Was wondering how often I should grease up my bearing buddies on my trailer? I usually travel from Lewisville to Ray Roberts and back when I go, so grease up after 5 trips? 10 trips? What rule of thumb does everyone go by on this?

Once or twice a year should be fine no farther than you are pulling it. Just keep an eye on them for any signs of problems such as grease coming out of the inside or outside seal. If you will feel of the hubs when you get to the lake before launching, and when you get home, you will be able to tell if they are getting warmer than normal. If they are getting hot, you'll need to find out why.

If you will pull the hub every other year and inspecty the bearings and repack or change them.... we probably will never see you on the side of the road.

!!! inspecty !! have not had my coffee yet!

Typing TOOOOOOOOO fast!

Also watch those lug nuts. My wife lost the closed acorn lug nuts on her lincoln after being over tightened by a local tire dealer.

I bought a used ranger and the guy just installed new crome wheels with the closed lug nuts. I watched them because I knew they could be a problem.

I pull the boat 3 miles at 40 mph. On the third trip the studs stripped on the right tire and the wheel came off. I now have white trailer steel wheels with open lug nuts.

WOW This is all good info! I just purchased my first boat and had the same question about greasing the bearings. I guess the same would go for travel trailers. Good To know!!

Actually if you have bearing buddies on your hubs they have a green oring on them. Before you leave just look at your bearing buddies and if the green oring is not showing then grease them until it does you should be just fine. Just make sure you use a good quality grease and follow Boatmans advise the repack (and inspecty ) them on a regular basis.

Make sure you do it at least twice a year, if was so busy this year forget to do them and lost a hub and almost a wheel, pulled up after fishing in my parking lot and my dang tire fell off, the bearings went and then the hub went, i went ahead and put two new ones on to be safe, and make sure you tighten the hub up to where it needs to be, i have to retighten mine this weekend, i put them on and greesed them and the greese came out the back.lol so i know it did not go on enough to seal the back.

Ray

Same for RV's. Inspect mine minimum of every year and more often if I use the trailer a lot. If your bearing buddy's don't have the ring, and have an exposed spring assembly, watch the spring! When you put in grease the spring compresses - at a glance if you see the springs open then you may need to check bearings and add grease. DON'T FORGET the TIRES. Some don't look low but will only have about 15 or 20 lbs. Any distance with a low tire can cause a blowout. I pull a 5th wheel with the boat behind and I carry an extra bearing set for each one. (Had to limp in one time - not fun, learned lesson)

Take if from me , go ahead and greese those bearing at least 3 times a year, i'm am having to pay $365 for a new axle which went out on me last saturday, after two new hubs it still went bad.

ray

This is a great site for info, tips, tricks, even spiritual matters...put it on your "favorites" list and come back often.

JR

I have a 20 year old Ranger on a OKT trailer and have never done anything but keep the bearing buddies full. I have not even pulled a hub and have had no problems. I check them about every 500 miles and add grease if need be.

never hurts to put a little shot of grease in then everytime you pull your boat. i do my motorcycle trailer everytime i use it,but i am making 400 mile trips.
fish on!

I keep a grease gun hanging in my carport, every time I pass by it I am reminded that grease & oil are the cheapest parts you will ever have to buy, hit 'em a lick or 2 every month or 2, it don't hurt a thing to do it!I like the black lithium grease the best, it seems to repel water the best, as long as you don't blow out your wheel seals, you cannot overgrease the bearings in a trailer of any kind! I hate bearing failures on the side of the road caused by "grease worms" eating up the bearings, hub & spindle!

u need to run down to walmart and pick up some bering buddies they are cheap and easy to install and u will no when u need grease with out having to pull the hub cap off good luck

Whatever you use here is a good tip. Let the trailer sit for 15 minutes after heating them up driving to the lake. Letting them cool reduces the tendency for water to intrude into the wheel and cause damage.

Keeping pressure in bearing buddies also helps.

I have changed one hub out in over 30 years of fishing and 200k miles of pulling a trailer. The one hub I changed was due to the bearing cap falling off and the hub loosing all its lubricant.

I love the oil bath hubs.

