any Bearing Buddies i've had have a small pinhole in the body that will leak out any excess grease.keeps ya from overfilling.
just fill till it comes out the pinhole and it's full.
i do tear everything apart about every 2 years and check them out.so far no problems and this is the 3rd trailer with them.

Maybe a dumb question but if grease can leak out what keeps water from getting in?

Nothing. It gets in and then there's trouble ahead.

wrong!

the seal is spring loaded.
when you pump in the grease it pushes the seal out to the point that it passes the pinhole.the excess grease will come out the hole and the spring will push the seal back past it to form your water tight seal.
also if the temp inside the hub warms up to the point of expanding the grease, the excess pressure will vent off out the same hole.

The seal is spring loaded, but any time I've had grease escape it's around the seal. I don't know what "pin hole" your talking about?

http://www.bearingbuddy.com/why.html

No mention of pin hole?

I hit em with a shot of grease once or twice a year and once per year jack the trailer up and spin all 4 wheels listening for noise. Been towing bassboats for 35 years and never been stuck on the side of the road (Knock on wood)I make some long tows (3600 mile RT to El Salto) and use hand held temp gun to check the hubs at every gas stop. as long as they are within a few degrees of each other they are good to go. I have one hub that runs 8-10 degrees warmer than the rest but it's been doing that the past 8 or 9 years so I don't reckon it's a problem.

Tell us about the "temp gun." I never heard of it, but it sounds great. What is it?

You can get them at Harbor Freight for about $30. I use it to check the temp in my deep fryer and on the BBQ pit also. Very handy little gadget.

sorry-tough crowd around here when ya try to offer free info!
to me BEARING BUDDY is GENERIC LIKE COKE!!!
the ones i have are actually redeye brand.
the pin hole is on the barrel of the (buddy) just about where the inner spring seal is on the inside of the barrel.
once the grease is full and pushes the spring loaded seal out to the pinhole the grease will come out and let ya know it's full.mine also have a plastic cup that fits over the end to further help keeping out water.
had too many bearing buddy brand come off while cruising down the highway!!! have never had a problem with these in the last 3 boats.

Now I'm with ya........................

I am sure this is a can of worms but is one "bearing buddy" better than another?

i like the ones that stay in the hub instead of passing you on the highway at 75!!!! (stir,stir,stir the pot!) hehehe

All bearing buddies are not created equal.After much research ,(and trouble with other brands)I now use only the original BEARING BUDDY that is the name brand. it is by far the best.The 1980A has a blue ring to indicate low on grease.That is the only brand I will run on my two trailers.They cost more but not a high price to pay for the service they give. Do not be fooled by one and buy it because it is cheaper or may have false claims.Go to BEARING BUDDY web site and read about them.

Bearing Buddy is a brand name. People have just started calling all such devices "bearing buddies" much like people call all nose tissue Kleenex.

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