chunking off bearing buddies while trailering..

Just thought i would get some input.. i read thru the vast number of pages in the trailer bearing thread but didnt see what i need.. last time out i trailered my boat 200 miles to the lake and put in just after lunch with no issues. Next morning i get up and notice a bearing buddy missing. I carry extra so i banged another on. Headed back home and stopped about 20 miles into the trip to check and bearing buddy was gone again.. this time i put an old buddy that i got from jerry lake ivie the 1st time i lost a buddy. That one made it all the way home. Hub never felt hot.. i believe they were reese buddys that i had. Kinda nervous about making a 450 mile one way trip to fork now.. wondering if its a hub issue , bearing buddy issue or something else.. thinking about going with dust caps instead of the buddies.. any input appeciated..

Googled till my eyes crossed... guess i will jack it up tomoro and make sure there isnt slop because nut is loose. If not i will pull the hub off and out the calipers to it and measure the interference between hub and buddy and go from there.. will check the different brands and see how they measure as well..

Drill it and put a set screw in to hold it in place

Take a punch and in 3 different areas around the inside of the hub punch it there. It will make a small raised area on the outside of the hub. This will help hold it in place. Also use some heat sealer it is red in color. Can't think of the name right now. It is sold at automotive stores. I had the same problem this fixed mine. Also don't put too much grease in them it will force them off when the hub warms the grease.

Wheel bearings are loose.

Make sure your tires are balanced and not slipping the tread or anything like that. Vibration will cause it also. I always put a bead of red RTV silicone around mine to help them stay sealed and help hold them on when I was running them.

I pulled wheel and hub today,. I didnt notice anything going on with the tire. I shook around on the tire while raised up and didnt notice any play.. I could tell it had gotten wet by the color of the grease so i pulled bearing and races out. Inner bearing and race were jacked up.. they were new this spring and only made it 4 times to lake.. im not sure if bearing went out due to bearing buddy issue or if i had a bearing buddy issue because bearing went out..

Get you some red lock lite at any auto parts store.

Could have been an inner seal going bad that killed the bearing. Go through it and replace everything and see if that fixes your problem. Most of the problems I have seen with buddy bearings were from putting too much grease in them and blowing the inner seal out.

New bearings, races and seal. Put loctite on also.. also made me a bearing buddy driving on tool... bearing buddy sure went on alot easier with that.. not sure if there is a tool for that or not but sure made it go on straight and didnt beat the buddy up either. Seemed to be a little tighter than the last ones .. hopefully im good to go again. Guess the 900 miles to fork and back in september will put it to the test.. i may make a day trip to test it before that..

Bearing buddy install tool

buddy's don't get grease to the inner bearing unless the seal is leaking ,job security for me!

You better double check that remark because I know for a fact the grease will get to the enter bearings when under pressure from a buddy bearing because on some seals you have to be careful or you will push the seal out of the hub.

If the seal is pushed out of the hub I maybe wrong but I think it might be considered a leak? But your probably right I don't know what I am talking about.

buddy bearings are supposed to get grease to the inner bearing when the hub is full of grease from the consistent 3 lbs of pressure from the buddy bearing itself and yes, you are supposed to use the double lipped seal with them, the main thing is you still have to wash, clean and pack the bearings before the install

Take a hammer and lightly tap around the outside of the hub in 3 or 4 places. The hubs will loosen up sometimes and won't hold BB at speed. Had the same problem on a hub, and a guy told me that solution. No more problems after that.

another solution, which I have always done, is take the BB, a 2x4 and a hand sledge hammer. Set the BB on the ball of your receiver hitch, set the 2x4 on top and hit it 4-6 times, pretty good and rotate the BB every 2nd hit.

This will actually flange out the BB so that when you tap it in it has a little more resistance.

Thats something that may come in handy, i kinda think now the last ones i put on were tighter going on than the ones i chunked off. Might could have flared them and made them fit better..

I recently lost a BB too. It's been replaced - I did both sides but I couldn't get the 'bra' to fit between the BB and cylinder hub protector that encircles the hub/BB (hope this make sense). Anyway, the question is, can I trailer and submerge trailer in lake without the 'bras' on the BBs? Thanks.

Yes

I have a great trailer place that services my Champ trailer once a year. He told me bearing buddies were a cash cow for him. Said not to grease them at all during the year. Said people over fill them with grease and it blows the seals up.

Said not to grease them at all during the year.

When does he recommend to grease them?

This

Once a year, when he goes in for service. And I agree

Even with bearing buddies you still have to service the bearings every year. Clean inspect, repack,and new seal. It's the proper way to maintain bearings on a boat trailer not hard just a mess lots of blue shop towels.