Done a ton of bearings for my customers. Here's what I do. Pull the hubs, replace the bearings and races. The inside bearing I pack by hand, install the grease seal and pack the space between the bearing and the seal. Install the hub on the spindle, fill the hub completely with Mystic grease, Hand pack the outer bearing, install the washer, tighten the nut, install the cotter pin. I then place a Bearing Buddy on the hub and pump enough grease into it to make the spring expand 1/4in. Place a Bra over the cap and never touch that bearing again.
What I do is inspect the inside of the wheel rim for grease each time I head out to the lake. If grease is present---you have problems. In order for grease to excape from the hub, water has entered. What you guys are doing with the grease gun is causing yourself problems by overgreasing and blowing the seal out. Think about this. How many times have you repacked your front bearings on your truck? What never! Why not? Your truck is running in water everytime it rains doesn't it. But you don't grease them everytime you go on a trip. My last bass boat made 3 trips 200miles North of Toronto Canada and Back, plus traveling to Amistad,Falcon,Fork and numerous lakes around here. No bearing falure. No extra grease. But I will admit, Once a year, I jack the trailer up and listen to the bearings. Any noise---their out of there, and on that last bass boat I never had to replace a bearing. Sorry for getting so long winded.

Allison1 right about letting the bearings cool down..I think the reason you like oil bath is because oil is less dense than grease, less friction, less heat. Hard to contain but better.. Everyone over greases their bearings, like Mike says-don't use that grease gun. Also I don't pack the hub full, just the bearings,If you push in enough grease in to move grease out pass the seals the seal will let water in. Also try running on dry ground or on sand, sand works the same on legs, as packed hard grease does on your bearings..FRICTION....IMHO Bearing Buddys cause more problems than they solve...Cover the bearings with grease and keep the water out,with good seals... Problem sovled..
My 2Cents

kingdad -- you da man-- I live in Santa Fe, the Home of Sportsman Trailers. Those guys over there told me 20 years ago that buddy bearings cause most people more harm than good. Not that they don't work but people pump that grease gun til the cows come home. Result is blown inner seal. My advice is if you have buddy bearings - DO NOT OVERGREASE and take your hubs apart and do the maintainance the correct way once a year if your trailer travels alot.

If you have the Ranger trailers with the needle valve, thats the best way. It injects grease through the inside of the spnidle and comes out the between the two bearings. This is the best as far as I've seen since bearing buddies just add grease to the outside of the hub. The key to them also is to grease until you see grease moving, a couple pumps.

I always carry a spare new hub and bearing, already packed with grease and ready to go. You never know where that old fickle finger of fate is going to point! I pack my bearings by hand and the use the bearing buddies,I use about one or two squirts at the maximum every 3 months. I always check the hub temp every time I stop. If buying a new or used trailer, make the dealer or seller pull the caps off the hub and make sure the washer is there.

Mike Halfmann the boatmann

You are the only one that I have ever seen or heard that does pack bearing the way my father taught me 55 years ago. I do the same thing you do and over fourty years of trailering I have neve had a problen.

VERY GOOD ADVISE...

I just got my first boat and I want to buy a bearing kit for it. How do I know what size I need? Do I just measure the diameter? I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road on a bad day. The trailer has the buddy bearings on it.
Thanks

My $.02 worth is that I agree with the frequent greasers You know what bearing buddys are designed to do?

When towing, heat and friction build up causing bearing to expand. Back your rig into 55 to 80 degree water and the metals contract quickley pulling water into the hubs. The bearing buddy keeps positive pressure (via grease) not allowing water to enter.

Not all buddys have the ring etc. to show they are full. I give a couple of pumps of grease per trip till I see the end plate move out a tad.

Like the other Guys have said, It's a small price to pay.

Anything I can do to prevent tow vehicle, boat, or tackle failure makes for a better Fishin' trip.

As far as tha spellin' thang goes, There is a freeware program called Tinyspell. Do a web search for it. It's made for forums like this.

TFF is Awesome!

If you drive far enough to heat up the bearings, let them cool for 15 minutes if you can.

When greasing bearing buddies, just enough to make the insert move...no more.

Pulling the wheel and cleaning/repacking once every year or two is the best single thing. It was mentioned several times, I will add it once more.

