caps, seals and red grease all around, and several 150+ mile trips later she's running cool & doing good.

kicked my wheel and heard the clunk.... Changed bearings, seals, added bearing protectors and caps. $100 well spent.

trailer is a 1997- they had NEVER been changed. I always greased them, but they leaked everywhere!

How do you know what size bearings your trailer takes?

Every wheel bearing has a number on it that can be cross-referenced, usually at any auto parts store, in this application. Unless it's an oddball though, you can pick up what you need off the shelf at Academy, Bass Pro, Cabela's, etc. for about $12 to $15 per wheelset.

Don't forget Wal-Mart! They have some bearings. Don't know the size though.

I have a bt pro 185 i bought used, and the trailer axle is so bent my tires are wearing out; where can i find a replacement axle?

thanks

jon

These guys are good for axels, look for numbers or a manufacturs name on your axel.

im a trailer builder retired, im not big on the over the counter berings, from japan , or god forbid china, there to soft, dont get me wrong, thats probley 90 percent of whats on the market now, but on my trailers, all of them including dry land trailers, i have put buddy berings on, shocks on the axles, and ballance the wheels and tires, there are bering companys in my downtown area that sell domistic U.S.A. made in america, yea wave the flag, berings and races. i guess im crazy, but i like amer made, well anyway the the berings and races made here are better can withstand heating and cooling better because there higher tenstil steel, thay cost a little more but in the long run you save, if you do the work your self, thats great. take the hub off, take the berings out, the front falls out the back bering will stay in because the seal holds it in , put the hub in the middle of two blocks of wood, take a wooden dowel, or cut a old broom stick handle about10 inches long, stick it in the front of the hub, down to the bering, now knock the heck out of it downward and the bering and seal will fall out, take the hub wash it look in side were the bering was, and you will see the race,take a old screwdriver, or punch and gentley start tapping the back side of the race untill it falls out, turn the hub around and knock out the front race, wash them good so the bering company can read the numbers, and tell them you want real american made stuff, not import a lot of companys have them made to there spects and then import them, but theres still amer mfgs out there you just have to get the phone book and ask, we are lucky in s,a. we have boles bering, well if you found them, putting them back in is not so bad either, clean the hub good with a degreesor, put a litte greese on the race, find something the same diamerter of the race and start tapping it in, make sure it is all the way down in the hub, do the other race the same way and the hard part is over, take your berings and pack them with a top of the line baering greese, im sure you have a friend who can show you how to pack a bering in the palm of your hands, its not hard but you have to get the greese into the bering cage covering the rollers till it comes out the back, then take the back bering drop it in the hub just like it came out, then tap the seal in till its flush with the back of the hub, i aways buy 3 or more seals just in case i screw one up beating it in, than put the hub back on the axle, when it as far as you can get it, tap it whit a hammer gently to make sure it all the way on the axle, then put the front bering in, then the trush washer, than the axle NUT, now this is the secret to the whole deal,, YOU WANT TO SCREW DOWN THE NUT all the way as far as it will go, nice and snug, and then 3/4 or maybe a little more to SEAT THE BERINGS, THEN SPIN THE HUB BY HAND 3 OR 4 TURNS, then back off on the nut, just enough to feel the slighest amount of play when you grab the hub with both hands and move it, thats the secret to seat the berings good, but loose just a hair to allow greese to get on the rollers, and allow a little air space for cooling, then put your cotter pin in to the closet hole back io the tighter side,then put your bering buddies back on, and load them wiyh your greese gun, till the spring comes up, and your done. i POSTED this not for you mechs or old timers that do it yourselfs like me but for the guys that have to take there trailers to a garage and spend a bundle, its pretty simple if you get in trouble i bet you have a neighbor or friend that will talk you through it, i hope i havent wasted any to much of you guys time P S i grease mine comeing out of the lake every time, just crazy i guess, but i dont have any problems save your old parts, carry a new hub with packed berings,with a medium ballpeen hammer, water pump pliers, a cold chisel, a fine file, a thread chaser, rags, big flash light, a old blanket to lay on, a prayer book and that will handle that trip to the coast, oh yea for you other guys make sure you have a current credit CARD over and out

darn i dident read crappie heads post what a wast of time on my part good going on that step by step install very good info

Until the system that you are using shows it is full.