Here is another.02 worth about grease in hubs. If they are inspected, cleaaned and repacked by hand once a year with new seals you should never have a problem. Two things will make grease leak out. To much preasure from being over greased. And water getting past the seal. If water gets inside the hub and heats up it creates preasure that will force grease past the seal. The secret is not to over grease and make sure that your seals are good. Should be replaced every time you pull a hub. A couple of bucks for a seal is a lot better than having your trailer on the side of the road with a bare axle while you run to get bearings replaced.

Not sure about this, but will the heat from driving really deform hardened steel? Your hubs should never be too hot to touch after driving, if they are then you got a problem before you ever put it in the water.

Some water is bound to penetrate the seals anyway. The spindle looks & feels smooth but under a microscope it'd look like the rocky mountains. Thing is, grease can absorb a bit of water without breaking down. If you continually submerged your truck hubs they wouldn't last forever either - it's different from getting rained on or driving through puddles where the centrifugal force throws water off.

Bearing buddies use grease under pressure to help keep water out, as mentioned, just don't overfill. They also also let you add grease to the hub if you discover a leaky seal after you get to the lake - don't let trailer maintenance interfere with your fishing!

Never reuse a rear seal.
Never install new bearings into old races - replace both or neither.
If you reuse, keep the bearings & races together - they mate for life.
Any discoloration or pitting on the spindle will interfere with a good seal - polish it with emory cloth until it's completely clean.

True that is not a far trip but I would add a little bit about every 5 trips. Itis no where near the work you will have if one of the bearings locks up on the side of the highway. It is no fun and that is from experience. Just make sure the bra covers are tight. I have never been able to find the right size for my boat so they throw grease all over the rims. Finally I had to zip tie them.

Wow, can't believe this post is still alive and well. I posted this question originally last year. Guess it was a good one... Go Post! Go Post! Good info from everyone, thanks again!!!!!!!!

"previously jtc30"
"Home Loans for Less"
1-800-606-4210 ext. 202
Purchases, Refinances, Cashouts

Well since you started this, you could at least tell us what you found out in all this time...
Just how often ,do you grease those buddies...

Any one know anyone around the DFW area that repacks and does these? Any ballpark on what they charge? I haven't done any of this stuff before and really dont have much time or a place to do this at. Any info would be appreciated.

I asked North Texas Fiberglass about this and he referred me to Lakeview Marina.

I had my neighbor show me how to replace and repack the bearings on my trailer. It IS easy, but there is no way in Hades I could have done it with out his help the first time.

It's a real good idea NOT to use a high pressure grease gun (like what you'll find at most service facilities)...like they're sayin', keep a hand operated grease gun close by, and avoid blowing out the rear seal(s).

Crappie Terrorist- be VERY careful having your bearings packed in a shop. Always keep in mind that your average joe mechanic went through an 8 week certification course where they were taught to pack bearings in a cone shaped vise with a high pressure gun. Make sure the bearings are hand packed by someone who knows what they are doing. In my experience, you have to find a mechanic who is either out of the military, or who has been around for at least 20 years. Those are the only ones that have been taught properly.

Bearing buddy or not, with proper routine maintenance your bearings should not offer any problems. Don't wait for a problem to look at your bearings.

Check out this site, best I've seen on wheel bearings.
http://users.westco.net/~tandjlm/berring.htm

Crappie Head...that is an awsome post ( the wheel bearing site) Thanks for doing the homework!

Leonardo...Your welcome. I found that site several years ago and was impressed by the detail of everything you wanted to know about wheel bearings.
I have followed his instructions several times. Several years ago my buddy and I were going camping/fishing at Lake Whitney. We lost a trailer wheel on a bridge near Cleburne at 8:00 at night. Don't want to do that again.

Is it normal for it to have no flat washer between the outer bearing and the axle nut when bearing buddies are used?

I just moved from Texarkana to Waxahachie. I got to Rockwall and sparks were coming from my passenger side boat trailer tire. Those sparks were my spindle and bearings going out and getting chewed up. The hub was glowing red hot. Good thing I stopped when I did, otherwise I would have lost that tire. I am a newbie to boating and just thought I would wait until I got to the DFW area and get someone to help me repack the bearings and show me the ropes. Needless to say , I didn't make it. I had to get a guy to come out and put new bearings and race back on the hub.

I am afraid I may have to buy a new axle as well.
Terrible lessoned learned.

So point is, if you can repack or buy bearing buddies, go for it. A little trouble now is worth it, trust me. I would do it at least three times a year.

Doesn't the latest issue of Bassmaster's have a complete guide to trailer bearings in it? Did I dream I read that yesterday? I can't seem ti find the magazine right now.


I have to agree with the "hand pack 'em" crowd. Bearing buddies do place a positive pressure on the seal. When you tow the trailer, the grease within the seals does heat up and expand. If you overpump the buddies, there's no room for any expansion and you blow the seals. The result is you have grease spun all over the backside of the wheel and you have to pump more grease every trip to keep them full. The upside to that is you're keeping fresh grease in the system. The downside to that is you're setting yourself up for a failure.


Not everyone is mechanically-inclined so I don't judge anyone based on how they grease their bearings. For myself, I fully endorse the hand packing method the way my dad taught me when I was about 10 years old. Towing back and forth into Canada every summer, and not the first problem. I figure he either had the right idea, or he was one lucky fella. If you don't know how to do it, take it to a reputable marine shop and ask them to let you watch as they do it. Most likely, the shop mechanic will be thrilled you're interested in learning and for once you're not looking down at him like he ain't worth your time. We can all learn a lot from each other if we just bury our pride from time to time.

Nope.

What Mike Halfmann says for sure!

Just my .02 having a 90 model Skeeter with trailer with old style bearing buddies:

Once a year, take it to the wheel shop and have them pull, inspect, and hand pack bearings. After that about every third trip (approx 100 miles in my case) add grease just until the buddy hub moves out a tad. Anything more is a waste.

The big deal with it is that the bearings heat up during the tow. When you back down into water that may be as much as 40 degrees cooler, the bearings contract pulling in water. The bearing buddies keep positive pressure on bearings that keep water out. Thats a big deal. Grease is cheap insurance. Don't over do it but keep it just a tad overloaded.

Again, just my .02

What happens when hot metal is hit with water........steam baby steam.

So your driving in the summer with the tarmac @ ~ 110-120 degrees F, or more, stop, get the boat ready and then plunge the trailer into the water. If you don't keep the hubs full of grease that will move the water out/protect the spindle/bearings/races you will be in a pile of trouble.

Probably left a few steps out but it's late.

I shoot my buddies with a little insurance grease about every other month. I've seen too many horse/cattle/boat trailers on the side of the road to not keep this a high priority.



Dan

Hubs should never get too hot to touch. If they're hot enough to produce steam when it's 120�, they'd burn the [censored] out of you on a 50� day - it'll take more than a little grease to solve your problems.

Waiting 15 minutes usually isn't a problem. There is usually that long of a wait in line at the boat ramp. Waiting makes sense.

I think you kind of have to look at the quality of your trailer to begin with. If you have a n older or lower quality trailer you may have to do more maintenance. My first trailer didn't have bearing buddies, so I just gave them a couple of slow pumps until I felt pressure every 3 months or so and never had any problems for 8 years.

The only boat trailer I've ever had problems with had a set of bearing buddies that I kept pumped up. The rear seals had blown out (due to my filling them all the time) and that caused problems.

That was 15 years ago and I've never used a grease gun since. Not one bearing related failure and I've pulled all kinds of trailers. I have mine serviced annually and leave them alone. No reason to pump grease in if grease hasn't come out. It doesn't melt or otherwise go anywhere, so adding grease only displaces grease. That is the cause of most problems. I inspect mine during and after each trip. If I see grease on the inside of a wheel, I've blown a seal and have it serviced. If not, I run it a full season and do nothing other than inspect it.

Another topic along the same lines is going on here:

http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=158967

Rick Pierce of BassCat Boats is the responder "BCB".

I posted in another section yesterday about trailer bearings before reading this, and now have another question. Bear with me, first time boat owner and first time on the maintenance.

My trailer has bearing buddies on them. At one time, there was a black "cover" over them and one cover fell off on the left/driver's side. I looked at the bearing buddies website and it seems that this may have just been a "bearing buddy bra." If so, would the bearing buddies being exposed cause any problems, or is that normal? The website states that the cover is there just to help keep grease from getting on the tires and trailer.

And secondly, I haven't put grease in the bearing buddies and need to. Would a grease gun kit at Wal-Mart from the sporting goods/marine section work fine, or do I need something special?