Hey, RB, we gonna go through this every year? Once or twice a year is what I would do.

There is a tool you can pick up at Auto Zone that works great for packing the bearings quickly and easily with less mess. It looks like two funnels, the bearing goes on the inside of one and the outside of the other creating a seal, there is a screw that connects to your grease gun and has a hole that is exposed inside the bearing when its locked in between the two funnels. Just pump your grease gun until the grease starts coming out of the bearing, I usually over do it a little just to be sure, then inspect to be sure the bearing is completely packed. Works quick and distributes the grease evenly. It was well worth the investment.

My rule of thumb. Jack the boat up, spin the wheel, If you hear any noise, out comes the bearings. I have pulled my boat 3 times, 200 miles north of Toronto, Canada and back without bearing failure.......

Wow, I can't believe my post is still going 2 years later!!!! Never knew I was going to end up with the most popular post award

Your post has been here a while but one little trick to check hubs for heat during a trip is to just stop after driving the first half hour or so and touch the hub (with the back of you hand first) The rim will be much hotter than hub from breaking if things are good. If the hub is as hot as the rim it could mean hidden problems on the way. Greese them on the spot if possible. Hubs with greese inserts are the way to go. I check mine every time I stop for gas and such. Its a good habbit and you will also get to know break heat from hub heat. If you coast to a stop the rim and hub should be the same temp, but who wants to do that.

Use marine grease in the tube @ wal-mart.

Thanks to all who posted here, great info which inspired me to finally tackle this overdue job on my tandem axle boat trailer.

As a first-timer, the four wheel re-pack took me over five hours, though the the biggest time consumer was wrestling with removing and re-installing the dic brake assemblies on the rear wheels of my tandem.

I only replaced the seals as my bearings and races were in good shape.

First-timers be prepared to lose three or four good shop towels and yesterdays newspaper to clean up all of the grease goop.

Glad I finally decided to tackle this project as now I'm intimately familiar with how to tear down and re-build a trailer hub.

I'll only add two things, and this is just basically adding to what others have already said...

1) If you have room to store your boat, you have room to check and repack your bearings. There is NO excuse for not learning how to do this yourself.

2) Do not overpack the bearings!!!

3) If you have not recently used your boat (i.e., it has been in storage) for more than 6 months, check the bearings. Sitting in one spot over time can have damaging effects too.

Todd

I read most of the posts. I was wondering how you can remove th buddy bearing so that you do not damage the hub. I want to repack the bearings but I won't be able to remove the outside bearing. Is this right? Any one got any suggestions?

Get yourself a small rubber mallet ($2.99), and gently tap all around the outside of those Bearing Buddy's, and they'll start to wallow out and off of the hub.

From there, you can gently continue to pry them the rest of the way off.

If they are old and slightly corroded, you might consider tapping on a new pair of Bearing Buddy's ($25.00)

Once the BB's are off, you can access removing the cotter pin which holds your hub nut in place.

You'll want to have a few replacement cotter pins as straightenening them to remove oftentimes breaks them, no big deal as they're pretty cheap. Make sure you have the proper size cotter pins to replace as cotter pins come in all sizes and lengths.

Remove the pin, and unscrew the hub nut, voila, you can now pull the hub assembly off and get down to the messy part!

thanks fishmagnet

I have bearing buddies on my jon boat trailer. Put the grease gun on and filled them up. Noticed old grease seeping out the back side of the hubs by the axle. On one side there's a metal ring that got pushed out and grease coming out all around it.

Guess I pumped too much grease in? I thought you could pump in new grease and it was designed to push out the old...am I dead wrong?

I have one bearing buddy that is slinging grease and the grese looks gray. What to do?
The hub is not hot after towing.