Arsonal-no, not having the bra on the bearing buddy is not a problem. They are mainly there to keep crud off the BB.

A grease gun from WalMart will work fine. Make sure you gat calcium grease instead of lithium grease. Lithium grease is white where calcium grease looks like motor oil.

just curious....what is wrong with lithium grease?

never had one go bad. I grease 'em about twice a year, make about 25 trips of about 150 mi. each per year. use marine grade grease and keep them full.

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.

What maint. is required on ranger liquid filled hubs? The berings never even get hot at all! Always cool to the touch!

I think I read when I got mine that oil supposed to be changed once a year. For sure if they get a milky color to them.

If you have grease seeping out the back of your hub the rear seal has been compromised and will / can now allow water to intrude into your hub, long-term, NOT GOOD!

One of the biggest reasons for trailer bearing failure is from folks repeatedly pumping too much grease into their trailer bearing buddies, MORE is not BETTER!

After you have the seals replaced, bearings / races inspected and repacked, give the attached bearing buddies a couple of squirts of grease till the plastic blue/red collar wiggles, and then LEAVE 'EM ALONE.

I have a Ranger Trail and the previous owner took the "Cool Hubs" off and replaced them with bearing buddies. I was thinking of maybe changing it back to the cool hubs. I have one seal leaking right now on the bearing buddies as well. What are yalls opinions on this? Should I change them back or leave the buddies on there?

Trailer hubs have only one seal, and it is located on the back side of each hub.

If you're experiencing grease leakage from the front side of your wheel/hub, you may simply have a bad Bearing Buddy.

Bearing Buddys can only be removed / re-installed onto the trailer hub so many times before they lose their grease sealing integrity.

Replacing a set (2) of Bearing Buddys will only run you about $35 (stainless variety)

When Ranger first introduced Cool Hubs, they had many leakage issues, though I believe they've improved their design over the years.

Good luck!

I should clarify. It is the rear seal that is leaking on one hub. Does anyone have any idea what the cost of the cool hubs are?

I just got off the phone with Chris at Ranger. He said there is a good chance the previous owner didn't change the entire hubs on my trailer, but probably just took out the cool hub components and installed bearing buddies. He also said he doesn't like bearing buddies because they don't allow you to push out the old grease when you grease them. He said Ranger put zerk fittings on the spindle so that when you greased them the grease went through the middle of the spindle out the back, through the rear bearing and back out through the front bearing. This would push out old grease and water that may be in there. Bearing buddies do not allow you to push out old grease and water, they simply put new grease on top of old. Makes sense to me. I think at some point I will be going back to the cool hubs.

The only challenge / consideration that should be given to Cool Hubs is 'IF' you should ever develop a leak, once that oil is gone, your bearings will toast quick!

Traditional grease-packed trailer bearings are much more forgiving should they be neglected over time.

One could make an argument for either application.

Good luck whatever you decide!

Good point.

The biggest problem with bearing buddies is operator error. They are spring loaded to keep a positive pressure in the hub which keeps the seals seated and the water out. If you just keep pumping grease in, eventually its not going to have any place to go but out and thats when you start having problems because if the grease can get out, the water can get in. You should only grease them enough until the spring starts compressing and you can see the cap, which is what the zerk screws into,moving out. When grease starts coming out of the seals, its time to repack your bearings. Going down the road, water in your hub wont cause a problem, but when your trailer sits for a while, the moisture will cause the bearings to rust. And thats when we see you on the side of the road! But seriously, just pulling your boat down the road for any distance will cause a small amount of heat, not much but a little which will cause a small amount of pressure within the hub which will help keep water out. The most important thing is just making sure the seals are in good condition, dont overgrease, and you wont have a problem.

Another note on bearing buddies. They never allow to replacement of grease. That is to say that when you do add grease, you are only putting new grease on top of old grease. It is still good to pull the hub and clean all the old grease out and inspect the bearings every year or couple of years.

Does anyone know a shop in the Mansfield-Midlothian-Waxahachie
area that will check/pack/replace trailer wheel bearings??
Most of the the tire shops don't want to fool with it.

I don't know that area but any marine dealer will do it. Other than that, a trailer shop.

I can look at the bearings for you, a lot cheaper than a shop..
Do you have a single or tandem axle trailer?
I am on the noth side of Waxahachie, let me know if your interested.

FYI, I am a field service tech. for heavy trucks if that makes you feel any better.....

Your hubs should never get too hot to touch. In fact, they should be air temp only after towing. If your trailer does some hard corning a lot, like when you back it up into the garage or what ever, then the wheels bend inward and outward ever so slightly. This will allow some grease to escape. I add grease to my bearings every 100 miles or so, until the extra grease comes out the front hole. So far so good.

I decided to replace my bearings on my 1990 trailer this month. I tore everything down, got my bearing sizes and headed off to Academy. I bought two kits that included the bearings, races and seal. I've done this before but since it was years ago I used the following site as my guide.

http://users.westco.net/~tandjlm/berring.htm

Everything went well and the first run was a 45 mile trip each way. Hubs ran cool but I noticed that I had a little grease leaking out the back of one of the seals. I had cleaned up the back of my rims so I can spot any leaks on the back side. Tore it back down and a small section of the rubber part of the seal looked like it had been bent and flatten right where it is attached to the metal. Stopped by the auto parts store and bought a new one and replaced it. Next trip was 60 miles each way and I had no leaks. I have buddy bearing but I do not plan to use them unless I see grease coming out on a long trip.

I plan to inspect and repack them once a year replacing the back seal each time ($3-$6/wheel). Other than that I�m not touching them.

Cheap fix that probably didn't run more than $15/wheel (bearing where on clearance at Academy). You can hardly go wrong with the step-by-step in the link above.

Great post cowtown.

My thoughts on trailer bearings are, keep a greased set of spares ready including races, seal, washer, nut, cotter pin, and hub cap. I've had them burn up after 6 months before. Annual cleaning/repacking does not guarantee them to last. My new boat trailer came with the spare tire mounted to a spare hub on a spindle, an excellent idea.

I had a Mark IV trailer once and it had the spare mounted on a spindle and complete hub assembly. Great idea on a crummy trailer.

what do you guys think i should do? i asked my dad he said some water had got in there this and that, but in this thread i read you don't want water in there...I just got this boat, and this is what the wheel looks like...ANY suggestions welcome..thanks guys...it's my first boat...

You need to replace the rusty wheels Pronto!... and change/repack the bearings while you've got it apart.

Bazz

I agree with the above about addressing the rust first. From your picture, you cannot really tell what the whole story is. The bearings could be fine (Even though I would change them to start on a fresh slate). Can't judge a book by its cover.

I am a Certified Lubrication Specialist and a member of the Society of Troboligist and Lubrication Engineers. I love reading this post for many reasons. Mostly because I do this for a living in the industrial world and love to fish. Bearing buddies are great for those who want to do it the easy way but have to agree with the old timers that hand packing is the best way to do it. Grease is made up of about 85% oil and then blended with a thickner, usually a soap. The lubrication from grease comes from the oil "shedding the oil" and then reabsorbing it. Grease has to "channel" in order for this to take place. If the bearing is packed with to much grease it does two things: First it creates heat from the extra friction (running in sand) and secondly it foams thus not properly lubricating. Bearing should be packed about 75% for the full benifits of the grease to do its job. The back seal is suffcient to keep the water out and if any water does get in it is normally not at pressure and the grease will not allow it to penitrate to the bearing. Over greasing not only will blow out the lip seal but it will also over pack the bearing not allowing the grease from doing what it is supposed to do: lubricate, remove heat, and clean the surface. Just my 2 cents worth.. I will hang up and listen.

the whole trailer has rust on it? am i screwed?

JSB...you are not screwed. You now own a boat like the rest of us that needs a lot of work. As long as the tongue will stay on your hitch. and the wheels keep spinning you are gold. Go fishing and have fun. check your bearings, use your safty chains, try and keep lights that work and have fun.

I go to my local trailer shop once a year and have both hubs replaced with new ones. I keep a couple of spares rebuilt and lubed and in large ziplock bags in my toolbox. Once I had to replace a hub along side the road, it took me probably 30 minutes from start to finish. I didn't have to break down the old hub, just pull it, clean/grease the spindle and install new hub. A cordless Dewalt drill with a socket that fits lug nuts works wonders for snugging the lug nuts, then just use the lug wrench and/or torque wrench.

I would at least get those bolts free and replaced. Hate to have them seize on you when you need to change a tire. The wheel looks pretty bad, probably structurally ok, but better safe than sorry. I would replace the hub and the bearing buddy.

btw, the "bra" for the bearing buddy is to keep from slinging grease all over your boat in the event of a failure/leak, and to keep water and debris out.

I would replace those studs. It's a real bummer when they start busting off while your totin it down the big road. Replace the bearings and races, they are cheap insurance. as far as the wheel goes, if it aint cracked, bead blast it and repaint it.

What does it cost to have both hubs redone?

Most places charge an hour's labor, plus parts. $80-100 bucks normally.

Mike halfmann the boatman has it right, thats exactly the way I have done all my bearings for 35 yrs. on many trailers and never had a problem except for blowing out the back seal on one by not paying attention to what i was doing. the best advise was the MYSTIC GREASE this is what the oilfield uses to lube rigs and if you think bearings take a beating think about 100,000# of pressure on a drill stem. mystic is by far the best grease and oil on the market. just my nickels worth of advice

I even have bearing buddies on my stock and utility trailers. I grease them at least every couple of months and it has been a lot of years since I have had bearing problems.

how do i check if the bearings are good or not on the trailer i just bought?

I've seen a lot of guys over grease their buddy bearings. If you keep adding grease and your seals are not leaking, sooner or later it's going to pop a seal. Visually inspect your wheels front and back side for grease leaks, that is the key. Once the seal is blown (OK waiting for a joke) water has a place to enter the hub. Also keep and eye on the full indicators on the buddy bearing cap.

what do you mean by full indicators?thanks

It depends on the brand of buddy bearing. Some are a clear cap and you can see a plunger inside that has a mark you fill to. Some will have the grease zerk that moves as you fill and there will be a colored fill indicator. Hope this helps.

You got to pull them. Check and see if they are deformed. That does not always happen if they are bad, but it does help.

Haha this post really is the winner of the oldest still posting post ! 2005-present lol.

ok great so sounds like we should all get a group together and have a class because I have no idea what im doing and im not even going to try and screw up that one

I agree with this last post! Lots of info. Keep it simple to avoid problems in future!

Need a how to with pictures.I"m not a mechanic but willing to learn how to do this.

OK.. Just ask and I'll try to find it for you.

I found a link with Pictures to illustrate each step for changing trailer bearings!

http://www.etrailer.com/faq_wheelbearingpack.aspx

Enjoy

Bazz

tHANKS A BUNCH FOR THE WEBSITES . nOW THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF HOW A FORUM CAN REALLY BE OF HELP TO PEOPLE. i'VE PRINTED THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM BOTH THE SITES MENTIONED AND AM CONFIDENT i CAN NOW TEND TO MY BEARING NEEDS. i'VE BEEN WORRYING ABOUT IT LATELY BECAUSE i KNOW i'M OVERDUE TO TEND TO THEM.

just bought spare hub 4 1/2x5 with all bearings and grease seal at red neck trailer supply for $78.16 including tax.Good to have a spare.

Mystic JT-6 Hi-Temp red.

I have just finished reading this entire post. Very interesting info, however, I have a 2000 Ranger w/dual axle Rangertrail trailer with the Cool Hub system. Although there were several posts mentioning them, no one offered any advice as to service, replacing the oil, seals, etc. I have owned the rig for over 6 years and have never changed oil or serviced them in any way. I could call Ranger boats for help but thought others on this sight may have experience and perhaps could offer some suggestions. I also have brakes on the rear wheels on the trailer and have never checked them either. Should they be replaced periodically as with vehicles? My normal trips are 45 to 65 miles (one way) and fish 10-12 times per season. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Where can you purchase Mystic grease?

Can one of you guys explain what the cool hubs are? I've got a 07 Triton 21X2. The sales rep told me as I picked it up to just look at the clear hubs and if the color was anything but black, to bring it in immediately. Unfortunately if I get a wrench or screwdriver in hand, somethings usually about to break

Cool hubs are filled with oil versus grease. I am not sure what kind of oil. The problem that I see with them is if you ever have a seal blow than you will lose all lubricant.

i bought my first bass boat about a year and a half ago (used) i was so excited, my dad owned a boat shop for 10 years and before i left for the lake he said you need to check those bearings. being 22 years old i didnt listen to him and just left. Drove about 3 hours away and when my buddy bumped my boat into the water and pulled up i looked down and my wheel was floating in the water. the bearings were in pieces and the only thing holding the wheel on was the weight.. it was a sunday in a small town and i had limited tools. needless to say i learned my lesson and my bearings are checked every 6 months

Walmart and Academy carry bearings made in china. I learned my lesson the hard way using cheap bearings made in china. Never again for me. I only use Timken or NSK bearings and Mobil 1 synthetic grease with double lip seals. I have been hand packing my own bearings over 25 years. I have learned to never trust anyone that says, "the bearings have been packed recently..." on any trailer I buy. Always pack your bearings yourself or watch someone pack them for you.

Great information in this post. A few years back, I had the bearings packed on my Ranger Boat trailer at a reliable shop. After traveling a very long distance, I realized within a few hours from home that one of the wheels was coming off my trailer. When I inspected the situation, the bearings, hub, spindle were welded together. Had to have the boat and trailer put on a wrecker to take it to a shop two miles away. They had to replace the axle. I was lucky the wheel did not come off while on a major interstate highway. The shop paid my expenses with no problems. I used to pack my own bearings. I have had the various shops pack them since this incident. However, after reading this post, I am going back to packing my own and carry a spare hub with me.
Thanks for all of the valuable information. This is a subject that needs to continue. Very worthwhile information.
And, by the way, the hand packing procedure from the person in San Marcos is the procedure my Dad taught me.

I have seen plenty of good advice in this thread, but also plenty of anecdotal evidence to support claims that aren't really based on science. Just because your trailer didn't fail yet doesn't mean your methods are sound. If you used your methods on 100 trailers, how many would fail over a given time period... that's the measuring stick. I could say I have never worn a seat belt and I am fine after so many years, but then that would not prove that wearing a seat belt isn't conducive to staying alive.

I don't think bearings or spindles get hot enough to generate steam when submerged, at least healthy ones do not. That doesn't mean that they don't contract when cooled, but the degree difference between a 120 degree instant cooling and a 20 degree instant cooling is substantial. Still, there's no reason to not allow the hubs to cool. I have found that my hubs are never as warm as my tires, even in the Summer (especially in the Summer).

I have had bearings fail, and what I have found is that, at least for those two events, it was more about the relationship between the spindle and the races than the grease. There was still plenty of grease, it flew all over my fender and wheel, but the bearings were gone. Grease will not stop incompatible parts from coming apart, and compatibility is tolerance. Some of the brands mentioned are more compatible to precision spindles than others that are just mass produced in China.

I think we all know someone who has lost a hub or spindle with a relatively new trailer. I know I do. You have to wonder what happened there, was it a lack of grease or did the trailer get assembled improperly? Or was it just a tolerance issue between the parts on that wheel, luck of the draw if you will. Then again, how did the owner treat the trailer on the road? Did he slam across tracks, speed bumps and pot holes? All that can be rough on spindles, since all we have are leaf springs (unlike our trucks that have shocks and a much better suspension than our trailers).

I am going on 4 years without opening my hubs. I do use the Bearing Buddies, but I don't add grease to them since I haven't seen any grease leaving them and the seals are intact. Is that the best way? I don't know, but my last trailer had two failed hubs and I was religious about the maintenance on them. Probably just more anecdotal evidence.

You know even if it doesn't show that you are loosing grease, I found the best way to make sure your trailer is safe to roll anywhere is to repack and inspect the bearings by hand every year in the off season when you are not using it so much. My rig rolls every month of the year, it never sits so inspection is important and hand packing is very important, always inspect for pits and wear. Also in a good note is to run your motor every month weather you use it or not and use stabil treatment for ethanol.

I just completed frying my bearings on the right side. If a fellow hadn't flaged me down I'd be on the side of the road with one wheel on.

I just bought a new axle and was told by the wholesaler that they didn't recomend bearing buddies. Said most folks keep adding grease til they push out the seal. Said to have the bearing repacked each year or two. I have no idea if he's correct but I'm pretty sure I was one of those that kept adding grease when I didn't need it. And had new seals and repacked 6mo. before the failure.

No sure if I'll put BBs on this axle or not, but it's sure hard to know what to do with these buggers.